Blog
From garage to unicorn – Employment law lessons for scaling tech teams
Catherine Bourne
29 August 2014
Legal update: Can an employer increase the severity of a disciplinary sanction on appeal?
If an employer subjects an employee to disciplinary sanctions and that employee appeals, is an employer permitted to increase the severity of the sanction on appeal? This was addressed in the recent case of McMillan v Airedale NHS Foundation Trust.
29 August 2014
Legal update: Can an employee who resigns with immediate effect in repudiatory breach of contract be held to their notice period without pay if they refuse to work?
Yes, said the High Court.
In Sunrise Breakers LLP v Rodgers, the High Court confirmed that an employment contract can subsist, if the employer refuses to pay salary for the notice period, if the employee refuses to work it. The employer can, in such circumstances, obtain an injunction requiring an employee to observe the contractual terms, such as a non-compete clause and non-solicitation and non-dealing with clients restrictions, without compelling the employee to work.
29 August 2014
Legal update: Restrictive covenants - the risk of getting it wrong
In the case of Prophet plc v Hugget the Court of Appeal decided that, where a restrictive covenant has been poorly drafted, it will not read words into it, even if a literal reading offers the employer no protection at all.
27 August 2014
Avoiding and dealing with stress in the workplace
According to Harvard public health professors Murray and Lopez “By 2020 depression will rank second only to heart disease as the leading cause of disability world-wide”.
1 August 2014
Can employees bring claims if they have been employed illegally?
Should an employee who is employed illegally or who, together with his employer, is acting unlawfully, nonetheless, when things go wrong, be able to bring a discrimination claim? The recent Supreme Court decision in Hounga v Allen provides some insight.