Since the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations were introduced in 2005, there have been some landmark cases and fines imposed. The first prosecution was of Peugeot in 2006 and resulted in a £10k fine. In June 2018 Balfour Beatty were fined £500K for failing to adequately control the risks to their employees between 2002…
Following the removal of tribunal fees, ACAS’ early conciliation is in high demand. Early conciliation is mandatory and ensures that an employee tries to resolve any workplace dispute before lodging a tribunal claim. In 2018, tribunal proceedings were avoided in nearly three quarters of early conciliation cases.
Employers are not allowed to discriminate against workers on the grounds of their religion or religious beliefs. In Page v NHS Trust Development Authority, the Employment Appeal Tribunal looked at whether an employee can be fairly dismissed for the way he expresses his beliefs, rather than the beliefs themselves.
A new LinkedIn report has looked at the language used in job adverts and found that certain things can deter a potential applicant from applying. The survey of more than 1000 employees and 250 recruitment managers found that more than half of women would be put off by an advert describing the workplace as ‘aggressive’, compared with only a third of men.
Restrictive covenants are clauses in employment contracts which protect a legitimate business interest by restricting what the employee can do both during and after their employment. The clause must be reasonable – but what is reasonable?
Remote working, communication technologies and social media can all blur the lines between home and work, professional and personal lives. With many colleagues also ‘friends’ online, inappropriate conduct on social media can easily have consequences in the workplace.
Agency workers who are employed for more than 12 weeks receive the same basic terms and conditions of employment as permanent staff. Does this mean an agency worker can use the regulations to insist on the same hours as a permanent employee?
Secret recordings of meetings by an employee can be admissible evidence in cases if the tribunal thinks it is relevant. However, secretly recording a meeting might amount to misconduct, depending on the employer’s rules.
An employer will not discriminate against someone because of their disability if the employer did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that the employee was disabled. Whether an employer could reasonably be expected to know about a disability is often referred to as ‘constructive knowledge’.
Employers have an obligation under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (NMWA) to keep pay records showing that they pay the national minimum wage (NMW). This requirement continues after employment has ended. The Employment Appeal Tribunal has looked recently at what happens when there is a TUPE transfer – does the transferor have to keep and produce those records for employees who have transferred to another employer?