The Court of Appeal has considered whether it was discriminatory on the grounds of belief to dismiss an employee for asserting her right to own the copyright in her own creative works. In Gray v Mulberry, the employee refused to sign a standard contract assigning copyright in the work she produced whilst employed to Mulberry.
Is a dismissal unfair if the employer changes an investigation report following advice from an in-house lawyer? Not in this case, said the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Dronsfield v The University of Reading.
A philosophical belief might be a protected characteristic if it:Is genuinely held and isn’t just a viewpoint or an opinion;
We all find it difficult to switch off from technology. Work email being accessible on phones has blurred the lines between home and the office. Companies worried about these blurred lines are taking steps to stop employees from working outside work hours.
When temperatures fall to below freezing this can have a serious impact on someone’s health. Cold conditions can cause the body temperature to drop as can damp wet weather. This can cause illness, permanent damage and in some cases death.
Hot on the back of the #MeToo movement, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published some non-statutory guidance on the use of confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements in discrimination cases.
If an employee wins a discrimination claim, the employment tribunal will award compensation for injury to feelings.
Under section 45A of the Employment Rights Act 1996, workers have the right not to be treated badly by their employer for refusing to work in breach of the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR). If such a refusal is the reason (or main reason) for an employee’s dismissal, their dismissal will be automatically unfair.
Religion and the rights of the LGBTQA+ community have had some high-profile clashes. An employment tribunal has recently considered whether a doctor’s religious beliefs ‘trump’ the right of someone who is transgender to be addressed by their chosen pronoun (he, she, they).
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a term used to describe a number of illnesses affecting the lungs, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.