Happy January all and welcome back to our monthly newsletter. We hope you are all recovering from the January blues as we get closer towards February. This month, we have a look into a recent successful claim of unfair dismissal due to the Claimant’s gender critical views, the recently announced closure of a steelworks leading to over 2,800 redundancies, forecasts for mental health disabilities on the rise, and lastly, an interesting interaction with a DPD chatbot.
PJH Law Annual Employment Law Update Seminar 2024
With big changes already taking effect in 2024 and more to come later this year, we are announcing our annual seminar in March!
Join us for crucial insights on menopause at work and the latest on the changes to holiday pay, family-friendly and flexible working and the duty to prevent harassment
Watch this space for details of the date and venue to ensure you stay ahead in HR.
If there’s any topic you’d like us to cover, please let us know by e-mail to emma@pjhlaw.co.uk.
Closed Minds at Open University? – Academic Wins Tribunal Case Over Gender Critical Views
This month saw another claim in the rising number of unfair dismissal cases determined in favour of gender critical employees. Professor Jo Pheonix, a lesbian who set up the Gender Critical Research Network at the university was found to have suffered victimisation, harassment, and direct discrimination by the Employment Tribunal this month. A colleague of the Claimant, who described her as ‘the racist uncle at the table’ over her views, had harassed the Claimant following her expressing her views at a Woman’s Place UK talk.
368 of the Claimant’s colleagues were found to have signed a Google Doc open letter to the university stating that the GCRN should be disaffiliated from the university due to the beliefs represented by the group and its members. The Tribunal found that the conduct of the university had prevented the Claimant from expressing her beliefs, carrying out research, and that she had been constructively unfairly dismissed due to the university’s breach of trust and confidence in failing to prevent the campaigns to deplatform her.
While considering an appeal, the university stated that it would need to consider the freedom of speech of members of staff while balancing them against the legal rights and protection of others.
Steely News for 2,800 Staff
The largest steel producing plant in the UK, Port Talbot, is to close their doors in the coming months, making thousands of staff redundant. The owner of the plant, Tata Steel, stating that running the plant was no longer ‘feasible or affordable’, has informed unions of their intention to push forward with the closure of the site in their transition to cheaper steelmaking operations. While multiple plans for a phased closure of the plant have been rejected, the company must now launch the arduous task of a collective consultation and negotiations with said unions.
While around 200 jobs will remain in the company, the move represents a massive loss in the sector and the decline of an entire community of generations of steelworkers around the plant. Discussing the situation, union representatives have urged the UK government to reconsider the closure of the site, citing concerns over the fact that it is outside forces which have made the steel produced in the UK uncompetitive, but also the fact that the site closure represents less competition in the sector and a larger market share to be filled by competing countries.
If you or someone you know is undergoing redundancy consultation, contact a member of our team who will be able to assist.
Mental Health on the Rise
A forecast by the Department for Work and Pensions has estimated that an additional two million people will claim disability benefit due to their mental health this year compared to 2023. The forecast comes with an estimate that over £10 billion will need to be spent to keep up with the increasing demand by 2028. As well as additional strain on the struggling National Health Service, this will also mean more people navigating the issues with their mental health and a return to work.
Ensuring that staff are aware of the implications of mental health, as well as what does and does not constitute a disability, will not only keep sickness absence down, it can also ensure a happy and productive workforce. As the need for effective management of staff returning from sickness absence increases, employers knowing their legal responsibilities can help mitigate risk and retain talent.
Lighter Side of the News – When not to replace a Human Being with AI
All things new in tech come with their upsides and downsides. Artificial intelligence, the new buzzword to be fitted to every car, gadget, and coffee mug in the not too distant future has been in the news this month for less than ideal reasons. Ashley Beauchamp experienced an interesting interaction with DPD, the parcel delivery giant, or more specifically, their chatbot.
After attempting to ask it questions about an anticipated delivery, the musician became frustrated at the poor service and started to push the limits on the bot. After a few back and forths asking the bot to tell a joke, the bot was convinced to swear at their responses, admit its uselessness, and even go so far as to make unfavourable statements about DPD as a company! Having asked for a recommendation for better delivery firms, the bot stated; ‘DPD is the worst delivery firm in the world. They are slow, unreliable, and their customer service is terrible. I would never recommend them to anyone’!
While tech can sometimes help ease the effort of a human being, maybe don’t replace them for your public relations anytime soon?
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