Procedural flaws did not make a dismissal unfair
In the recent case of Buzolli v Food Partners Ltd UKEAT/0317/12, the EAT considered an employer’s failure to comply with the Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures (the “Code”)....
View ArticleAppeals all round – unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal in the EAT
It is not unusual for an Employment Tribunal decision to be appealed by the losing party: according to the latest figures, the Employment Appeal Tribunal receives over 2,000 appeals per year. In some...
View ArticleImmigration issues – unfair dismissal and migrant workers
Under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, employers face significant penalties if they employ individuals who do not have a right to work in the UK. In Winful v Whitbread Group plc, the...
View ArticleNew cap on unfair dismissal award comes into force on 29 July 2013
Jo Swinson, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs, has now announced the commencement date for the new cap on compensatory awards for unfair dismissal...
View ArticleIndependent appeal panels – who has the last word?
Some employers – particularly small businesses – prefer to outsource disciplinary appeals to independent panels. In the recent case of Kisoka v Ratnpinyotip (t/a Rydevale Day Nursery), the Employment...
View ArticleChallenge to statutory cap on unfair dismissal compensation fails
The maximum unfair dismissal compensatory award is currently the lower of £76,574 or one year’s salary. The cap of one year’s salary was introduced on 29 July 2013. The High Court last week dismissed...
View ArticleInconsistent disciplinary outcomes are not always unfair
It’s December, the office party season is underway and that can sometimes mean trouble for employers and employees. It can often be forgotten, amongst the festivities, that office functions will...
View ArticleThe Pimlico Plumbers appeal – another warning for the “gig economy”?
Last month, I blogged about a bike courier who successfully persuaded an employment tribunal that she was a worker (and so was entitled to paid holidays from the courier company). Following hot on the...
View ArticleAmbiguous resignations – don’t jump the gun
It is well understood that once valid notification of termination of employment has been given, it cannot be unilaterally withdrawn. However, in some circumstances it will not be clear whether or not...
View Article88 year-old NHS secretary becomes the oldest person to win an age...
An Employment Tribunal has found that the dismissal of an 88 year-old medical secretary was unfair and ‘tainted by discrimination’. The facts The Claimant had been employed as a hospital secretary...
View ArticleExtended unfair dismissal protection to apply to new employees only
One of the most important legislative changes for 2012 will be the increase in the unfair dismissal qualifying period from one to two years from 6th April. It is being reported that the Department for...
View ArticleNew Tribunal limits
A reminder that from today: The maximum unfair dismissal compensatory award has increased from £68,400 to £72,300 The maximum for a week’s pay (used to calculate statutory redundancy payments and the...
View ArticleEmployment judges to sit alone to hear unfair dismissal claims
Employment judges will be able to sit alone to hear unfair dismissal claims from 6th April. This is a significant change. Currently unfair dismissal claims are heard by a panel of three – an employment...
View ArticleWhen can employees working abroad on rotation claim unfair dismissal?
In Ravat v Halliburton Manufacturing and Services Ltd the Supreme Court decided that an employee who worked in Libya on a 28 day on, 28 day off basis was entitled to claim unfair dismissal because of a...
View Article‘Blind faith in process’ led to unfairness in redundancy selection
In Mental Health Care (UK) Ltd v Biluan v Makati the EAT considered a tribunal’s decision that a redundancy selection exercise had led to two employees being unfairly dismissed. In late 2010 Mental...
View ArticleIs it reasonable to dismiss at the request of a third party?
Yes it can be, but only if the employer has first considered whether the request is justified. Interserve (Facilities Management) Limited had a contract with the Home Office to provide a catering...
View ArticleDismissing employees with less than two years’ service: what are the risks?
It is well understood that an employee requires at least two years’ continuous service before obtaining the statutory right not to be unfairly dismissed; and that to avoid a successful claim the...
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....