The Supreme Court today has scrapped employment tribunal fees which were introduced in 2013. The trade union, Unison, brought the case to court after a significant decline in the number of cases following the fee implementation. Official government statistics show that there was a 79% reduction in cases over three years. In July 2013, 7240
A woman who was sacked by an employment agency after becoming pregnant has been awarded £25,000 compensation. Daniella Lewandowski started working for the Bradford District Apprenticeship Training Agency in 2015. She had a minor role at first but was then employed on a £33,000 a year fixed contract. She said the agency told her that
Thousands of women have won an equal pay claim estimated to be worth a total of £50m in a dispute dating back over several years. The 6,000 women all worked for Glasgow City Council in a variety of low-paid roles including carers, caterers and cleaners. The issue arose following several successful pay claims against the
A mother who was sacked because her employers felt that caring for her daughter was more important to her than her job has been awarded £18,886 in compensation. Maria McKeith started working part-time for the Ardoyne Association in Northern Ireland in 2010 while also acting as primary carer for her daughter. She was dismissed in
A teacher with bipolar disorder has been awarded £346,000 compensation in a disability discrimination case in which she says she was “bullied and victimised”. Nicola Sinclair was forced to resign from the Bishop of Llandaff Church in Wales High School after developing mental health issues. She had worked there for 23 years. Three months after
More than 350 employers have been named and shamed for failing to pay the national minimum wage rates. It’s the largest list of its kind so far produced by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and names 360 businesses that underpaid 15,520 workers a total of £995,233. Employers in the hairdressing, hospitality and
A woman who was sacked while on sick leave has won her claim of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination against Marks & Spencer. Sally Roach had worked as a visual merchandiser for the company for 18 years until she had to take a year off work after a hysterectomy operation in 2014. She was dismissed
A bike courier with the delivery service City Sprint has won the right to be classed as a worker rather than as self-employed. Maggie Dewhirst, from London, worked for the firm for two years making healthcare deliveries. She is one of the growing number of people in the so called gig economy, being paid on
The directors of 11 different companies across the UK have been disqualified after employing illegal workers. The disqualifications all follow investigations by the Insolvency Service. The businesses include four restaurants, three butchers, a café, a clothing manufacturer and a petrol station. The 11 directors have each been banned from being company directors or being involved
Employers have had to pay out more than £83,000 under the tribunal penalty regime that came into force last year. Firms now face penalties of up to £5,000 for non-payment of tribunal awards under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act. The regime applies to judgments made on or after 6 April, 2016. The Department