Posts Tagged ‘employment’
Tuesday, April 30th, 2013
The draft Employment Tribunals and Employment Appeal Tribunal Fees Order 2013 has been released, with the aim of introducing fees for employment tribunal claims. July 2013 seems likely for its implementation.
The tribunal system cost the taxpayer £84m in 2011-12. It is hoped that fees will reduce that cost.
‘Simpler’ claims, e.g. for wages, will cost £160 to issue and £230 for the hearing. More complex claims, e.g. for unfair dismissal, will cost £250 to issue and £950 for the hearing.
Exemptions from the fees are available to those who are in receipt of certain benefits (including jobseeker’s allowance), or have low overall incomes or have low disposable incomes. As most claimants to an employment tribunal will not be in employment and therefore most probably in receipt of a qualifying benefit or have a low income, we will have to wait and see how much these fees actually reduce the cost to the taxpayer.
Posted by Hayley Prescott, who specialises in employment law, both contentious and non-contentious, including tribunal claims, unfair dismissal, redundancy, policies and procedures, compromise agreements, contractual issues and general advisory work.
Hayley Prescott
0115 976 6116
hayley.prescott@brownejacobson.com
Tags: claimant, employment, employment tribunal, Employment Tribunals and Employment Appeal Tribunal Fees Order 2013, fees, Hayley Prescott, tribunal system
Posted in Employment, Litigation | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 27th, 2013
Teachers at the annual conference of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) have voted unanimously to urge ministers to scrap their plans for performance related pay, and re-instate the former national pay structure.
This vote comes hot on the heels of the announcement last week that the two largest teaching unions would strike later this year, with the implementation of performance related pay being central to their decision. The ATL, considered to be the most moderate of the teachers organisations, has held back from such a move, arguing that their membership had not expressed a desire to follow suit. Whilst reports from their conference suggest that the membership is increasingly unhappy with the changes, the organisation continues to hold back from advocating strike action.
This development confirms our present view that the wider profession does not want to strike, but is the tide turning?
Posted by Rachel Billen, who specialises in employment tribunal claims and related civil claims, including unfair dismissal and discrimination. She also deals with internal procedures and the drafting of contracts, policies and other documentation.
Rachel Billen
01392 288367
rachel.billen@brownejacobson.com
Tags: Association of Teachers and Lecturers, ATL, employment, performance related pay, Rachel Billen, strike action, strikes
Posted in Education, Employment, Local Authorities, Public Sector, Social Housing | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 19th, 2013
Teaching unions, the NUT and NASUWT, have announced a series of localised strikes starting in North-West England on 27th June. A “rolling programme” of action will continue into the autumn term and include a one day all-out national strike. The action is in response to government plans to change pensions and bring in performance related pay.
The Department for Education (DfE) expressed disappointment at the announcement, pointing out less than a quarter of teachers voted for the action. Parents’ organisation Parents Outloud have criticised the action stating that teachers should “put up, shut up and get on with it”, given parents are also struggling with cuts in the current climate.
Such reaction is to be expected whenever teachers strike, but they may have a point. With less than 25% of members voting in favour of strike action, it appears the profession does not have the appetite for the strikes and this is simply a tactic aimed at getting the government to reconsider their position.
Posted by Rachel Billen, who specialises in employment tribunal claims and related civil claims, including unfair dismissal and discrimination. She also deals with internal procedures and the drafting of contracts, policies and other documentation.
Rachel Billen
01392 288367
rachel.billen@brownejacobson.com
Tags: Department for Education, DfE, education, employment, NASUWT, national association of schoolmasters union of women teachers, National Union of Teachers, NUT, Parents Outloud, pension reforms, Rachel Billen, strike action, strikes, striking teachers
Posted in Education, Local Authorities, Public Sector, Social Housing | No Comments »
Thursday, December 13th, 2012
Are volunteers protected against discrimination when asked to cease acting as a volunteer? The Supreme Court says not.
An HIV positive volunteer advisor brought a claim for disability discrimination when she was asked to cease acting as a volunteer.
At her interview she was told there would be no binding legal contract between her and the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). This was confirmed by her signature of a volunteer agreement headed, “This agreement is binding in honour only and is not a contract of employment or legally binding.” Whilst she had indicated her availability to volunteer 3 days a week, due to health problems, she was absent for 20-30% of the proposed times. No objection was taken to this by the CAB.
The Court found she did not have a contract of service and could not fall within the scope of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 for the purposes of her claim.
This decision is a reminder of the importance of ensuring that volunteer agreements as well as what happens in practice on a daily basis, does not create an employment relationship.
Posted by Helen Taylor, who specialises in employment law , including drafting of employment contracts, policies and procedures, advising on unfair dismissal, redundancy, reorganisations, TUPE, discrimination and compromise agreements; immigration.
Helen Taylor
0115 908 4897
htaylor@brownejacobson.com
Tags: employment, helen taylor, local authorities, volunteers
Posted in Employment, Health, Local Authorities, NHS, Social Care | No Comments »
Thursday, December 13th, 2012
Michael Gove has written to head teachers encouraging them to take action against the ongoing ‘work to rule’. For the last 3 months, members of teaching unions NUT and NASUWT have engaged in industrial action in schools across the country. The action includes teachers refusing to cover for other staff, undertake any extra-curricular activities or submit lesson plans.
So far, the majority of schools have tried to work around the difficulties that this poses and not sought to challenge the action. The Government have now issued advice urging schools to take robust action, including pay deductions ‘where appropriate’.
Whether pay can legally be deducted is not necessarily as clear cut as Gove suggests. It will depend on exactly what work the teacher is refusing to carry out and the wording of their contracts. Schools should discuss this with their advisors before following the Secretary of State’s advice.
Posted by Heather Mitchell, who specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment matters including; contractual issues, unfair dismissal, redundancy and all areas of discrimination.
Heather Mitchell 0115 976 6553
heather.mitchell@brownejacobson.com
Tags: DfE, education, employment, Gove, schools, teacher's pay
Posted in Education, Employment | No Comments »
Friday, December 7th, 2012
The BBC reports on the personal effect of discrimination in recruitment.
This serves as a reminder to businesses that an Employment Tribunal claim can come from a job applicant.
An individual can bring a claim that they have been discriminated against by:
- the arrangements an employer makes for offering employment – for example the application form, the advert and person specification
- the terms on which employment was offered
- not being offered employment.
Your business should always be able to justify and evidence why it has declined to call someone in for an interview/not make a job offer. It is not unknown for a candidate to send in duplicate applications with slightly different information related to a protected characteristic.
Tips
- Train decision makers in equal opportunities, avoiding stereotyping and scoring objectively
- Avoid questions not relevant to the role
- Keep a paper trail including notes of the short listing process, the interview and panel discussions following interview
Posted by Elish Kennedy, who specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment matters including representation at tribunal, discrimination – with a particular interest in maternity and sex discrimination, redundancy and TUPE.
Elish Kennedy
020 7337 1033
ekennedy@brownejacobson.com
Tags: discrimination, Elish Kennedy, employment, employment tribunal, recruitment
Posted in Employment | No Comments »
Thursday, December 6th, 2012
The Government’s long awaited proposals to changing the way that teachers are paid in England and Wales have now been announced. Marking a significant move away from the current model, schools will be given significant flexibilities in how they pay their teaching staff. The principle being that staff should be rewarded for their performance, rather than how long they have been in the job.
The proposals are broad. The most controversial change is the removal of set pay scales in favour of maximum and minimum bands, with schools being encouraged to set their own pay progression. There are also a number of other proposals including the removal of the Threshold test and new classroom posts above the upper pay scale. Notably the controversial proposal for regional pay has been dropped.
The proposals are now under consultation with a view to being implemented in 2013. Whether the consultation will have any impact on the Government’s plans to implement these proposal remains to be seen.
Posted by Heather Mitchell, who specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment matters including; contractual issues, unfair dismissal, redundancy and all areas of discrimination.
Heather Mitchell 0115 976 6553
heather.mitchell@brownejacobson.com
Tags: education, employment, government, Heather Mitchell, Michael Gove, School Teachers' Review Body, teachers
Posted in Education, Employment | No Comments »
Monday, November 5th, 2012
If your employee has a claim for equal pay, how long after the inequality stops should they be able to bring a claim against you?
This issue was decided by the Supreme Court in the case of Abdulla v Birmingham City Council. The Court found in the Claimants’ favour. So where the 6 month time limit in the Employment Tribunal has been missed, equal pay claims can now be brought in the High Court where the time limit is 6 years.
Staff who now work at an Academy but transferred there from Local Authority employment, may now be able to bring claims that were previously out of time. Whether the costs and potential liability of that claim is the responsibility of the Academy or the Local Authority will depend on what has been agreed within the Commercial Transfer Agreement at the time of conversion.
Whether the change will result in a flood of new claims for historic inequality in pay remains to be seen.
Posted by Heather Mitchell, who specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment matters including; contractual issues, unfair dismissal, redundancy and all areas of discrimination.
Heather Mitchell
0115 976 6553
heather.mitchell@brownejacobson.com
Tags: councils, employment, employment tribunal, equal pay, Heather Mitchell
Posted in Employment, Litigation, Local Authorities | No Comments »
Thursday, October 25th, 2012
More bad news for local authorities on equal pay as judgment is given in the Abdulla v Birmingham City Council case.
In this case 174 claimants who were late in bringing equal pay claims in the employment tribunal brought them in the High Court as breach of contract claims. The council applied to have the claims struck out. It accepted the claims were in time in the High Court but relied on the Equal Pay Act which gave the court discretion to strike out the claims and refer them to the employment tribunal – if they could be more conveniently decided there.
The Supreme Court said it could not be more convenient to dispose of the claims in the tribunal, where they would be time barred.
Under the Equal Pay Act the 6 month employment tribunal time limit has until now been applied; the implications of this ‘extended’ limitation period for employers will add significantly to the financial burden of dealing with historic equal pay liabilities.
Emma Reid
0115 908 4114
emma.reid@brownejacobson.com
Tags: councils, Emma Reid, employment, employment tribunal, equal pay, High Court, local authorities
Posted in Employment, Local Authorities | No Comments »
Friday, October 19th, 2012
Section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992 requires an employer to consult with the employees’ representatives where they propose to dismiss 20 or more employees at a single establishment within 90 days or less.
But is the single establishment a school or the whole of the local authority’s education department? In the case of Renfrewshire council v The Educational Institute of Scotland the employment tribunal held it was the latter. The tribunal placed reliance upon the fact that there was a mobility clause in the teachers’ contracts which allowed the council to move the teacher to another school within the local authority, even though in reality this was never used.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has remitted the case back to the tribunal but has suggested that in most cases the question of single establishment will be relatively straightforward: is the school or the education department the unit to which the teachers are assigned to perform their duties.
Posted by Gemma Steele, who specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment matters including; contractual issues, unfair dismissal, redundancy and all areas of discrimination.
Gemma Steele
0121 237 4561
gsteele@brownejacobson.com
Tags: councils, employment, employment appeal tribunal, Gemma Steele, local authorities, The Educational Institute of Scotland, Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992
Posted in Employment, Local Authorities | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 10th, 2012
Earlier this week George Osborne announced plans for a new kind of ‘owner-employee’ employment contract.
The proposals see employees being given between £2,000 and £50,000 worth of shares that are exempt from capital gains tax in exchange for them giving up certain statutory employment rights (including unfair dismissal, redundancy and the right to request flexible working or time off for training).
Owner-employee status will be optional for existing employees, but both established companies and new start-ups can choose to offer only this new type of contract for new recruits.
The Government plans to consult this month on the detail of this proposed new contract. It will be interesting to see which statutory employment rights will remain intact for ‘owner-employees’ (e.g. claims for discrimination, whistleblowing or a protective award where there has been collective redundancies or a TUPE transfer) and whether this new form of employment contract will prove to be an attractive option for employers.
Posted by Dawn Lobley, who specialises in employment law, acting for clients on matters including unfair dismissal, redundancy, restructure, TUPE, contractual issues and discrimination, plus immigration and data protection.
Dawn Lobley
0115 976 6185
dlobley@brownejacobson.com
Tags: employment, employment contract, owner-employee
Posted in Employment, Retail | No Comments »
Friday, May 18th, 2012
One question often asked in a service provision change situation under TUPE is what percentage of time the employee spends working on the activity. Following Seawell v Ceva even 100% won’t necessarily result in a transfer.
Ceva Freight (UK) Limited provided a service to Seawell. Mr Moffat was employed by Ceva and worked exclusively on the Seawell account, although Ceva had other clients. Seawell brought the service in-house and Ceva claimed that TUPE applied.
A service provision change requires an organised grouping of employees which must carry out activities on behalf of the client as its principal purpose. Following this case and Eddie Stobart Limited v Moreman it is not enough that the employee happens to work on a particular service for the majority (or all) of his time. The organised grouping of employees must have been deliberately formed for the purpose of carrying out the work. There will be no transfer when an employee merely happens to work solely for a particular client.
Posted by Elish Kennedy, who specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment matters including representation at tribunal, discrimination – with a particular interest in maternity and sex discrimination, redundancy and TUPE.
Elish Kennedy
020 7337 1033
ekennedy@brownejacobson.com
Tags: Elish Kennedy, employment, employment law, tupe
Posted in Employment, Further Education, Health, Retail | No Comments »
Thursday, April 19th, 2012
The resignation of Bryan Redpath as head coach of Gloucester Rugby Club on Tuesday has attracted comment from Gloucester chairman Ryan Walkinshaw.
The role of Director of Rugby at Sale Sharks is currently vacant, and Redpath is the favourite to take up the position. Walkinshaw stated yesterday that if evidence were found that the Sharks were involved in Redpath’s departure they would “fight back with a no holds barred legal attack”. The Sharks have confirmed that they are still interviewing candidates for the role.
This latest development in the world of rugby indicates that rugby is heading the same way as football, with interest in the movements of the management teams rivalling the interest in the performance of the sports teams themselves.
Posted by Hayley Prescott, who specialises in employment law, both contentious and non-contentious, including tribunal claims, unfair dismissal, redundancy, policies and procedures, compromise agreements, contractual issues and general advisory work.
Hayley Prescott
0115 976 6116
hprescott@brownejacobson.com
Tags: bryan redpath, employment, gloucester rugby club, ryan walkinshaw, sale sharks
Posted in Employment, Sport | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012
In last week’s budget the Government confirmed its intention to move away from National Pay & Conditions for teachers and make public sector salaries ‘market-facing’ in local areas, arguing that the quality of services would increase if salaries were locally responsive.
The Cabinet Office Workforce Reform team is working with departments to develop an agreed view of market rates for different locations, and the effect of this upon teachers remains to be seen. Dr Mary Bousted, from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, predicts that this will mean a pay cut for teachers and inevitably lead to industrial action. At the very least the Government will become embroiled in Trade Union debates.
Regional pay has been discussed for some time, it is now clear that this is on the immediate agenda. Mr Gove continues to take steps to devolve power to individual schools, however, whether he will go so far as to scrap government set pay scales completely remains to be seen.
Posted by Heather Mitchell, who specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment matters including; contractual issues, unfair dismissal, redundancy and all areas of discrimination.
Heather Mitchell
0115 976 6553
heather.mitchell@brownejacobson.com
Tags: Association of Teachers and Lecturers, Budget, Cabinet Office Workforce Reform, employment, Mary Bousted, mr grove, National Pay & Conditions, Public Sector
Posted in Education, Employment, Further Education | No Comments »
Friday, March 16th, 2012
The Government has published a call for evidence to gather views on whether current dismissal procedures are too onerous and complex and the idea of a compensated no – fault dismissal procedure for “micro-businesses” with fewer than 10 employees.
A compensated no-fault dismissal procedure would allow micro-businesses to dismiss an employee where no fault has been identified on the part of the employee, provided that the employee receives a set amount of compensation. Employees dismissed through compensated no-fault dismissal would not be able to claim unfair dismissal but could still bring automatic unfair dismissal claims and discrimination claims.
This proposal will give small employers the confidence to dismiss employees who may be underperforming or simply isn’t fitting in to the organisation without following a ‘fair’ dismissal process.
Whilst employees are unlikely to see the benefit of the proposal, it provides an opportunity for dismissed employees to move on with no fault attributed to them and some compensation to help them when looking for a new job.
Claire Burton
0121 237 3903
cburton@brownejacobson.com
Tags: compensation claims, dismissal procedures, employment, government, no-fault dismissals
Posted in Employment | No Comments »
Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
In November 2011 Nick Clegg announced plans to address unemployment. It was launched partly due to concerns over youth unemployment reaching over 1 million.
The voluntary scheme lets those on unemployment benefit work for a period of up to 8 weeks without losing payments. Controversy centres around the lack of additional payment, or offer of a permanent role and the threat that participants potentially risk losing their benefits if they do not complete the scheme.
The accusation is that businesses are using young workers as cheap labour. Now, several large retail sector players have pulled out, whilst Tesco have written to the DWP to query whether the risk of losing benefits should be removed so as to avoid any confusion over whether the scheme is voluntary or not.
The government has been quick to defend the scheme, stating that 50% of those on the scheme had found permanent employment, but as public pressure increases and more businesses pull out, the future of the scheme remains to be seen…
Posted by Dawn Lobley, who specialises in employment law, acting for clients on matters including unfair dismissal, redundancy, restructure, TUPE, contractual issues and discrimination, plus immigration and data protection.
Dawn Lobley
0115 976 6185
dlobley@brownejacobson.com
Tags: employment, Nick Clegg, Tesco, unemployment, voluntary work, work benefits, youth unemployment
Posted in Employment, Retail | No Comments »
Friday, February 17th, 2012
Non solicitation clauses are commonplace in senior employees’ employment contracts. But how can an employer show that an employee has ‘solicited’ its clients? In the case of Towry EJ Limited v Barry Bennett and others, the employer was not able to show that their former clients had moved to a former employee’s current business due to any request, persuasion or encouragement by that former employee. Solicitation could not be inferred from the fact that a “tidal wave” of clients had moved to the former employee’s business, even though that might well look suspicious.
With the burden of proof lying squarely with the employer in trying to enforce restrictive covenants, careful consideration needs to be given to their drafting at the outset. A non-dealing clause may have proved more effective in this case with the employee being placed on garden leave to prevent them from having contact with key clients during their notice period.
Posted by Gemma Steele, who specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment matters including; contractual issues, unfair dismissal, redundancy and all areas of discrimination.
Gemma Steele
0121 237 4561
gsteele@brownejacobson.com
Tags: covenants, employment, employment contract, Towry EJ Limited v Barry Bennett
Posted in Employment | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
With 179 days to the Olympics, and an anticipated 70,000 volunteers working on the games, ACAS has issued guidance encouraging businesses to think about arrangements early to avoid last minute disruption.
There is no legal entitlement to leave for voluntary work and it may be necessary to adopt a ‘first come, first serve’ policy and consider whether leave will be unpaid or paid. This can also apply where a number of employees request annual leave on the same day.
You should consider how to deal with employees who have travel disrupted and whether to implement flexible working or remote working. Sickness absence may also increase on particular days which return to work interviews may assist with. There may be performance issues with staff watching television on their computers which could be assisted by allowing this at particular times of the day.
Whilst the prospect of considering these points may be daunting, effective planning will minimise the impact of the games whilst flexibility will hopefully boost morale.
Posted by Amy Dowling, who specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment matters including defence at employment tribunals, unfair dismissal, redundancy and discrimination; also drafting contracts, compromise agreements, policies and procedures.
Amy Dowling
0207 7337 1002
adowling@brownejacobson.com
Tags: ACAS, employment, London 2012 Olympics, sickness absence, voluntary work
Posted in Employment, Retail | No Comments »
Friday, January 20th, 2012
Can an employee act reasonably in rejecting a suitable alternative offer of employment even where a reasonable employee would have accepted the offer?
Yes, according to Readman v Devon Primary Care Trust. Mrs Readman, a community matron, refused an offer of suitable alternative employment as hospital matron, as she did not wish to work in a hospital. Her employer denied her a redundancy payment, stating she had unreasonably refused the alternative post. The Tribunal found that a reasonable employee would have accepted the post. The decision was overturned on appeal on the basis that the Tribunal failed to give adequate weight to the employee’s personal reasons for refusing the role. The EAT found that Mrs Readman was entitled to her redundancy payment.
This case is not helpful to employers who need to reorganise their business but wish to avoid expensive redundancies. The individual circumstances of the employee – domestic and travel arrangements, caring responsibilities and career preferences – are relevant and need to be considered.
Joanne Lewis
0121 237 3906
jlewis@brownejacobson.com
Tags: EAT, employment, employment appeal tribunal, readman v devon primary care trust, redundancy, redundancy pay
Posted in Employment | No Comments »
Friday, January 13th, 2012
The Government has today made a long overdue announcement following their consultation on changes to the Teachers’ Performance Regulations. The announcement confirms that the Government are going to remove a lot of the previous restrictions on schools to dismissing ‘underperforming’ teachers. The model policy that was consulted on combines performance management with capability and envisages dismissal for routine cases within a term. As part of the recommendation, the period teachers are given to improve could be as short as 4 weeks.
It will be up to individual schools to review their policies from September in light of the recommendations of the Government. Schools seeking to put this robust approach into practice should be mindful that the ultimate test is not the word of Mr Gove but that of the Employment Tribunal. Whether a Tribunal would consider the government’s timetable to be fair remains to be seen.
Posted by Heather Mitchell, who specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment matters including; contractual issues, unfair dismissal, redundancy and all areas of discrimination.
Heather Mitchell
0115 976 6553
heather.mitchell@brownejacobson.com
Tags: employment, employment tribunal, Michael Gove, schools, teachers, teaching standards
Posted in Education, Employment | No Comments »
