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Understanding the Employment Rights Bill
Rob Maddocks
On Thursday 10th October 2024, the Government published details of the Employment Rights Bill.
Key features of the Bill are:
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Sexual harassment claim rejected
Adrian Fryer
A warehouse worker has lost his discrimination claim after complaining about his boss having the name ‘Willy’. In Aylmer v Dnata Catering, the Claimant objected to his boss, William McGinty, referring to himself as ‘Willy’. The Claimant asked his boss to avoid using the name because of its other common use as a slang term for penis. He said in an email to his boss: “If you don’t remove it and keep insisting on being called that – I consider it as sexual harassment.” When his complaints were not followed up, he claimed that he had been victimised on the basis that his initial complaints related to sexual harassment.
Continue ReadingHigh Court rules that employee whose duties were re-assigned was constructively dismissed
Adrian Fryer
Contracts of employment often include a provision which states that employers are able to alter an employee’s powers and responsibilities. A recent High Court decision serves as a reminder that such clauses are not without limit, and must be exercised in such a way that trust and confidence in the employment relationship is not undermined.
Continue ReadingEmployment Appeal Tribunal looks at test for justification in indirect discrimination claims
Adrian Fryer
Indirect discrimination occurs where an employer has a provision, criterion or practice (known as a ‘PCP’) which places people with a certain protected characteristic, and also places the person complaining, at a particular disadvantage when compared to people without that characteristic. An example might include a restrictive working pattern which women (who are acknowledged to statistically take the higher childcare burden) find more difficult to comply with than men. An employee impacted by this work pattern could allege indirect discrimination.
Continue ReadingWhat’s in a word? The importance of clear drafting when writing contracts
Adrian Fryer
Most employers use standard contractual documentation which is issued to new recruits without much thought. A recent Court of Appeal decision, relating to a commercial contract, serves as a reminder that a lax approach to contractual wording can have big implications, and not just in a commercial context. It is just as important for contracts of employment and settlement agreements. Employers need to make sure they have covered exactly what they want to cover.
Continue ReadingWorkers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 shelved
Adrian Fryer
It has been confirmed that the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 will not be brought into force this autumn, as originally expected. The Act gave workers with uncertain hours the right to request predictability about their working days and times, the number of hours worked, and the length of their contract. The Act received Royal Assent in September 2023 and ACAS had published a draft Code of Practice on handling requests made under it. This now all looks to have been shelved.
Continue ReadingEAT rejects Wicked Vision v Rice and follows Court of Appeal decision in Osipov in whistleblowing detriment claim
Adrian Fryer
Employees have two distinct claims which they are able to bring in relation to whistleblowing: a claim for whistleblowing detriment under s47B Employment Rights Act 1996, and a claim of automatic unfair dismissal on grounds of whistleblowing. There has been some uncertainty in recent times as to whether an employee who claims that they have been dismissed on grounds of whistleblowing can bring, in addition to an automatic dismissal claim, a claim against their employer that the act of dismissal was a detriment on grounds of whistleblowing. The distinction is an important one. The remedies for each claim are different.
Continue ReadingAnti-Islamic aspects of Claimant’s belief in English nationalism not a protected belief under Equality Act 2010
Adrian Fryer
Under Equality Act 2010, employees have protection against discrimination on grounds of ‘religion or belief’. Whether or not a person’s views should be regarded as a ‘protected belief’ is often a contentious preliminary issue. Tribunals are guided by principles set out by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Grainger v Nicholson, something which the EAT had to consider in a recent case involving a belief in English nationalism.
Continue ReadingTribunal erred by failing to consider if it was a reasonable adjustment to hold-off dismissing disabled employee until merger was completed
Adrian Fryer
Where an employer knows (or reasonably ought to know) that an employee is disabled, the duty to make reasonable adjustments is engaged. Employers must take reasonable steps to remove any disadvantage at which an employee is placed by reason of their disability. A recent EAT case looked at whether it could be a failure to make reasonable adjustments, where an adjustment was raised at appeal stage.
Continue ReadingEAT confirms tribunal was correct to allow claim for indirect associative discrimination under s19 Equality Act 2010
Adrian Fryer
‘Associative discrimination’ occurs when someone faces a disadvantage but does not hold the relevant protected characteristic (meaning either sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender reassignment, pregnancy or marriage) themselves. UK law already recognises direct associative discrimination and harassment. For example, in Coleman v Attridge Law, the European Court of Justice ruled that an employee could claim discrimination due to her child’s disability.
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