This widely-publicised decision has found that ‘sex’ means ‘biological sex’ for the purposes of the Equality Act. The implications of this for employers include the following: Discrimination Claims A person claiming sex discrimination under the Equality Act must do so on the basis of their biological sex even if they have a gender recognition certificate…
The Employment Rights Bill (ERB) will have wide-ranging implications for employers, particularly in relation to their ability to dismiss employees fairly. In this bulletin we consider a number of questions which employers are asking us: 1. What do the Day One unfair dismissal rights mean? Currently, employees must generally have worked for a minimum…
The Issue Employers often have to grapple with difficult issues surrounding religion/belief discrimination. If, for example, an employee who has certain protected beliefs expresses those beliefs in a controversial or insulting way on social media, what action should be taken? The recent Court of Appeal decision in the case of Higgs v Farmor’s School has…
This is a question we are frequently asked. Following the pandemic, many employees want to continue to work from home – or at least not return to the office full-time – citing reasons such as time-consuming commutes and the cost of wraparound childcare. On the other hand, many employers believe that office-based working is better…
The much-anticipated new Employment Rights Bill has been published today. Labelled by some as the greatest overhaul of employment rights for 30 years, it has been front page news recently with employment lawyers and HR personnel awaiting its arrival for several weeks. So what is in it – and what is not? What is in…
Royal Mail Group Ltd v Jhuti – Supreme Court Judgment 27 November 2019. Section 103(A) of the ERA 1996 provides: “An employee who is dismissed shall be regarded for the purposes of this Part as unfairly dismissed if the reason (or, if more than one, the principal reason) for the dismissal is that the…
As well as the annual increases to national minimum wage rates, compensation limits and statutory payments, a number of other important employment law changes come into effect in April 2024. Whether you are a business wanting to ensure that you are fully briefed and prepared for these changes, or an employee unsure of your current…
On 26th October a new mandatory duty comes into effect in relation to sexual harassment. It will require employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. The new Employment Rights Bill announced last week will also, in the future, extend the duty further, with employers being required to take ALL reasonable…
Section 19 Equality Act 2010, until January 2024, provided that indirect discrimination may occur where A applies to B a provision, criterion or practice that is discriminatory in relation to a relevant protective characteristic of B’s. However, the requirement for B to have the protected characteristic to benefit from the provision was inconsistent with EU…
BEWARE OF LOSING Legal Professional Privilege – this is where advice between a lawyer and his or her client is “privileged” and is therefore not subject to the rules of disclosure in subsequent court or tribunal proceedings. A number of clients engage our services to advise on how to best conduct an internal investigation pending…