In this complicated case concerning the giving of references in the public sector, the High Court has made a determination of an important point of principle of general application, namely that a disclaimer at the end of a reference purporting to absolve the giver of the reference from legal liability with respect to the recipient is effective. For some years, this had been in doubt.
The Supreme Court has held that that the blanket requirement to disclose all convictions and cautions for the purpose of criminal records checks without regard to their relevance was not compatible with the right to respect for private life under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
A decision by the Court of Appeal confirmed that an employer was not under an obligation to make reasonable adjustments for a non-disabled employee whose daughter had Down’s syndrome. The Court of Appeal held that although employers are under a duty to make reasonable adjustments for their employees who have disabilities, they are not under an obligation to make reasonable adjustments for an employee who does not have a disability but is associated with someone who does.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has held that the estates of deceased workers are entitled to payments for any accrued but untaken statutory annual leave entitlement at the time of their death and that such payments are ‘essential to ensure the effectiveness of the entitlement to paid annual leave’.
The defendants in a case refused to mediate a dispute until judgment was due to be given after a 4 day trial. The defendant was ordered to pay the claimant’s costs on an indemnity basis (i.e. a more extensive basis than the standard basis) because the defendants had unreasonably failed to mediate.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (‘EAT’) held that when considering whether a dismissal was discriminatory on the grounds of age, tribunals should consider the mental processes of those influencing the decision makers, as well as the decision makers themselves.
An employee who tried to claim constructive dismissal was held by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (‘EAT’) to have affirmed his contract, rendering him unable to claim constructive dismissal, by giving more than his contractual notice.
A challenge brought by Unison to the introduction of fees in Tribunals and Employment Appeal Tribunals has been dismissed by the High Court. The High Court considered that the case had been brought prematurely and that further evidence would be needed before it could be convinced that the fees regime should be overturned. Leave to the court of Appeal has now been granted.
In a recent case, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) held that statutory holiday pay should include commission if this is received by the worker. The CJEU held that if commission were not paid, then the worker would be put at a financial disadvantage when taking statutory annual leave which was against the purposes of the Working Time Directive.
An employment tribunal has ruled that a respected surgeon was unfairly dismissed after whistleblowing on poor standards of care at a hospital. The case has been reported in The Sunday Times, The Independent, Health Service Journal and Hospital Doctor. Arpita Dutt and her client, Mr Weerasinghe were also featured on BBC London News on 14 July 2014.
The Court of Appeal has held that the sanction in a contractual disciplinary procedure could not be increased on appeal from a written warning to a dismissal. It held that interpreting the procedure to allow the employer to do this would be inconsistent with the contract and had the employer wanted this right, it should have been made explicit.
The Supreme Court has held that a former equity partner of a law firm structured as a limited liability partnership was a worker and therefore eligible for protection under whistleblowing legislation. The Supreme Court found that the partner fell within the definition of worker in the Employment Rights Act 1996 as she could not market her services to anyone other than the LLP and was a key part of the business.
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