There has been yet another chapter in the thorny issue of whether or not a sick worker’s failure to request holiday affects their right to carry over holiday. Following a further appeal in the case of
NHS Leeds v Larner [2012] EWCA Civ 1034 to the Court of Appeal, Alastair Currie reviews the decision and the impact this could have on holiday rights for sick workers.
Jane Wallenstein looks at some of the big employment stories of July 2012, including the announced decision to charge fees in the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal; the most recent statistics in employment litigation; an update on the position regarding maternity leave and surrogacy and, finally, a recent case which has further clarified the difference between the definitions of worker and employee.
This question was considered recently by the EAT in the case of
Packman t/a Packman Lucas Associates v Fauchon UKEAT/0017/12, as Victoria McNeel explains in this article.
In keeping with the jubilee theme, Gemma Hill reports on the Queen’s Speech which was delivered at the State Opening of Parliament on 9 May. As always, it sets out the Government’s legislative programme going forward, which, we were told "will focus on economic growth, justice and constitutional reform". Within the various announcements made during the speech there were a number of employment-related Bills which are set out in more detail in this article.
We last reported on this case back in October of last year, following the hearing in the High Court. The decision of the High Court was that Dr Mattu’s dismissal was not carried out in breach of contract and, further, that Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights was not engaged during the disciplinary process as his dismissal did not prevent him from practising as a consultant cardiologist. They held that that he would only be so prevented if the General Medical Council removed or suspended his registration.
Jaspal Basra takes a whistle-stop tour of a few of the more prominent employment law announcements and cases from this month, including the Governments response to the consulation on the reform of the Equality and Human Rights Commission; the judgement in the EAT case of
Seawell Ltd v Ceva Freight (UK) Ltd concerning TUPE provisions; and the recently amended identification checking guidelines from the Criminal Record Bureau.
As promised in last month’s edition, Alessandra Gettins has produced a detailed case report on the recent decision in the Supreme Court in the case of Seldon v Clarkson Wright and Jakes which looked further into the area of direct age discrimination and on what grounds it can be objectively justified.
By 26 May 2012, all UK organisations that operate a website will need to obtain consent from visitors to its website in order to continue using cookies. The EU rules on the use of internet cookies changed following amendments made to the E-Privacy Directive. Those changes were implemented in the UK last year following amendments to the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
Another case has come through the courts relating to inappropriate Facebook usage by an employee. As you may recall we reported on the rise of dismissal cases relating to employees' use of Facebook and other social media a few months ago.
Joanna Smart takes a look at some key employment law developments which took place in April, most notably the fact that the anticipated decision of the Supreme Court in Seldon v Clarkson Wright and Jakes was published on 25 April.