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Third-Party Harassment: A repeal too far

Removal of employers’ liability for repeated harassment of employees by members of the public is misguided, warn Jonathan Exten-Wright and Suky Tour Employees whose employer knowingly and regularly puts them in a situation where they are subject to harassment from a customer or service provider could be left defenceless by the repeal. The Plan for …
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Public Interest Disclosure: A new whistleblowers’ charter?

Christine O’Brien and Kim Sartindiscuss proposed changes to the law protecting those who reveal misconduct or wrongdoing Vicarious liability can only arise where an employee has carried out an unlawful act and there is no provision in the current legislation making it unlawful for employees to victimise whistleblowers. With a multitude of scandals hitting the …
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Unfair Dismissal: Removing contractors at a client’s request

In light of a recent ruling, Julian Yew and Jon Heuvel consider whether it is fair to dismiss an employee at the behest of a third party Employers often invoke SOSR dismissals at a client’s behest to appease that client. As Bancroft demonstrates, it is important to consider such a request fairly and properly to …
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Flexible Working: Levelling the playing field – but at what price to employers?

Kevin Palmer analyses the government’s proposals for shared parental leave and for an extension of the right to request to work flexibly The Children and Families Bill will extend the right to request flexible working to all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous employment. Parental or care-giving status will no longer be a pre-requisite for bringing …
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Back To Work Schemes: Back to the drawing board

Alicia Oddy looks at the Court of Appeal’s recent judgment on the lawfulness of schemes that put jobseekers on unpaid work placements There is a question mark over whether jobseekers enrolled on these schemes may now be able to bring a claim against the businesses employing them for breach of contract and, in particular, a …
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Termination Of Employment: Limits on use of an injunction

A recent ruling suggests that the courts will be reluctant to restrain employers from using their disciplinary procedures, Sarah Fitzpatrick explains Recent cases have demonstrated that the employer’s ability to terminate the contract is not unfettered, particularly if it has a contractual disciplinary policy which it is required to follow to effect a lawful dismissal. …
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Sexual Harassment: Indecent proposal

As the Liberal Democrats have found, the reputational damage caused by failing to deal with allegations of inappropriate behaviour in the workplace can be immense, report Jeffrey Jupp and Patricia Leonard Employers are vicariously liable for the discriminatory acts of their employees, which take place during the course of employment, regardless of whether they are …
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Bankers’ Bonuses: Will the proposed cap fit?

Alex Beidas examines the potential impact of the EU’s planned limit on bonuses in the financial sector There is a real concern that when the cap takes effect, EU-headquartered firms that operate globally will struggle to compete for the best talent outside Europe. The EU’s proposed bonus cap looks likely to become law in 2014. …
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TUPE: Back to the future

Richard Kenyon and Lee Harding examine the government’s proposals to scrap the service provision change test and the requirement to provide employee liability information Repealing the employee liability information obligations makes transfers potentially easier for transferors but at the expense of some certainty for transferees. On 17 January 2013 the coalition government issued a consultation …
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Agency Workers: Reform of recruitment sector regulation

Employment businesses and agencies could become effectively unregulated if government inspections are removed, warns Adam Hartley The most striking feature of the consultation paper is that it makes no concrete proposals on how the regulatory framework should be adapted to reflect the changing labour market and business environment within which agencies for temporary work are …
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