Equal pay claimants can choose as comparators colleagues working at one of their employer’s establishments in a different location provided they are on “common terms”; the Supreme Court has now confirmed that the purpose of this test is only to exclude colleagues whose terms are different for geographical (or possibly historical) reasons.  The ruling also … Read more

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that, where a worker has taken statutory holiday but not been paid, holiday pay claims must be brought within the usual time limits, even where the employer expressly refused to provide paid holiday (on the mistaken basis that the individual did not have worker status).  This contrasts with … Read more

The pandemic has presented a constant challenge for employers in keeping up with frequent changes to rules and guidance.  As the restrictions now start to ease, we set out below a summary of recent developments: Although the “stay at home” instruction has been lifted from 29 March 2021, individuals are still asked to minimise travel … Read more

The Supreme Court has ruled that care workers on sleep-in shifts are only entitled to the national minimum wage (NMW) for the time spent performing work tasks or awake for that purpose, and not for time spent asleep. (Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake, Shannon v Rampersad) In the absence of a clear definition of work … Read more

Employers cannot get round working time limits by splitting a worker’s work across two or more contracts.  The ECJ has ruled that, where a worker has more than one contract with the same employer, the minimum daily rest period (of at least eleven consecutive hours of rest in any twenty-four hour period) applies to those … Read more

Employers who engage workers on standby or on-call shifts will welcome the clarity provided by two recent European Court of Justice rulings.  The ECJ has ruled that on-call or standby time should not be viewed as working time under the Working Time Directive (relevant to calculating the maximum working week, rest breaks and rest periods) … Read more

Whistleblowers do not need expressly to identify in their disclosure the specific type of legal wrongdoing alleged in order to be protected from detriment or dismissal. The key issues are what information has been disclosed, whether the claimant believes this information tends to show one of the listed categories of wrongdoing (such as breach of … Read more

Background Today, the House of Representatives is expected to pass amendments to the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2021 (Bill) made in the Senate last Thursday night. What is changing? The only provisions left in the Bill after amendments following negotiation with the Senate cross-bench are those relating to casual … Read more