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Disciplining workers for conduct that may be connected to a disability

27 May 2024

It’s an unfortunate reality that people with disabilities suffer a range of mistreatment in the workplace. This mistreatment will not always take the form of overt remarks regarding their disabilities, it can often appear more insidiously through unspoken disadvantages or non-facilitation of the particular needs that arise from their condition. The Equality Act 2010 (‘Equality […]

It’s hard to get a job over the age of 50 – ageism at work

24 May 2024

We are missing a trick when it comes to a skills gap and apparent labour shortage. We have the resources, we have the people, we are just blind to the fact that people over 50, able and willing to work, are simply ignored in recruitment processes.  There is a whole swathe of invisible and involuntarily […]

Guidance on preparing a List of Issues in the Employment Tribunal

15 May 2024

An early and sometimes key battleground in an employment tribunal claim is in the preparation of a “List of Issues”. For those not familiar with the term, this is a list of all the issues in a claim which the tribunal is asked to decide. There are usually issues of fact (i.e. whether the situation did happen […]

Did the tribunal have jurisdiction to consider employment tribunal claims against US based Respondents?

13 May 2024

The short answer is yes, as held by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in TwistDX Ltd & Others v Armes & Ors.  Dr Armes and his wife worked for a UK business that developed amplified DNA technology. Dr Armes sold his shares in 2010 to a US-based company, which in turn was purchased by another […]

Long-term sickness absence from work reaches record high

9 May 2024

The number of people absent from work due to long-term sickness has reached a record high of 2.8 million.  This is an increase of 700,000 over the past three years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has stated that unemployment rates have risen to 4.2 per cent and that the number of people of working […]

Discrimination – the burden of proof

7 May 2024

In Royal Mail Group Ltd v Efobi, the Supreme Court confirmed the continuation of a two-stage approach the tribunals must take in deciding whether an employer discriminated against a worker.  Stage 1 – is there a prima facie case?  The Claimant must first show “facts from which the tribunal could decide, in the absence of […]

Huge increase in sickness absence from work in the wake of the pandemic

3 May 2024

Statistics have revealed an increase in economically inactive adults since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. These are working age adults who are not employed and are not formally unemployed whilst looking for work. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published data in April 2024, showing that the percentage of economically inactive adults has increased by approximately 2 […]

If I could reform the Employment Tribunals system

2 May 2024

This blog came to mind randomly when I was walking in the woods. This is not allowed – thinking about work and the law when I am in my quiet place. But it just arrived and there was nothing I could do other than to remember it and write it down when I got to […]

Determining the true reason for dismissal 

1 May 2024

The EAT has confirmed the approach employment tribunals should take when determining the true reason for an employee’s dismissal in Gary Lewis v Dow Silicones UK Limited.  Previously, in Kuzel v Roche Products Ltd, Lord Justice Mummery provided guidance on how to consider a claim for automatic unfair dismissal. These principles, some of which can […]