Employers can suffer significant financial and reputational damage from the actions of their employees. While dismissal with or without notice is the most common recourse for serious misconduct or negligence, increasingly employers are looking to take stronger action by recovering their losses from employees guilty of wrongdoing. An employer did just that in a recent … Read more
The recent tribunal case of Fotheringhame v Barclays Services Ltd highlights the risk of an employee obtaining a re-engagement order following a successful unfair dismissal claim, even where there has been some contributory fault on the part of the employee. It also serves as a reminder that, where a re-engagement order is made, the financial … Read more
Final regulations were approved on 28th March increasing the penalty for aggravated breaches of employment rights from £5,000 to £20,000, with effect from 6 April 2019. These regulations also provide for two other changes to come into force from 6 April 2020: the extension of the right to a written statement to ‘workers’, and the … Read more
Two recent English decisions highlight the particular challenges when managing legal professional privilege in the context of resolving employee issues. We consider these decisions and how the principles may apply in Hong Kong in relation to dominant purpose, waiver and iniquity and the lessons that they provide to employers in the context of employee investigations … Read more
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that ‘Bad Leaver’ provisions in Articles of Association requiring forfeiture of shares were not subject to the law on penalty clauses where triggered by an employee voluntarily resigning on notice, as repayment did not arise on a breach of contract. The fact that the employee had separately contracted not … Read more
The Court of Appeal has ruled that suspension pending a disciplinary investigation does not breach an employer’s implied duty of trust and confidence, provided the employer has ‘reasonable and proper cause’. An employer does not need to establish that it is ‘necessary’ to suspend and it will not be determinative whether the act of suspension … Read more
Further to its response to the Women and Equalities Select Committee report last December (see here), the Government is consulting until 29 April 2019 on proposals to regulate confidentiality clauses (commonly referred to as “NDAs” or non-disclosure agreements) in employment contracts and settlement agreements. The Government has rejected calls to ban the use of such … Read more
Employers should resist the temptation to use the occasion of a TUPE transfer to dismiss employees (with two years’ service and so eligible to claim unfair dismissal) with whom there is an ongoing performance or misconduct issue, as this is likely to be automatically unfair. The Court of Appeal has confirmed that an employee may … Read more
