Addison Lee suffers latest defeat in legal row over gig economy rights -The Guardian

‘Judge rules cycle courier should have been treated as employed worker with rights to holiday pay and the minimum wage.’

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The Guardian, 2nd August 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Recent Cases on the Braganza duty and the exercise of discretion: an intensification of scrutiny of the decision making process – Employment Law Blog

Posted June 16th, 2017 in contract of employment, evidence, news, remuneration by tracey

‘It used to be thought that in exercising a contractual discretion accorded to it, in relation for example to a bonus or a share plan, an employer could, so long as it addressed the matter honestly and genuinely, make subjective qualitative judgments which would only be reviewable if they were perverse or illogical. Braganza appears to have changed this.’

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Employment Law Blog, 12th June 2017

Source: employment11kbw.com

No back-peddling – workers’ rights are gaining pace in the gig economy – Cloisters

‘Following the recent decisions of the Court of Appeal in Pimlico Plumbers and the Employment Tribunals in Citysprint and Uber, companies in the gig economy suffered another blow yesterday with the decision in Boxer v Excel Group Services Limited. This case augments the growing number of judgments in which staff that are ostensibly self-employed are found to be “workers” in law, and hence entitled to basic rights such as holiday pay and rest breaks.’

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Cloisters, 24th March 2017

Source: www.cloisters.com

Plumbing the depths of employment status as the gig economy gathers steam – Cloisters

‘Akua Reindorf analyses Pimlico Plumbers v Smith in the Court of Appeal and provides a round-up of employment status reports and inquiries.’

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Cloisters, 10th February 2017

Source: www.cloisters.com

Adesokan v Sainsbury’s – Cloisters

‘Caspar Glyn QC considers the Court of Appeal’s judgment today that an employee can be summarily dismissed for negligence and that a wrongfully dismissed employee cannot normally maintain an ongoing claim for wages.’

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Cloisters, 24th January 2017

Source: www.cloisters.com

Employment law brief – New Law Journal

‘Ian Smith examines the recent cases that have been driving employment law.’

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New Law Journal, 18th November 2016

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

Employment Appeal Tribunal confirms that judges don’t work for a living… – Cloisters

‘… they do, however, faithfully and diligently discharge their office and can be, of course, in an employment relationship.’

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Cloisters, 31st October 2016

Source: www.cloisters.com

Junior doctors lose high court challenge over Jeremy Hunt’s seven-day contract – The Independent

Posted September 29th, 2016 in contract of employment, doctors, news by tracey

‘Junior doctors have lost their High Court case against their new staffing contract one week before it is to be imposed on them.’

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The Independent, 28th September 2016

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Hermes may face HMRC investigation into allegations of low pay – The Guardian

‘The government has asked tax inspectors to consider investigating allegations of low pay by self-employed couriers working for the doorstep delivery company Hermes.’

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The Guardian, 11th September 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Zero-hours contracts used far beyond short-term work, research says – The Guardian

Posted September 8th, 2016 in contract of employment, employment, flexible working, news by tracey

‘More than two-thirds of zero-hours workers aged over 25 have been with the same employer for more than a year, highlighting concerns that the insecure arrangements have become a permanent feature of working life for thousands of people.’

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The Guardian, 8th September 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Bitter taste for Byron staff – how to handle the immigration obligations – Cloisters

Posted August 25th, 2016 in contract of employment, employment, immigration, news, race discrimination by sally

‘Last week Byron, the upmarket burger chain called their employees into a meeting, which was cast as a meeting to teach them how to cook burgers. Immigration officers turned up to this (allegedly) stooge meeting (the employees were not there to learn how to cook burgers, but apparently to be investigated by the Immigration Service). Immigration detained and removed a number of employees – whom it turns out had been working on illegal passports and visas. It was reported that some of the employees were deported from the UK that evening, without the opportunity to say their goodbyes to family or colleagues.’

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Cloisters, 17th August 2016

Source: www.cloisters.com

Deliveroo contracts ‘written to scare couriers from going to court over workers’ rights’ – The Independent

‘Deliveroo has outsmarted Uber by reportedly building clauses into the contracts of its couriers to prevent them from taking the company to court over worker’s rights.’

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The Independent, 25th July 2016

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Uber faces court battle with drivers over employment status – The Guardian

‘Uber is facing a legal challenge from drivers who say that they should be recognised officially as workers at the company, as calls grow for new rights for the UK’s burgeoning army of self-employed individuals.’

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The Guardian, 19th July 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Cavanagh and others v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions – WLR Daily

Cavanagh and others v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2016] EWHC 1136 (QB)

The first and second claimant employees were, it was assumed for present purposes, employed by the defendant employer under civil service terms and conditions and various collective agreements. Under “check-off arrangements” in the employer’s deductions from pay policy, the employees had opted for their subscriptions to the third claimant trade union to be paid by deduction from their salary and paid by the employer to the union. Latterly the check-off arrangements had been included in the employer’s salary policy published on the staff intranet. When the employer ended the check-off arrangements, the claimants brought a claim against it, contending that the employees had a contractual right to insist that the employer continue with the arrangement enforceable by the trade union under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

WLR Daily, 13th May 2016

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Fiduciary Duties, Football, and the Fundamental Importance of the Contractual Relationship – Sports Law Bulletin

‘Can a senior employee be ordered to pay back his past contractual remuneration to his employer as a remedy for breach of fiduciary duty, in particular a duty to confess his own wrongdoing? There has been an increasing trend over the past few years for employers, outraged at the belatedly discovered wrongdoing of a trusted senior employee, to not only seek to justify summary dismissal on the basis of after-discovered gross misconduct but also to go a step further and try to recover the salaries or bonuses already paid to the employee prior to discovery of the misconduct.’

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Sports Law Bulletin, 7th June 2016

Source: www.sportslawbulletin.org

Filling the void: the Brexit effect on employment law – OUP Blog

‘Having been cast as unnecessary “red tape”, a burden on business, inflexible, uncompetitive and inefficient, it is widely assumed that a sizeable number of domestic employment laws derived from European Law will be in the firing line in the event of a Brexit. In a well-publicised written opinion produced for the TUC, the leading labour law barrister, Michael Ford QC, has provided some support for this assumption. He noted the vulnerability of these EU-derived employment rights and labour laws, and divided and categorised them according to whether a future UK government would be likely to repeal, dilute or preserve them. In this blog, I will probe what might fill any void created by the removal of employment rights rooted in EU law. Surprisingly, the common law would appear to have as significant a role to play as domestic legislation in this context. The potential involvement of the common law is somewhat paradoxical, particularly in light of its perceived ‘undemocratic’ credentials, it being a source of law crafted incrementally by unelected judges.’

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OUP Blog, 7th June 2016

Source: www.blog.oup.com

HELP! ONE CAN’T BREATHE FOR THE NON-COMPETE CLAUSE… – Littleton Chambers

Posted June 2nd, 2016 in competition, contract of employment, news, small businesses by sally

‘Carol Davis comments on the BIS plans to call for evidence on potentially stifling employment rules and considers a world without non-compete clauses.’

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Littleton Chambers, 23rd March 2016

Source: www.littletonchambers.com

Childcare vouchers and maternity leave – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling on childcare vouchers is at odds with the approach taken by most employers.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 9th May 2016

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Equality watchdog warns junior doctors’ contract is potentially illegal – The Guardian

‘The new contract ministers plan to force on NHS junior doctors discriminates against female medics and is potentially illegal, Britain’s equality watchdog has told the government.’

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The Guardian, 28th April 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Staff handbook provisions had contractual effect, rules Court of Appeal – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 27th, 2016 in appeals, contract of employment, contracts, documents, employment, news by sally

‘A recent decision by the Court of Appeal provides a “helpful summary” of the circumstances in which employment terms set out in separate documents should be considered incorporated into employee’s contracts, according to an employment law expert.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 26th Aoril 2016

Source: www.out-law.com