A woman who suffered facial paralysis after being grabbed by the neck and held in a headlock by a colleague at a Christmas Party has won her claim of constructive unfair dismissal. The judge criticised the employers for not investigating the case properly, even though incident had been captured on CCTV. Molly Phillips worked for
The government has unveiled what it describes as the “largest upgrade in a generation to workplace rights”. Ministers say the extensive new measures contained in its Good Work Plan will give businesses greater clarity on their obligations and ensure the enforcement system is fair and fit for purpose. The new legislation will close a loophole
Uber says it will continue its legal fight against the ruling that its drivers should be classed as workers. It made the statement after the Court of Appeal upheld an Employment Tribunal decision in 2016 that drivers were entitled to workers’ rights including the minimum wage. The tribunal at the original hearing heard that Uber
A recruitment agency’s employment contracts, which failed to specify the required number of working hours, have been ruled unlawful by the Employment Tribunal. The case was brought by 191 workers. They were employed under different contracts, but their terms and conditions were materially the same. They were guaranteed “”a rate of pay at least equivalent
The law provides wide-ranging protection against disability discrimination but that does not extend employees who’ve been found guilty of stealing. This was illustrated in a recent case involving Mr A Wood, who worked for Durham County Council. Mr Wood was found to have taken some items from Boots the Chemist without paying. He was accused
A bus driver who was dismissed after testing positive for cocaine has been awarded more than £37,000 compensation. Ken Ball, aged 62, worked for First Essex buses. He was dismissed after failing a saliva test for cocaine in 2017. He brought an unfair dismissal claim to the Employment Tribunal, saying that his test may have
A job centre work coach who was sacked over a series of offensive tweets was unfairly dismissed. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal in a case involving the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and one of its employees, Mr Ayub Patel. The department had strict policies on staff using social media. The
Working parents who lose a child will soon be entitled to claim parental leave. The new Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Act will give all employed parents the right to two weeks’ leave if they lose a child under the age of 18 or suffer a stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy. Employed parents will
A woman who felt victimised after being accused by her boss of faking anxiety and depression to get a big pay-out has been awarded £8,000 compensation. The case involved Melanie James who started working for Capital Care Service in 2016 as a credit controller. She signed off work sick in March 2017 and was diagnosed
Barclays bank has been held liable for sexual assaults committed by a doctor it hired to carry out medical examinations on employees. The bank required its employees to attend a medical assessment as part of its recruitment process. Between 1968 and 1984, the assessments took place unchaperoned at the doctor’s home. The doctor died in