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Disability inclusion: What has the pandemic done for equal opportunities?

Jane Mann, Ed Livingstone and Kerry Kirby report on the impact of the remote working revolution over the past two years on employers’ duties towards disabled employees and job applicants, and give some practical tips on disability inclusion in the post-Covid workplace Now is a good time for employers to reassess the range of adjustments …
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Legal news: Employment update

Peter Summerfield rounds up recent developments affecting employers and their advisers Employers should act with caution if they are contemplating dismissing an employee who has recently raised a health and safety matter. Vet’s assistant who raised Covid safety concerns was unfairly dismissed An employment tribunal has found that a veterinary assistant who raised concerns with …
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The year ahead: What’s on the employment law horizon for 2022?

Eleanor Doubleday considers what the next 12 months may have in store for employers and their advisers 2022 may be the year when the Employment Bill originally promised in 2019 will finally begin its journey through Parliament. 2020 and 2021 were not the years that we were expecting. For many, the Covid-19 pandemic brought with …
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Best practice: Developing fertility-friendly workplaces

Helen Burgess looks at why it’s important for employers to support employees having fertility treatment and what actions they can take to help them Going through fertility treatment is a really stressful and difficult time for anyone; anything an employer can do to minimise that is going to help the employee and foster goodwill. Infertility …
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Unlawful inducements: When can unionised employers make direct offers to workers?

Matt Robinson and Adam Turner review the Supreme Court’s recent decision on whether an employer unlawfully attempted to bypass its workers’ recognised trade union during pay negotiations The requirement that employers must first exhaust their collective bargaining processes before making a direct offer throws the spotlight on when exactly the process has been exhausted. In …
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Discrimination: Avoiding claims from pregnant workers and new mothers – lessons from recent case law

Beth Hale and Naomi Latham explore six cases which highlight the potential pitfalls for employers when managing workers who are pregnant or who have returned from maternity leave Efforts made to reach a compromise position and to consider individual circumstances will help employers demonstrate that they have acted proportionately and will help to justify the …
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Whistleblowing: Disclosures, detriments, dismissals and a directive – whistleblowing decisions and developments in 2021

Annabel Mackay summarises recent case law on whistleblowing and considers the potential impact of new EU legislation in this area An unusual feature of the whistleblowing regime is that the threshold for the claimant to succeed in showing causation is lower in a detriment claim than in a dismissal claim. In the past 12 months …
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Hybrid working: How to manage the risks of proximity bias

Favouring those employees who spend the most time in the office could result in legal claims from hybrid workers, warns Helen Corden Due to proximity bias, a manager may develop a practice of allocating work to individuals who are physically present in the office as opposed to those working at home. Companies around the world …
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Legal news: Employment update

Lauren Bholé rounds up recent developments affecting employers and their advisers The right to request carer’s leave will be a day one employment right, so employees will not need any minimum length of service before they can request the leave. Government publishes its response to the carer’s leave consultation In March 2020, the government launched …
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Legal reform: Keeping the ‘flex’ in flexible working requests

Louise Skinner and Thomas Twitchett review the government’s proposals to extend the right to request flexible working The proposed changes – if implemented – are expected to encourage employers and employees to have meaningful discussions around flexible working arrangements. On 23 September 2021, the UK government published a consultation document entitled Making flexible working the …
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