employment tribunal

Why don’t my clients let me have my day in court?

4th February 2011

I was due to represent an individual client in a three day tribunal hearing on 16, 17 and 18th February. Once again, the case has settled shortly before the hearing, just as I was clearing my desk of other work in order to prepare for the case. Whilst we have a very successful track record […]

Consultation on resolving workplace disputes: Has the Government finally cracked it?

28th January 2011

The Government has published its consultation on reforming the employment tribunal system: ‘Resolving workplace disputes’. Will it work? With rising unemployment, tribunal claims are on the increase. As a result, employers are spending more time and money resolving what can often feel like unmeritorious claims. With our economic recovery still in question and the recent […]

Dismissals after the abolition of the Default Retirement Age: Can you still retire your staff?

24th January 2011

We recently wrote about the abolition of the default retirement age (DRA) and warned about the fact that the last date to use the current system is 5th April 2011 with a termination date no later than 30th September 2011. With the recent publication of the ACAS guidance “Working without the default retirement age” we […]

Will the proposed “Employers Charter” make employers lives easier?

17th January 2011

The government proposes to launch consultation on what is being called a new “Employers Charter”. The proposals were discussed last week at a jobs summit at Downing Street, attended by a number major British employers. The proposals include a rise in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from one year to two and a fee […]

Dealing with an employee suffering from paranoid delusions.

7th January 2011

In Martin v Devonshires Solicitors, the EAT has approved a tribunal decision to dismiss claims of unfair dismissal and victimisation brought by an employee who had been dismissed after lodging eight internal grievances. The grievances started from an allegation that two partners had made discriminatory comments against a secretary after they found out that she […]

CAN THE SYSTEM CATCH UP WITH THE LIKES OF JOHN BERRY?

19th November 2010

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has just dismissed four appeals from John Berry against recruitment agencies and employers. All four Respondents had posted job adverts requesting “school leavers” or “recent Graduates”. Mr John Berry, age 54, claimed that he had been discriminated against because of his age by these adverts even though he failed to […]

Dismissal for some other substantial reason

16th November 2010

The Nottingham employment tribunal has decided that the Acas Code applies to a dismissal for some other substantial reason In April 2009, the Statutory Disciplinary Procedure was repealed and replaced by a new Acas Code on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures that affected the outcome of an unfair dismissal claim and the calculation of damages. The […]