Blog
From garage to unicorn – Employment law lessons for scaling tech teams
Catherine Bourne
17 November 2011
Employers beware of mistaken belief that employees are not entitled to work in the UK
The recent Employment Appeal Tribunal case of Okuoimose v City Facilities Management (UK) Ltd has highlighted the potential risks for employers if they suspend or dismiss an employee on the mistaken belief that the employee is not entitled to reside and work in the UK.
16 November 2011
Fall-out from the Brodie Clark saga – how not to deal with alleged misconduct
I write this before the dust has settled following Brodie Clark’s appearance before the Home Affairs Select committee. This blog doesn’t wish to comment on who knew what or what policy was or was not in force, but the situation is a terrible example of what damage acting before investigating can do. We have been here before with politicians interfering in an employee’s employment when a high profile disaster strikes - does anyone remember Ed Balls’ ill fated meddling in the Sharon Shoesmith case?
3 November 2011
Is the proposal to dispense with unfair dismissal claims a good thing for employers?
The abolition of unfair dismissal
27 October 2011
Managing the impact of the challenges posed by social networking in the workplace
New research from the Institute for Employment Studies has highlighted the difficulties some employers experience when setting standards of behaviour for the increasing use of social networking tools (including Smart phones, internet, tweeting and blogging) in the workplace. This research prompted the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) to produce practical guidelines for employers on how to respond to challenges such as ‘Time theft’, defamation, Health and Safety issues, Cyber bullying, Data Protection and Privacy issues, Employer liability, social exclusion and discrimination.
27 October 2011
Default Retirement Age – or Not?
Changes to employment law happen twice a year, in early April and early October. The changes at the beginning of this month were fairly modest, but the biggest was the final disappearance of the default retirement age, in other words the age at which a forced retirement will not trigger a possible age discrimination claim. But, without a default retirement age, will employers be able to set their own individual retirement ages for their workforce, or sections of their workforce, rather than dealing with each employee’s retirement individually.
