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Employment Matters

Welcome to this month’s edition of Employment Matters, where we bring you insightful articles and expert advice on crucial workplace topics.

As a reader of Employment Matters we’re pleased to offer you a free contract and handbook review. If you’re interested, please reach out to Paula Squire.

In this month’s issue, we delve into the crucial topic of increased penalties for right to work checks, a must-read for employers.

Additionally, we explore how unfair dismissal compensation can be reduced due to employee contributory fault.

If you’re not aware that 202 employers have been publicly named and shamed for failing to meet national minimum wage standards, be sure to check out our informative article.

Our specialist training team emphasises the importance of employee training and shares information on the courses available for your HR teams, staff, and managers.

And finally, our expert personal injury team joins us to discuss the pressing issue of occupational stress.

If you have any feedback or suggestions for topics which you would like to hear about in this newsletter, please send us a message with your suggestions.

Marc Long
Head of Employment and HR Team

In this edition

Contact us

Please get in touch with a member of the Employment team if you would like to discuss any of the topics mentioned in this article.

Posted:

Previous editions

August 2022

  • Court of Appeal overturns High Court decision on Tesco ‘fire and rehire’
    The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal from Tesco against the previous decision of the High Court which granted an injunction preventing it from ‘firing and rehiring’ employees in order to force a change to terms and conditions of employment.
  • Gender critical beliefs are protected in the workplace
    In June 2021 Ms Forstater successfully established a binding legal precedent that gender critical beliefs were in principle protected by the Equality Act. Following that appeal her case continued at the Employment Tribunal to determine whether she was discriminated against on the basis of her protected belief.
  • Employers must ensure that the “punishment fits the crime” when considering disciplinary sanctions
    When a disciplinary officer has heard all the evidence at a disciplinary hearing, they must decide whether it is appropriate to impose a disciplinary sanction. This could be anything from a first written warning to dismissal without notice. When considering dismissal there are 5 potentially fair reasons. These are conduct, capability, redundancy, a legal reason and ‘some other substantial reason’. This article focuses on conduct dismissals.
  • Keeping the status quo: the Government confirms that it will not reform the law on employment status
    The Government has published a response to its 2018 consultation on the UK’s current employment status framework. The Government’s response confirms that it will not reform this complex area of the law. Businesses must therefore continue to use the current framework to determine the correct employment status of individuals providing services.

June 2022

  • A breach or a fundamental breach
    Constructive unfair dismissal claims are difficult claims to bring successfully as the burden is on the Claimant to show that there was a fundamental breach that they resigned in response to (promptly).
  • Forcing an employee to express milk in car and toilet held to be harassment
    An Employment Tribunal has recently held that a school committed an act of harassment on the grounds of sex when they did not provide a space for a female teacher to express breast milk at work.
  • The menopause at work – why should it matter to employers?
    The Minister for Work and Pensions and Minister for Women, has this week confirmed that the Government is not currently planning to introduce menopause as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. However, employers should still consider the implications of menopause which is an emerging issue for employers.

Your key contacts

Marc Long

Head of Employment and HR Team/COFA

Southampton and London
Marc Long is the Head of Clarke Willmott’s Employment and HR team specialising in TUPE and outsourcing.
View profile for Marc Long >

Anna Youngs

Partner

Birmingham
Anna is a Partner in Clarke Willmott’s Birmingham Employment & HR team supporting employers with all aspects of employee relations & employment law issues.
View profile for Anna Youngs >

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Read more on Alternative Dispute Resolution in the workplace

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