This week we are once again looking at covenants (groans) but this time through the lens of wrongful dismissal. The question this week is: Can an employer enforce post-termination restrictions against an employee who has been wrongfully dismissed? Can the length of a notice period affirm a breach of contract? The Claimants, Mr Brown, Ms […]
This week we are looking at the enforceability of restrictive covenants. Restrictive covenants are a contractual clause that limits a former employee’s activities for a defined period of time post-termination in order to protect a legitimate business interest. These interests can include clients, staff, competitors and company information. Generally speaking, the enforceability of a covenant […]
Good morning and welcome back to your weekly case law update. Last week’s case was yet another employment status case concerning domestic carers. This week, to the delight of many readers, we move away from employment status and into the realm of High Court contract and negligence claims. Today’s case is a breach of contract […]
The end of September brings two things: The awakening of the singer from Green Day; and our monthly employment law update. Last month’s update had features on the Boris Johnson burqa scandal, outsourcing and an employee sacked for having a man bun. Meanwhile, last week’s case law update had cases on constructive dismissal and unfair […]
This month’s newsletter introduces the idea of the ‘joint employer’ following a landmark outsourcing case. This could be seen as another employment status headache for employers who adopt such practices. This case was heard before the Central Arbitration Committee, who hear most union recognition disputes. Outsourcing is the practice of having certain jobs being done […]
As work phones and the integration of technology into work life becomes ever more necessary, the effect on employees has become an issue. Smartphones are causing more and more conflicts between employees and employers due to employees being encouraged to exceed the number of hours that they have been contracted to work. This has led […]
Hello and welcome back to another case law update. Last week we looked at the principle of iniquity and discrimination. This week we are looking at a specific group of workers: agency workers. Agency workers are workers who have a contract with an agency but work temporarily for end user businesses. When an agency worker is on assignment they […]
Hello and welcome back to your monthly employment law update. Last month’s update had features on the World Cup, dress code & religious discrimination guidance and prisoners plugging the post-Brexit labour shortage. Meanwhile, last week’s case law update had two cases on trade union issues. We have a comprehensive update this month with some rather […]
Late last year, we covered the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) case of IWGB v Roo Foods Limited t/a Deliveroo. Whilst we don’t usually cover cases from the CAC this case was relevant to the gig economy because it held Deliveroo couriers were not eligible for union recognition because of a clause in their contract that […]
Good morning and welcome back to your weekly case law update. Last week we looked at unfair and wrongful dismissal, this week we have two cases. One will be looking at unlawful deductions from wages and the other is the Supreme Court ruling in the gig economy/employment status case of Pimlico Plumbers. Section 13 of […]
Zero-hours contracts and the gig economy are two of the biggest employment law issues of the year. Latest figures from the Office of National Statistics suggests numbers have risen by a further 100,000 over the past 12 months. The rise might be due to an increased awareness of the issue meaning workers know they are […]
This week’s case concerns less favourable treatment of part time workers. Regulation 5 of the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 states a part-time worker has the right not to be treated less favourably than a full-time comparator by their employer. Therefore, the question this week is: Does not extending a compulsory/statutory […]
The gig economy is an issue that urgently needed addressing this year. The Taylor Report, whilst lacking teeth, did outline some suggestions to improve conditions for the 1.1 million people currently doing gig work. The Government however, has not implemented the report well and the proposals do not really address any of the issues with […]
Sticking with the theme of transport based Respondents, our next case has shifted from airlines to train lines and concerns rest breaks and working time. The question in this case is: Does not having a continuous 20-minute rest break constitute a breach of the working time regulations? For most jobs, rest breaks are covered […]
