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Previous Issues
April 27th, 2010
April 16th, 2010
April 8th, 2010
April 1st, 2010
March 25, 2010
May 4, 2010
1) Putting in legover time at the office
2) Stress in the charity workplace – ‘a modern day plague’, says Unite
3) Equality payout for female cleaners in Birmingham will lead to more losers than winners
4) Dealing with bullying
5) Lloyds whistleblower Andrew Constantine loses £1m unfair dismissal case
6) An act of God - but do you have to pay your employees?
7) How union membership has grown - and shrunk
8) Responsibility for Paying Wages Where no Contract Exists
9) Judge rejects ‘irrational’ idea that Christianity deserves special protection from law
10) A criminal record should not close the door on a career
Putting in legover time at the office
A firefighter K wasn’t even allowed to drive the fire engine and her colleagues took bets on which of them she would have sex with first. She responded by sleeping with her boss in an attempt to stop him giving her such a hard time. It was not a successful move. Eventually she quit and sued for harassment and bullying. The case was recently settled in her favour and the judge called for lessons to be learnt. “Hopefully some procedures will be put in place to make sure this conduct does not occur again,” he said. Such a pronouncement is optimistic in working life, where untoward things routinely and inevitably happen between men and women.
Stress in the charity workplace – ‘a modern day plague’, says Unite
Stress in the not for profit sector workplace will come under the microscope as Unite launches a campaign which will involve more than 2,500 of its reps surveying their members. Recent Unite research revealed that more than 90% of voluntary sector staff feel their well-being is being undermined due to the financial crisis facing charities. Unite said: ‘Stress in the workplace is like a modern day plague – it is virulent and can strike at any time, any place and is indiscriminate as to who its victim is.’
Equality payout for female cleaners in Birmingham will lead to more losers than winners
The historic victory for female workers, worth tens of millions of pounds, will lead to others. But who will foot the bill? The tribunal found in favour of some 4,500 female workers employed by the council. The GMB union declared that its women members in Birmingham can now expect substantial payouts, "probably worth £30 million". Thousands of other women settled and took money from Birmingham council in return for dropping their legal action. The ruling has been described as a watershed moment, one that will pave the way for countless other claims against councils. But this is unlikely to be the case. The GMB estimates some 80% of Britain's councils have already settled similar actions. There will be a trickle of copycat claims, not a flood.
Dealing with bullying
Claims that Gordon Brown bullied his staff have sparked discussions about bullying in the workplace. It is believed that this costs UK businesses billions of pounds each year, leading to sickness absence and increased turnover of staff. So, how should employers tackle this difficult issue? There is currently no legislation dealing with bullying itself. However, employees may be able to bring a claim in the employment tribunal using discrimination legislation and, in particular, provisions relating to harassment (defined as ‘unwanted conduct' that ‘has the purpose or effect of violating a person's dignity or creating an offensive, intimidating or hostile environment'). In serious cases, an employee may be able to bring a harassment claim in the civil courts. There is also an implied mutual duty of trust and confidence in employment relationships. If an employer fails to protect its employee from bullying, it may be in breach of this implied duty.
Lloyds whistleblower Andrew Constantine loses £1m unfair dismissal case
Andrew Constantine, the former head of UK tax compliance at Lloyds TSB, lost his claim for whistleblowing, unfair dismissal and age discrimination, after a London employment tribunal found against him on every point. In his testimony Mr Constantine made a series of allegations against Lloyds over the way it had managed its tax affairs, accusing senior managers at the bank of supporting a regime in which employees were encouraged to find ways of helping the company maximise the amount of UK tax it avoided.
An act of God - but do you have to pay your employees?
The closure of European airspace on 15 April 2010, following the eruption of Iceland's volcano triggered 6 days of travel chaos with tens of thousands stranded whilst on holiday or business trips. The dilemma for employers is how to deal with the disruption in staff levels and, more significantly, how to treat the period during which employees were unable, through no fault of their own, to return from annual leave or business trips. In an employment context, it is the employee's responsibility to turn up for work. Failure to do so could mean that the employer could terminate the employment without notice under article 120 of the Labour Law. Where the employee is temporarily unable to attend work owing to a natural disaster, it is arguable that the employment contract is suspended, as it cannot be performed by the employee. The employee could not be entitled to payment during this period.
How union membership has grown - and shrunk
New figures from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills show that trade union membership fell by 165,000 last year. The number of those in employment who are members of a trade union fell by 2.3% to 7.1 million from 2008 to 2009.Union membership peaked in the late 1970s at over 13 million, and then fell dramatically in the 1980s as Margaret Thatcher took on the trade unions. Membership then stabilised and the figure has remained between seven and eight million since the mid-1990s. In 2009 23.5% of the UK workforce belonged to a trade union while 46.6% were employed in a workplace where a trade union was present.
Responsibility for Paying Wages Where no Contract Exists
A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal case helps to illuminate the legal rights that workers can expect from those they work under, even where is there is no formal contract in place. Ms P commenced work with company A. As part of her job, she undertook personal assistant duties for Dr T, the managing director of the company. She was informed that the company was in financial difficulty, and was notified in writing that she would not be receiving any further wages from the company. However, Dr T contacted her and asked her to return to work, stating that the name of the company had changed. Ms P agreed but received pay-slips but no payment. The EAT found that, to all intents and purposes, she had been working personally for the doctor, and so he was personally responsible for paying the outstanding wages she was due. This case demonstrates that, even where there is no formal, legal arrangement in place, the facts of the matter can sometimes give a clear indication as to the true nature of an employment relationship.
Judge rejects ‘irrational’ idea that Christianity deserves special protection from law
Christianity deserves no protection in law above other faiths and to do so would be “irrational, divisive, capricious and arbitrary”, a senior judge said. He also delivered a robust dismissal to Lord Carey of Clifton, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, who had warned that a series of recent court rulings against Christians could lead to civil unrest. He called his idea for a specialist panel of judges to hear cases involving the practice of religious beliefs “deeply inimical to the public interest”. To give one religion legal protection over any other, “however long its tradition, however rich its culture, is deeply unprincipled”, the judge said. It would give legal force to a subjective opinion and would lead to a “theocracy”.
A criminal record should not close the door on a career
One of the toughest challenges for business leaders is to recognise potential and identify the best talent to improve their companies. Whenever I'm asked what I look for personally, I always say passion, talent and potential – regardless of what candidates have done before in their lives. Some employers in a similar position might turn down a candidate with a criminal record, for example, even if he or she meets every other criteria and is well suited to the role. It is short-sighted and unfair to refuse to hire anyone who might have made a mistake in the past.
