There has long been a misconception among HR professionals that a fair dismissal requires a separate investigation meeting and disciplinary hearing. This is simply not the case on every occasion and a ruling last week in the Appeal Tribunal has underlined this. As with every dismissal, each case will depend...

The Employment Tribunal has ruled that “ethical veganism” is a philosophical belief, and therefore a protected characteristic for discrimination purposes.   Whereas vegans do not eat any food derived from animals, ethical vegans do not use anything from animals, for example they do not wear leather products or use beauty...

THE LATEST CASE UNDERLINES THAT THOSE WE THINK OF AS SELF EMPLOYED, ARE OFTEN NOT SELF EMPLOYED AT ALL. The vexed matter of whether someone is really self employed has been the subject of an Appeal judgment again, and underlines that many of those used in business as self employed...

An important development is taking place in the application of TUPE. When a contract transfers, TUPE means that employees assigned to that contract will transfer as well. So the successful bidder in a tender, or purchaser of a business, gets the employees associated with it, and the liabilities that come...

In a case looking at the balance between the Right to a Private Life, and the right of an employer to use hidden cameras to catch an employee stealing, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that it did not breach the individual’s right to a private life if...

A case handed down this week has been a useful reminder as to the value of getting proper legal advice about dismissals.  Not because the advice will be of a high quality (although it should) but because if the advice is overheard or discovered on a desk, it cannot be...

At the date of writing it is World Menopause Day and ACAS have used the occasion to publish guidance for employers on dealing with staff affected by the menopause. It is an interesting read for any HR professional. The guidance suggests that employers should be aware of the link between...

The Appeal Tribunal has handed down an important reminder about the limits of keeping conversations off the record. Where an employer wants to divest themselves of an employee, the fact that a conversation with this intention is had at all can be used to show that the employer’s mind was...

When plans of employees during pre-booked holidays fall apart for any reason, whether that be the collapse of the holiday company, or unexpected illness, different rules apply according to exactly what the circumstances are. The basic rule is that the intention of the legislation, and therefore the thing that courts...

Resale Price Maintenance – the practice whereby manufacturers take steps to fix the prices at which retailers sell their products and prevent discounting -  has been clearly illegal in the UK since 1964 and is now caught by Chapter 1 of the Competition Act 1998 and, in the EU, by...