The adage that "too many cooks spoil the broth" is never more accurate than when applied to employment law. Joanne Owers, chair of the Employment Lawyers Association, believes that the kind of proposals leaked from Adrian Beecroft's report this wee  More...
28 October 2011 11:01

I have been paying sick pay to one of my part-time employees during a period of absence on medical grounds, but I have now discovered that he is still working for another employer at the same time as claiming to be too sick to work for me. I think this   More...
27 September 2011 09:33

A worker suffered age discrimination and was unfairly dismissed from his role in a leisure centre because his local authority employer wanted to avoid incurring his pension costs after he turned 50, an employment tribunal has found. Christopher Wals  More...
09 September 2011 15:17

One of my employees has just sent the company's entire salary list to all our staff. This has caused uproar among my workforce. I accept entirely that it was accidental, but I still want to dismiss him. Will that be legally fair? One preliminary que  More...
31 August 2011 08:48

South Tyneside Council v Ward FACTS Mrs Ward had worked for the employer since 1987. In 2003, Mrs Ward's team moved offices and both her line manager and department manager changed. Mrs Ward alleged that, following these changes, her job con  More...
29 August 2011 00:01

McBride v Falkirk Football & Athletic Club FACTS In December 2008, Mr May became overall manager of Falkirk Football & Athletic Club. Mr McBride was promoted to Mr May's old position of manager of the under-19 (U19) team. Crucially, Mr   More...
09 August 2011 15:51

The Department for Education (DfE) and Haringey Council's applications to challenge the ruling of unfair dismissal in the Sharon Shoesmith case have been rejected by the Supreme Court. Shoesmith was sacked by the former education secretary Ed Balls   More...
02 August 2011 15:56

There may be more than one or two senior executives at News Corporation thinking about their position right now, amid public clamour for heads to roll because of alledged serious wrongdoing went on while they were in charge. But does it necessarily foll  More...
18 July 2011 15:31

Sickness absence can be costly to employers, but so too can litigation if organisations fail to consider the legal issues involved. Employment law solicitor Victoria Othen explains. A 2008 review revealed that the annual cost of sickness absence to th  More...
15 July 2011 08:03

A man who was dismissed from his job following a stroke has been awarded nearly £400,000 in compensation for disability discrimination. Jonathan Jones, a branch manager in Wales for builders' merchant Jewson, was dismissed on the grounds of incapacit  More...
11 July 2011 16:45

I need to cut costs at my company, and I am thinking about introducing fixed-term contracts for new staff. Some of these will be working on a specific project, but for the rest, I just want to be able to let them go after a fixed period of time if I can  More...
03 May 2011 16:22

I've heard that the default retirement age (DRA) is being scrapped soon. What do I need to be aware of, and how can I retire employees once the DRA has gone? The DRA will be phased out from 6 April 2011, meaning that you will no longer be able to as  More...
23 March 2011 09:56

Arhin v Enfield Primary Care Trust FACTS Dr Arhin was employed as a consultant and assistant director by Enfield Primary Care Trust. In 2006, the trust undertook a reorganisation that resulted in Dr Arhin being made redundant on 30 June 2007.   More...
21 March 2011 00:01

We have a senior employee who is underperforming and we want him to go right away. We plan to pay him in lieu of his notice period, but he would be entitled to a significant bonus payment upon attaining one year's service, which would fall due during hi  More...
16 March 2011 12:22

Mehta v Child Support Agency FACTS Ms Mehta brought unfair dismissal proceedings against her former employer, the Child Support Agency (CSA). Ms Mehta was unrepresented at the two day employment tribunal hearing, while the CSA was represented by   More...
31 January 2011 14:18

One of my employees isn't working out, and rather than go through a disciplinary process I want to offer him a compromise agreement to protect myself against all claims. How should I go about this, and what issues should I watch out for? A common r  More...
19 January 2011 08:45

Reading the reports over the last few weeks that trail the coalition Government's plans for employment law reform, it's tempting to feel sorry for Andy Coulson, the embattled former editor of the News of the World, currently communication  More...
18 January 2011 10:20

The abolition of the default retirement age (DRA) has been a long time coming. Sian Thomas, director of social enterprise organisation Synuron, examines why there have been calls to delay it and offers practical guidance on how to prepare. This   More...
14 January 2011 10:31

The Government has confirmed that the Default Retirement Age (DRA) will be phased out from April this year, despite calls from business groups to delay the process. Currently, employers can use the DRA to compulsorily retire workers when they reach t  More...
13 January 2011 13:03

For many years there has been a general consensus that Europe and the UK have different approaches to employment law. This consensus is that the UK tends to emphasise individual rights whereas Europe favours a more collective age  More...
10 January 2011 13:02