Month: November 2021

anti-bullying week

18 November 2021

As my 6-year-old daughter skipped down the drive proudly wearing odd socks she reliably informed me that this week (15 – 19 November) marks Anti-Bullying Week. Proudly holding a picture that she had coloured emblazoned with the words, “Be kind, be creative, be brave, be you. Repeat,” it struck me that this simple and beautiful […]

data breach by Tesco leads to compensation for worker whose data was lost

17 November 2021

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), all employers have obligations to store personal data about their employees in a secure manner, especially “special category data” which includes records relating to the employee’s health. Employees can ask to see all the data held about them by making a Data Subject Access request (DSAR). A Tesco […]

Were the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal Right in Determining a Courier Driver was a Worker per the Employment Rights Act (ERA)?

16 November 2021

A recent Court of Appeal in the Stuart Delivery Ltd v Augustine case The simple answer is yes but it all makes for interesting reading… The Claimant worked for the respondent between November 2016 and March 2017, delivering groceries to home addresses. Via an app, he would make himself available, in advance, to be in […]

Was Dismissal for Gross Misconduct Following a Diabetic Rage Unfair and Discriminatory?

15 November 2021

A Manchester Employment Tribunal in Dytkowski v Brand FB Ltd. found in favour of the claimant and stated that the employer should have given due consideration to the impact of his disability. At the age of six my sister was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She suddenly lost weight, became very poorly and ended up in […]

Employment Tribunal Confirms Being a Scouser is Not a Protected Characteristic

12 November 2021

Readers of a certain age may recall a sketch on the 1990s Harry Enfield show in which three moustachioed and bubbled-permed Scousers wearing colourful tracksuits traded insults and then urged each other to ‘calm down’. At the time it was generally regarded as harmless comedy, regional ‘leg pulling’ in a venerable British comedy tradition and […]

Climate Change is an Employment Issue

11 November 2021

The COP26 UN Climate Change Conference opened on 31 October 2021 in Glasgow, and will run until 12 November. The goal of the conference is ostensibly to accelerate action towards achieving the goals set out by the Paris Agreement of 2015: reaching global net zero on carbon emissions by mid-century, limiting the global temperature increase […]

Unlawful Inducements and Collective Bargaining

10 November 2021

The Supreme Court has its say (Kostal UK Ltd v Dunkley & Ors [2021] UKSC 47) With their decision in Kostal UK Ltd v Dunkley & Ors [2021] UKSC 47, the Supreme Court has handed down a seminal ruling on collective bargaining rights, and its first interpretation of S.145B of the Trade Union & Labour […]

Uber and Facial Recognition

9 November 2021

Drivers Fired by Racist Software Uber may be in hot legal water again. Two unions are backing legal action against the platform in the Employment Tribunal, alleging that the use of facial recognition software constituted indirect race discrimination against their members. The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) and App Drivers and Couriers Union […]

The Great Resignation is Well and Truly Here.

8 November 2021

Take a walk around London streets and you will see signs are everywhere: ‘HELP WANTED – ENQUIRE INSIDE’. Anyone who has dared to venture back out and visited a cafe, bar or restaurant will likely have encountered a waiter, waitress or owner looking harried and apologising for your wait, blaming being short staffed in the […]