Blog
From garage to unicorn – Employment law lessons for scaling tech teams
Catherine Bourne
20 December 2010
No automatic right to additional day off work for Wills and Kate’s Wedding
Those who have booked holiday to coincide with the Royal wedding on 29 April, thinking that they will get an 11 day holiday for the price of only three days’ annual leave, may need to think again. David Cameron’s announcement of an additional bank holiday on 29 April 2011 will not automatically increase employees’ holiday entitlements.
16 December 2010
In a pickle - compromise agreements and The Equality Act
The government has got itself into a real pickle over the section of the Equality Act which deals with compromise agreements. These are the agreements which are used in the vast majority of cases to confirm the resolution of employment disputes and to ensure the employee thereby agrees to withdraw and no longer to pursue claims against the employer. As everyone recalls, the Equality Act was rushed through in the dying days of the last Labour government. It draws together all of the now superseded discrimination statues that went before it. Section 147(5) provides that an independent adviser (required in order for a compromise agreement to be effective) cannot be someone who is a party to the contract or complaint, a person connected to such a person, or a person who is acting for either of these two.
15 December 2010
Council of Europe rejects plans for maternity leave
The European Parliament had put forward proposals to increase maternity pay to 20 weeks leave at full pay and to include rights to paternity leave in EU directives. However, the Council of Europe, which is the next step in passing legislation in the EU, rejected these proposals citing the cost as a major concern.
9 December 2010
Good news for Employers facing "Serial Litigants" in Employment Tribunal
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (‘EAT’) has this week provided some welcome news for beleaguered employers facing claims from vexatious litigants brining claims after applying for jobs that they never intend to take simply in order to claim discrimination when they are turned down. In Berry v Recruitment Revolution the President of the EAT (essentially its most senior judge) Mr Justice Underhill, emphasised people who bring discrimination claims in respect of job advertisements they say discriminate against them, but they have no genuine interest in actually getting the job, but hope they will be paid off to go away by the potential “employer, may be made to pay the legal costs of the organisations they sue. This runs contrary to the usual rule in employment tribunals that each party bears only its own legal costs – win or lose.
9 December 2010
Which way now for family friendly employment rights?
Looking forward to 2011, one of the areas of employment law in which we can expect important developments is “family friendly” employment rights.
