Employment Update - January 2012

Supreme Court confirms entitlement to annual leave can be satisfied by time off when not required to work

In Russell and others v Transocean International Resources Limited and others the Supreme Court has agreed that entitlement to annual leave under the Working Time Regulations 1998 can be satisfied during periods when...

Equal pay: material factor defence and incremental pay scales

In Secretary of State for Justice (sued as National Offenders Management Service) v Bowling the EAT has overturned a tribunal's decision that a female employee was entitled to equal pay with a male comparator who...

TUPE and administration: pre-transfer dismissal automatically unfair even though no transferee identified

In Spaceright Europe Ltd v Baillavoine and another the Court of Appeal has held that a pre-transfer dismissal can be "connected with the transfer" within the meaning of TUPE 2006, and therefore potentially automatically unfair...

EAT confirms 'Britain's Got Talent' contestant not covered by discrimination law

The EAT in Czikai v Freemantle Media Ltd and others has endorsed the findings of an employment tribunal that a Britain's Got Talent contestant was not covered by discrimination law. It agreed that the purpose of the auditioning was to...

New statutory payment rates for 2012 and annual compensation limits announced

The proposed rates of statutory benefits, which will apply from early April 2012, have been announced. They are as follows:

Pensions: auto-enrolment delay for small businesses

The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed that the staging dates for businesses with fewer than 50 employees to begin automatically enrolling their staff into pension schemes will be put back by at least a year. The pensions minister...

Cameron to end trade union officials being funded by taxpayer.......

David Cameron, speaking in the House of Commons, has pledged to bring an end to the practice of taxpayers' money being used to pay the salaries of full-time union officials in the workplace. Following December’s massive public sector...

While Clegg has promised to get tough on executive pay

Nick Clegg has indicated that the government will announce proposals in the new year to "get tough" on excessive executive pay in the private sector.A recent report published by the High Pay Commission found...

Charging fees in employment tribunals and the EAT

The Ministry of Justice has launched its consultation, Charging Fees in Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal, seeking views on two significantly different fee charging structures which might be adopted for charging fees in...

Employees still reluctant to disclose mental health issues

A survey carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), of 2,000 people across the UK, revealed that just four in ten people would feel comfortable disclosing a mental health problem to their employer. The research...

Summary of the main expected developments together with the likely start dates

At the start of what is going to be another busy year of changes to employment law, we set out below a handy summary of the developments expected this year:...

Matrimonial issues in the workplace

The knock on effect of divorce or separation often makes itself felt in the workplace and this subject will therefore be of interest to employers. It is likely to be helpful for employers and their professional advisers to have an idea of...