The long awaited decision in Lock v British Gas has finally been handed down by the Employment Tribunal (ET). Background Mr Lock worked as a sales consultant for British Gas where he received a basic salary of £1,222.50 per month plus commission in arrears. The commission varied month to month according to how many sales […]

Are employers at risk of an Employment Tribunal (ET) claim due to caste discrimination? A judgment by the ET has recently been upheld by the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT), holding that claims of race discrimination based on caste can be made under the Equality Act 2010, despite the fact that the Act does not currently […]

In February 2014 I blogged about how UNISON had failed to persuade the High Court to quash the Employment Tribunal fee regime that was introduced in July 2013. One of the main reasons for the failure of the original challenge, was that that the Court felt the application for judicial review had been made too […]

“It is a relevant circumstance that, in many cases an employee will stand no chance of getting another job, let alone a better job, unless he has been given a reference” The words above are those of Lord Slynn in the case of Spring v Guardian Assurance [1995]. The precedent that emanates from the case […]

The movement for Scottish independence is currently dominating the media with the long anticipated vote now just a day away. The Scottish National Party has come forward with a set of proposals that would alter many areas of employment law in Scotland should the Yes vote find a majority amongst the Scottish voters. Although little […]

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) recently issued guidance for workplace dress code policy. The advice is aimed at employers and suggests issues to consider before implementing or amending a dress code for their workers. The guidance outlines some obvious reasons behind dress code policies in the workplace. In addition to health and safety or […]

Flexible working relates not least to working from home, flexi-time and job sharing. Before 30 June 2014, parents of children aged 16 or under and those with disabled children under the age of eighteen had the right to apply to work more flexibly if they had worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks […]

On 7 February 2014 Unison, the UK’s largest union failed to persuade the High Court to quash the new employment tribunal fee regime. In their judgment, Lord Justice Moses and Mr Justice Irwin said that the “fundamental flaw in these proceedings is that they are premature and that the evidence at this stage lacks that […]

In February 2013, the Government invited views on how the system for shared parental leave (and pay) should operate. Changes had been delayed after Conservative ministers urged the Liberal Democrats to make proposals more business-friendly. On 29 November 2013 the Government responded to its Consultation on the Administration of Shared Parental Leave and Pay. The […]

This summer, the House of Lords accepted the proposal of introducing the employee-shareholder contract, after the Government agreed to make the necessary concessions to the Growth and Infrastructure Bill (http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2012-13/growthandinfrastructure.html). As my colleague Paul Kelly explained on 10 March 2013, under employee-shareholder contracts, the individual employee shareholder will now be given shares in the employer […]

HM Courts and Tribunal Services (‘HMCTS’)  has finally announced that the much anticipated introduction of fees into the Employment Tribunal system will take effect from Monday 29 July 2013. From this date, any claim presented to the Employment Tribunal will be subject to the new fee regime. This means that Claimants will now have to […]

The embarrassing and potentially devastating effects of an uncensored Twitter profile are all too real for Paris Brown (17) as inappropriate tweets from her past have been revealed in the news. Tweets which have been considered to be racist and homophobic were posted by Miss Brown when she was in her earlier teens. They have […]