March 2019 #198 – Law Journals

Employee vetting: A clean slate? Criminal record checks in employment

Katie Davenport explores how the GDPR and attitudes to data privacy are changing the approach to employee background checks ‘Workers should only be vetted where there are particular and significant risks to the employer, clients, customers or others, and where there is no less intrusive and reasonably practical alternative.’ There are over 11 million people …

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Equality Act: Bearing the burden – proving race discrimination in the employment tribunal

The Court of Appeal has restored the long-established burden of proof test in discrimination cases, reports Steve Peacock ‘Claims of discrimination that do not have a sound factual basis remain unlikely to succeed at an employment tribunal.’ The test for proving race discrimination and the process an employment tribunal must follow to establish whether an …

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Equal pay: Court of Appeal rules on comparing staff at different sites

As Asda loses another round of its long-running fight with a group of female shop workers, Fiona Macdonald considers what employers can do to avoid falling foul of equal pay law ‘It is not surprising that this is a heavily contested battle: if successful, the claimants will be entitled to arrears going back many years …

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Pay reporting: Government pay reforms – where to now?

Joanna Chatterton and Ed Livingstone discuss new and existing pay reporting legislation and consider the need for employers to treat the legislation as more than simply a box-ticking exercise ‘On 8 February 2019, the Government Equalities Office published two guidance notes aiming to assist organisations with identifying, understanding and remedying their gender pay gaps.’ Legislation …

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Injunctions: Enforcing confidentiality obligations in the #MeToo era

Charles Wynn-Evans reviews recent litigation highlighting some of the legal issues at play when employers seek to enforce confidentiality obligations in a settlement agreement or an employment contract ‘The question is whether, in all the circumstances, it is in the public interest to breach the duty of confidence.’ While the debate about whether to prohibit …

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Staff procedures: Create or update a dignity at work policy

Jo Tunnicliff and Antonia Blackwell continue our series with advice on how to refresh employers’ policies protecting staff from discrimination, harassment, bullying and unequal treatment ‘If implemented effectively, a dignity at work policy can provide a framework to deal with inappropriate behaviour in the workplace and help to avoid legal problems.’ A dignity at work …

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Legal news: Employment update

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Michael Halsey and Mark Stevens round up the latest case law and developments affecting employers and their advisers ‘The Hermes agreement demonstrates a different approach to the ever-evolving legal position of those engaged in gig-economy work.’ Hermes creates ‘self-employed plus’ status for its couriers Following last year’s employment tribunal finding that Hermes couriers were workers …

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Brexit: Securing EU nationals’ right to work

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Whatever course Brexit takes, employers should help their workers with EU nationality in proving they have the right to remain in the UK, writes Samar Shams ‘Pre-settled status and the settlement scheme application process are imperfect but, for most EU nationals already resident in the UK before Brexit, it is a good idea to make …

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