The government has outlined plans to end the pay gap between men and women within a generation. It says the first step is the introduction of the living wage, which will be set at £7.20 per hour from April 2016 and rise to more than £9 per hour by 2020. This will be particularly helpful
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has provided a ruling clarifying how long an employee is entitled to wait before taking annual leave accrued while he was off work due to illness. The case involved an employee who had been absent on sick leave from April 2010 until his employment ended in February 2014. In July
Many employers are at risk of breaking pregnancy discrimination regulations despite wishing to support female staff, according to new official research. A survey commissioned jointly by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that most employers felt it was in their interests to support pregnant women and
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that trade union and health and safety meetings can count as working time for the purposes of employment law. The case involved two employees who worked 12-hour shifts for a company called Encirc Ltd. One also served as a health and safety officer and the other was a trade
An employee who was sacked over a risqué photo that he posted on Facebook has won his claim of unfair dismissal. The case involved 31-year-old Faisal Auld who had worked for the company Norbert Dentressangle for 10 years. In 2009 he had posted a photo of himself holding a work colleague in a headlock in
The government is to carry a review of Employment Tribunal fees, which have proved highly controversial since they were introduced in 2013. The fees are designed to discourage frivolous claims and ensure that the person taking legal action bears some of the cost. Employees currently have to pay up to £1,200 to bring a claim
A woman who was subjected to sexist bullying at work has been awarded nearly £250,000 in compensation. Julie Humphryes earned more than £100,000 a year as an architect with the firm, YOO. She told the Employment Tribunal that she became marginalised by the firm after she took maternity leave with her second child in 2012.
The time that workers who don’t have a fixed workplace spend travelling from home to their first job of the day counts as work time, according to the European Union’s Advocate General. The same principle applies to the time spent travelling back home after the last job of the day. The issue arose out of
There has been a significant rise in the number of claims coming before employment tribunals, according to the latest research. Figures published by the Law Gazette show there were 4,390 single claims in the third quarter of 2014 compared with 3,790 in the first quarter. That was a jump of 16%. The increase should be
An employee has won a disability discrimination case because his employer failed to take into account a change in his circumstances over a three-month period. The case involved an employee who had broken his back in 1995 and had spent 11 months in hospital before he could return to work. Over the coming years he