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National Minimum Wage
The rules relating to the National Minimum Wage are complex. One reason for this is the need to ensure that employers do not seek to avoid their obligations by nominally paying workers the correct rate but then making artificial deductions that effectively reduce the...
Redundancy
Before dismissing an employee for redundancy a fair employer will take reasonable steps to look for an alternative – including offering the employee a chance to be considered for suitable vacancies elsewhere in the organisation. In Aramark (UK) Ltd v Fernandes the...
Wrongful Dismissal
In Hall v London Lions Basketball, Mr Hall was a professional basketball player who resigned when his employer failed to pay him the wages that it owed him. He claimed a constructive wrongful dismissal and that claim was upheld. He had been employed for a fixed term...
Constructive Dismissal
In Phoenix Academy Trust v Kilroy, Mr Kilroy was the acting principal of a school that was taken over by a new academy trust. He was accused of gross misconduct and believed that the charges against him had been manufactured in an attempt to force him out. A...
Trust & Confidence
Sometimes working relationships just break down and can’t be repaired. The employer may feel that it is left with no alternative but to dismiss an employee who simply cannot work effectively with a manager or key colleagues. A dismissal on these grounds can fall...
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
September and October this year see the scaling back of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme under which millions of employees have been placed on furlough while the Government issued grants to employers to cover the cost of their wages. The scheme ends altogether on...
Marriage Discrimination
One of the least often claimed grounds of discrimination is marriage and civil partnership. Prejudice against married people is hardly widespread and there are few circumstances in which an employer might treat an employee less favourably because they were married....
Transfer of Undertakings – changing contracts
The Transfer of Undertakings Regulations (known as TUPE) provide that an employee’s terms and conditions cannot be changed because of the transfer of their employment from one employer to another. It has been argued in the past that this provision only applies to...
Right to Work
An employer must be careful to avoid employing someone who does not have the right to work in the UK. Doing so knowingly is a criminal offence and inadvertently employing someone who is working illegally can lead to a civil penalty of up to £20,000 for an employer who...
Unfair dismissal – gross misconduct
In considering a wrongful dismissal claim, the Tribunal needs to decide whether or not the employee is guilty of gross misconduct. When it comes to unfair dismissal that is precisely what the Tribunal should not do – at least until it comes to assess compensation. It...
Wrongful dismissal
An employee dismissed without notice will often claim both unfair and wrongful dismissal. These are two distinct claims. Unfair dismissal is concerned with the reasonableness of the employer’s decision to dismiss the employee. Wrongful dismissal is a contractual claim...
Redundancy
It is now common practice for employers to select employees for redundancy based on their performance at an interview. Often this process appears to be similar to a recruitment exercise, with the employer selecting those who will be offered a place in the new...
Flexible Furlough Scheme
From this month the new Flexible Furlough Scheme is in operation. Under the old scheme an employee had to be furloughed for at least 21 days and could perform no work in that time. The new scheme allows for a furlough of any period and for employees to work part-time....