The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which replaced the EU Data Protection Directive, came into force on 25 May 2018 and now, together with the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) forms a large part of the data protection regime in the UK. The GDPR is intended to achieve a high level of security of… Read more »
Bullied Transgender Shop Assistant Wins Compensation
There can really be no excuse for a modern employer not to have in place comprehensive anti-discrimination policies that are fully understood by all workers. In one case that illustrates the consequences of failing to comply with the law in this respect, a transgender sales assistant who was subjected to playground-style bullying whilst working for… Read more »
Are You Ready for the World Cup?
The 2018 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup starts on Thursday 14 June with a match between Russia and Saudi Arabia. England’s first match, against Tunisia, is on Monday 18 June at 7:00pm. Employers should ensure that they have policies in place to deal with any issues that may arise and that these… Read more »
Mental Health Awareness Week – Acas Guidance for Employers
This year, Mental Health Awareness Week (14-20 May), which is hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, is focusing on stress. Whilst not a mental health problem in itself, stress can lead to depression, anxiety and other mental health problems. A recent survey commissioned by the Foundation and undertaken by YouGov found that 74 per cent… Read more »
Settlement Agreements and the Date of Termination
Where there is an existing employment dispute, the communications that take place in order to reach a settlement agreement are normally subject to ‘without prejudice’ privilege under common law – i.e. they are inadmissible as evidence before the court or Employment Tribunal (ET) – provided they constitute a genuine attempt to resolve the dispute and… Read more »
Ageism and the Hazards of Referring to Seniority or Length of Service
References to ‘seniority’ or ‘length of service’ can all too easily be read as impermissible references to an employee’s age, a point which was made by one case in which a sporting body narrowly defeated its former group marketing director’s claim that his dismissal was infected by ageism (Kelly v PGA European Tour). Mr Kelly… Read more »
Perceived Disability Discrimination
Under the Equality Act 2010, direct discrimination occurs when the reason for a person being treated less favourably than another is one of the protected characteristics covered by the Act. This means that someone who does not have a protected characteristic but has suffered less favourable treatment because they were wrongly thought to do so… Read more »
Government Consults on Aspects of the Parental Bereavement Bill
The Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Bill was introduced into Parliament as a Private Members’ Bill in July 2017. The Bill is being supported by the Government and is now wending its way through Parliament. The aim of the Bill is to give parents who are employed and have suffered the death of a child… Read more »
Video Surveillance at Work
Two recent decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) have looked at a worker’s right to privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to respect for private and family life. In such cases, the ECHR must examine whether the member state concerned has struck a… Read more »
Auto-Enrolment – Increase in Minimum Required Contribution Levels
Under the Pensions Act 2008, every employer in the UK has a duty to enrol certain staff into a pension scheme and contribute towards it. Employers are reminded that the minimum required contribution levels to auto-enrolment pension schemes or qualifying workplace pension schemes (based on a worker’s ‘qualifying earnings’) increase from 6 April 2018. From… Read more »