The High Court judgment in Quilter Private Client Advisers Limited v Falconer highlights the risk that a short notice period, including during a probationary period, can undermine an employer’s argument that restrictive covenants should be held enforceable on the basis they are necessary to protect confidential information or customer connections.  The judgment also provides some … Read more

Currently interim relief is only available where an employee alleges that the principal reason for their dismissal is whistleblowing, trade union membership or certain employee representative activities; it is not available in discrimination cases – yet. If a tribunal decides that the employee’s claim is ‘likely to succeed’ (ie, has more than just a reasonable … Read more

Businesses hiring agency workers must provide them with the same information about relevant vacancies as direct employees, but do not have to allow agency workers to apply for those vacancies on the same terms. The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 give agency workers a right, from day one of an assignment, to be informed by the … Read more

Employers have had to respond to continual changes to Covid-19-related rules and guidance over the last year, and the last month has been no exception.  Of course the biggest change has been the end of the national lockdown in England and the introduction of a revised tier system from 2 December 2020, but employers also … Read more

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has opened a consultation exercise into the use of non-compete provisions, and potentially other forms of restrictive covenants, by employers in contracts with their staff, including workers and other forms of atypical arrangements. This is the second time in the last few years that the Government has … Read more

The European Court of Justice has ruled that employers have to look both backwards and forwards from an individual dismissal to determine whether the threshold number of 20 redundancies to trigger information and consultation obligations is met over a 90 day period.  The ruling conflicts with the UK forward–looking approach which focuses on the employer’s … Read more

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that saving costs in order to balance the books can be a legitimate aim which could justify indirect discrimination, provided the means chosen are proportionate and minimise the discriminatory impact. In contrast, simply saving or avoiding cost on its own will not be a legitimate aim. The fact that … Read more

In a judicial review claim brought by the IWGB union on behalf of gig economy workers, the High Court has ruled that UK domestic law does not properly implement the EU Health and Safety Framework Directive and the Personal Protective Equipment Directive in that it limits some protections to employees rather than the broader category … Read more