The Supreme Court has ruled that a unionised employer’s direct offer of new terms to workers will not be an unlawful inducement to opt out of collective bargaining, provided the collective bargaining process has been exhausted. In Kostal UK Ltd v Dunkley the employer made two separate offers directly to workers after its offer had been … Read more

Dismissal is automatically unfair where the principal reason for the dismissal is a protected disclosure.  Where employers take exception to the way in which a claimant makes their disclosure, or the surrounding conversations or conduct, the key issue becomes whether this can properly be separated, as the reason for dismissal, from the disclosure itself.  If … Read more

The statutory Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures requires employers to offer employees a right of appeal for misconduct or poor performance dismissals;  a failure to do so will render the dismissal unfair in addition to potentially increasing the compensation awarded.   The fact that the Code expressly does not apply to redundancy, … Read more

In a decision dated August 31, 2021, the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) (the Upper Tribunal) dismissed a reference made by a financial adviser who had been prohibited by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following non-financial misconduct. The FCA had found that Jon Frensham was not a fit and proper person in a decision … Read more

A first instance tribunal decision has ruled that UK law should be read as prohibiting a policy which indirectly discriminates against an employee who cares for a disabled person, for example due to a lack of flexibility over hours or location of work. Currently, discrimination because of association with a person with a protected characteristic … Read more

Last week the Government published three consultation documents concerning proposed employment law reforms: a new consultation on changes to flexible work requests, and two consultation responses confirming the introduction of carer’s unpaid leave and rules on tips, both to be introduced “when parliamentary time allows”.  Employers should be aware that these changes are on the … Read more

Radical upheavals in working life are taking hold at a global level as remote and hybrid working leave lasting changes across industries in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. In response, employers are more inclined to advocate about geopolitical and social issues, use technology to manage and monitor the new ways of working, and adopt … Read more

Below is a round-up of recent Covid-related developments. Changes to the self-isolation rules for double-jabbed workers came into force in England from 16 August.  Individuals who received their second dose of the vaccine at least 14 days earlier no longer need to self-isolate if identified as a close contact of someone testing positive, but are … Read more