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  • Changing your mind about notice - Article 50, employment contracts and flouncing

    14 November 2016

    The Government may argue in the Supreme Court that its Article 50 notice to leave the European Union may be revoked, according to press reports.

  • Is the recent Uber ruling on workers basic rights a game changer

    10 November 2016

    James Storke has written a piece for 'Silicon Roundabout'.

  • Uber drivers win first round in employment status dispute

    31 October 2016

    An employment tribunal has ruled that drivers engaged by Uber are “workers”, not self-employed contractors, meaning they will be entitled to national minimum wage, paid annual leave and whistleblower protection

  • Court of Appeal confirms holiday pay should include results-based commission

    09 October 2016

    The Court of Appeal has given judgment in the ongoing holiday pay case of British Gas Trading Ltd v Lock and another, which raises the question of whether and how a salesman’s commission should be taken into account when calculating his holiday pay.

  • Shared parental leave and sex discrimination

    06 October 2016

    The first case about the amounts paid to men and women on shared parental leave has been decided by an Employment Tribunal in Glasgow.

  • Baby steps…or a step too far?

    08 September 2016

    The Women & Equalities Committee recently published its inquiry findings on workplace pregnancy and maternity discrimination. This inquiry was launched after research last year by Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that discrimination towards pregnant women and new mothers had doubled since similar research was carried out in 2005.

  • Calculating holiday pay new ET decision on voluntary overtime

    23 August 2016

    Last year, we reported on a decision of the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal that voluntary overtime might have to be included in the calculation of statutory holiday pay if it was a sufficiently permanent feature of remuneration.

  • Tax treatment of termination payments - the sting in the tail

    16 August 2016

    In 2015, the Government launched a consultation to simplify the tax and national insurance (“NI”) treatment of termination payments. As previously reported, following that consultation the Government announced that it proposed to amend the rules with effect from 6 April 2018.

  • Gender pay gap reporting - regulations delayed

    16 August 2016

    There is to be a delay in publication of the final regulations on gender pay gap reporting, it has been confirmed by the Government Equalities Office (“GEO”).

  • Just a bit of banter - or endemic sexual harassment?

    12 August 2016

    More than 52% of women surveyed said they had been sexually harassed at work, according to a new report by the Trades Union Congress in conjunction with the Everyday Sexism Project. Perhaps even more surprising than that headline figure is the fact that 79% of the women who said that they had experienced harassment did not inform their employer

  • Clarification on application of Acas Code

    01 August 2016

    Two recent rulings of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) have clarified the application of the Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures, by confirming it does not apply to genuine ill-health dismissals or dismissals for “some other substantial reason” (SOSR) due to a breakdown in the working relationship.

  • A teaser from Theresa - workers on company boards

    25 July 2016

    One of the early surprises of Theresa May’s premiership was her extraordinary pledge that employees should be represented on company boards.

  • Brexit - what now for TUPE?

    21 July 2016

    Following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, much is being discussed and written about the future shape of post-Brexit employment law, shorn of the requirement to comply with underlying EU directives.

  • Gender pay gap reporting and Simpson’s Paradox

    05 May 2016

    The draft gender pay gap reporting regulations were published early this year.

  • Latest ruling on holiday pay and commission

    24 February 2016

    The Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has confirmed that UK law can and should be interpreted to give effect to the decision of the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) that results-based commission must be taken into account when calculating workers’ holiday pay (British Gas Trading v Lock).

  • New protections for workers on zero-hours contracts

    17 November 2015

    Earlier this year, we reported on the Government’s ban on the use of exclusivity clauses in “zero-hours contracts”. The ban, which came into force in May, renders unenforceable a contractual provision which prohibits an individual working under a zero-hours contract from working elsewhere. The Government has recently proposed new legislation designed to add teeth to the ban, giving employees and workers the right to bring a tribunal claim if they are penalised for working elsewhere.

  • A glitch in time – European Court rules on travelling as ‘working time’

    11 September 2015

    The European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) has ruled that, for workers with no fixed or habitual place of work, travelling time to and from the first and last customer appointments of the day should count as “working time” for the purposes of the EU Working Time Directive (“WTD”).

  • Remuneration in financial services - new rules on deferral and clawback

    29 June 2015

    New rules on deferral and clawback of variable remuneration are set out in a joint policy statement issued by the Prudential Regulation Authority (“PRA”) and the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”). They will apply to variable remuneration awarded for performance periods beginning on or after 1 January 2016.

  • Zero-hours contracts – tackling avoidance

    19 March 2015

    Over the past year, zero-hours contracts have never been far from the headlines and, in the run up to the general election, it seems this issue will continue to be a hot political topic.

  • Will British Gas ECJ ruling fuel holiday pay hike?

    28 May 2014

    The European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently ruled that the EU law requires a worker’s statutory holiday pay to take commission payments into account: it should not be based solely on basic salary

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