unfair dismissal

You wait for a bus and three come along at the same time: proposed employment law reforms announced today

23rd November 2011

Changes in employment law used to be a bit like waiting for a bus. You would spend most of the year with the same regulations and then a couple of times a year a few changes would come along all at once (April and October). While we presume the timing for introducing new legislation won’t […]

Is it a good thing to give an employer the right to treat an employee unfairly?

27th October 2011

There has been a lot of noise in the media and the blogosphere about the leaked report written by venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft, which has been reported as recommending the abolition of unfair dismissal laws. We have seen two extracts purporting to be from that report. Working on the principle that what we have seen […]

Unfair dismissal: will the increase in the qualifying period help businesses?

7th October 2011

This summer has been a quiet time on the employment law front. However, the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness (and party conferences) arrived in a heat wave of proposed changes to legislation. George Osborne had two notable announcements to make regarding employment law. Firstly, the government intends to raise the length of service requirement […]

Employment Tribunal Statistics: a reminder of how the recession has hit UK employers

9th September 2011

Every year, the Tribunal Service, which includes the employment tribunals, publishes its statistics. Usually, not a great deal changes from one year to the next. However, the 2009/10 statistics showed that there had been a 56% increase in claims brought in the employment tribunals. With 236,100 claims over all, this was the highest total ever. […]

Facebook and social media: saving on the cost of a private investigator

4th July 2011

It has been a while since we blogged and I can only say it is because June has been the month for dealing with disciplinary issues. Both of us have been deep in realms of investigations, witnesses, minutes and hearings: a time consuming but often rewarding part of our job. One of those disciplinary issues […]

When do you ask for return of company property and disconnect from intranet access?

14th March 2011

On Friday I sat through a meeting where an employee went through half of a box of tissues, recounting the trauma of her removal from her employer’s premises in the context of a termination by way of a generous compromise agreement. At the start of a redundancy or disciplinary process, we are often asked to […]

Dealing with stress at work in 12 practical steps

17th February 2011

Stress is the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them. According to the HSE, about 1 in 7 people say that they find their work either very or extremely stressful (Psychosocial working conditions in Britain in 20071). Depression and anxiety are the most common stress-related complaints […]

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 […]

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 […]