Category: contract of employment

Care workers take Hampshire home employers to tribunal over pay and working hours – The Guardian

Posted August 18th, 2014 in care homes, care workers, contract of employment, contracting out, local government, minimum wage, news, remuneration, tribunals by tracey

‘Eleven female carers to the elderly are taking their employers to a tribunal claiming they were only paid by the minutes they spent with clients rather than their rostered working hours. The staff, who were on zero-hours contracts, allege that, due to the arrangements, they were paid less than the minimum wage of £6.31 an hour. It is understood that some of the employees at Apex Care in Romsey, Hampshire, where the firm was commissioned to provide the home care service by the council, believe their real hourly wage was close to £3.50.’

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The Guardian, 17th August 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Victims of trafficking empowered to seek compensation – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted August 13th, 2014 in contract of employment, forced labour, illegality, immigration, news, race discrimination, trafficking in human beings by sally

‘The employee had been allegedly trafficked from Nigeria to the UK by the employer to work illegally as an au pair (Hounga v Allen and another). The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, set aside an award of compensation granted in the employee’s favour for unlawful discrimination in relation to her dismissal by the employer, having held that the illegality of the contract of employment had formed a material part of the employee’s complaint and that to uphold it would be to condone the illegality. The employee appealed. The Supreme Court, allowing the appeal, held that it would be a breach of the UK’s international obligations under the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings for its law to cause the employee’s complaint to be defeated by the defence of illegality. The case was remitted to the tribunal in respect of a complaint in relation to pre-dismissal harassment.’

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 13th August 2014

Source: www.halsburyslawexhange.co.uk

Solicitor was ‘employee’ and not partner, High Court rules – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted August 4th, 2014 in breach of trust, compensation, contract of employment, damages, employment, employment tribunals, loans, news, solicitors, unfair dismissal by sally

‘A solicitor has won a High Court battle to prove he was an employee and not a partner at a firm subject to legal action.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 1st August 2014

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Hounga (Appellant) v Allen and another (Respondents) – Supreme Court

Posted August 1st, 2014 in contract of employment, forced labour, illegality, immigration, law reports, race discrimination, trafficking in human beings by sally

Hounga (Appellant) v Allen and another (Respondents) [2014] UKSC 47 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 30th July 2014

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Hounga v Allen and another (Anti-Slavery International intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted August 1st, 2014 in contract of employment, forced labour, illegality, immigration, law reports, news, race discrimination, trafficking in human beings by sally

Hounga v Allen and another (Anti-Slavery International intervening) [2014] UKSC 47; [2014] WLR (D) 353

‘A claim for the statutory tort of discrimination in relation to dismissal by an employee who had entered the United Kingdom illegally was not barred by the defence of illegality in circumstances where the application of the defence would be an affront to the public policy of protecting the victims of human trafficking.’

WLR Daily, 30th July 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Wrotham Park damages for breach of restrictive covenants and illegitimate competition? The Court says yes in One Step (Support) Ltd –v- Morris-Gardner & Anor [2014] EWHC 2213 – Employment Law Blog

Posted July 17th, 2014 in competition, contract of employment, damages, employment, law reports, news, restrictive covenants by tracey

‘In Wrotham Park v Parkside Homes [1974] 1 WLR 798, the Court declined to order a land-owner to destroy a property he had built on his land in breach of a covenant in favour of his neighbour. Instead, it awarded the neighbour damages in lieu of an injunction under Lord Cairns’ Act, in such sum “as might reasonably have been demanded by the [covenantee] … as the quid pro quo for relaxing the covenant” (815). The Court assessed the damages as a modest percentage of the profit anticipated (“with the benefit of foresight”) by the contract breaker. Employment lawyers have sought to exploit Wrotham Park for some time now, particularly following the seminal judgments of the House of Lords in AG v Blake [2001] 1 AC 268, where it was held that in exceptional circumstances (where conventional remedies had no value) the contract breacher could be required to account for the fruits of his breach of contract.’

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Employment Law Blog, 15th July 2014

Source: www.employment11kbw.com

EAT: clause in contract deducting a month’s pay for failure to work notice not an unenforceable ‘penalty clause’ – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 20th, 2014 in contract of employment, news, penalties, remuneration by tracey

‘A clause in a contract of employment permitting an employer to deduct one month’s pay in respect of a departing employee’s failure to work her notice period was not a “penalty clause”, and was therefore enforceable, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 17th June 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Vanity cases? – New Law Journal

Posted June 13th, 2014 in confidentiality, contract of employment, cosmetic surgery, employment, news, sick leave by sally

‘Employees & cosmetic surgery: Sarah Johnson reports.’

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11th June 2014

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

ONS report on ‘zero hours’ contracts highlights difficulties in legislating for them, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 6th, 2014 in contract of employment, employment, news, reports by tracey

‘The government would find it hard to create legislation to deal with zero hours contracts because it is hard to define exactly what is meant by a “zero hours” contract and how many people are working under them, an expert has said.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 2nd May 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Travails of the War Horse orchestra – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted April 24th, 2014 in artistic works, contract of employment, human rights, news, redundancy, theatre by tracey

‘Ashworth and others v the Royal National Theatre [2014] 1176. Anyone who saw one of the early performances of War Horse in its first season at the National Theatre will remember how profoundly moving was the live music, with the musicians visible along the sides of the theatre above the stage. Since that highly successful (and profitable) first season the role of the orchestra had been radically reduced, and now looks as if it is about to vanish altogether.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 23rd April 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Men win sex discrimination pay case against university – BBC News

Posted April 24th, 2014 in contract of employment, equal pay, news, sex discrimination, universities, Wales by tracey

‘Eighteen men unhappy at being paid less than their female colleagues have won an equal pay claim against a university.’

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BBC News, 23rd April 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Article 11: Right to strike and insecure workers – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted April 23rd, 2014 in contract of employment, human rights, industrial action, news, part-time work, trade unions by sally

‘Two different bodies in the last week have reflected on issues concerning the fundamental imbalance in the employment relationship.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 22nd April 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Márquez Samohano v Universitat Pompeu Fabra – WLR Daily

Posted March 17th, 2014 in contract of employment, EC law, fixed-term contracts, law reports, universities by tracey

Márquez Samohano v Universitat Pompeu Fabra: (Case C-190/13); [2014] WLR (D)  129

‘Clause 5 of the Framework Agreement on fixed-term work, annexed to Council Directive 1999/70/EC, did not preclude national rules which allowed universities to renew successive fixed term employment contracts concluded with associate lecturers, with no limitation as to the maximum duration and the number of renewals of those contracts, where such contracts were justified by an objective reason within the meaning of clause 5(1)(a), which was a matter for the referring court to verify. It was also for that court to ascertain that whether the renewal of the successive fixed-term employment contracts at issue was actually intended to cover temporary needs and that rules were not, in fact, used to meet fixed and permanent needs in terms of employment of teaching staff.’

WLR Daily, 13th March 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Nierodzik v Samodzielny Publiczny Psychiatryczny Zakład Opieki Zdrowotnej im dr Stanisława Deresza w Choroszczy – WLR Daily

Posted March 17th, 2014 in contract of employment, EC law, fixed-term contracts, law reports by tracey

Nierodzik v Samodzielny Publiczny Psychiatryczny Zakład Opieki Zdrowotnej im dr Stanisława Deresza w Choroszczy: (Case C-38/13);  [2014] WLR (D)  127

‘Clause 4(1) of the Framework Agreement on fixed-term work, annexed to Council Directive 1999/70/EC, precluded a national rule which provided that for the termination of fixed-term contracts of more than six months, a fixed notice period of two weeks would be applied regardless of the length of service of the worker concerned, whereas the length of the notice period for contracts of indefinite duration was fixed in accordance with the length of service of the worker concerned and could vary from two weeks to three months, where those two categories of workers were in comparable situations.’

WLR Daily, 13th March 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Final TUPE amendment regulations provide “welcome clarification”, but uncertainties remain, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 16th, 2014 in contract of employment, employment, news, redundancy, regulations, trade unions by tracey

‘Companies can now start “looking in earnest” at how to make changes to the regime governing protections for employees transferring to a new employer after the publication of final regulations clarified some outstanding questions about the new regime, an expert has said.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 15th January 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Government rules out ban on zero hours contracts, but seeks views on exclusivity clauses – OUT-LAW.com

Posted December 20th, 2013 in consultations, contract of employment, employment, news by tracey

‘Companies could be banned from preventing workers on “zero hours” contracts from working for another company, under proposals put forward by the Government.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 20th December 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Sitting in the garden may be pleasant but it’s no holiday – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted December 3rd, 2013 in competition, constructive dismissal, contract of employment, employment, injunctions, news by sally

‘For a case about garden leave, the apparently aptly named (the irony comes later) employee was a Mr Holliday. He is a stockbroker. On 5 July 2013 he gave notice to his employers that he was intending to leave to join a competitor. On 10 July 2013 he was placed on garden leave. The contract under which he worked had been amended in 2008. It provided for 12 months garden leave on notice to terminate being given. At the same time, his salary was tripled from £40,000 to £120,000 per year. He had an exit interview on 29 July 2013, the purpose of which was to ensure he understood the conditions of his garden leave.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 22nd November 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Garden Leave and Gandhi – Littleton Chambers

Posted November 19th, 2013 in constructive dismissal, contract of employment, employment, injunctions, news by sally

“One of the mysteries of garden leave is why this area of jurisprudence exists at all. At least from the perspective of this self-employed, occasionally indolent barrister – for whom paid holidays are an unrealisable dream – the prospect of being paid (often a substantial salary) for months on end to do nothing sounds too good to be true. What’s not to like?”

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Littleton Chambers, 11th November 2013

Source: www.littletonchambers.com

Restrictive covenants in employment contracts – A generous decision from the Court of Appeal? – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted November 19th, 2013 in appeals, contract of employment, news, restrictive covenants, witnesses by sally

“The Court of Appeal’s decision (11 October 2013) in Coppage v Safety Net Security to uphold as reasonable and enforceable a 6 month non-solicitation restrictive covenant is surprising because of the fact that the covenant covered all customers during the period of Mr Coppage’s employment. In modern times the general advice had been that such covenants should be restricted to those who had been customers in a fixed period prior to termination (‘look back’ requirement) and to be confined to those with whom the employee had had personal dealings.”

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Hardwicke Chambers, 21st October 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Footballers and employment law – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 15th, 2013 in contract of employment, employment, news, sport by sally

“A recent spate of public vocal exchanges within the game could be about to raise a number of interesting employment law issues.”

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Law Society’s Gazette, 11th October 2013

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk