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Dismissal Procedures: Beware of changing reasons

Employers need to take care if they alter the grounds for dismissing an employee part-way through the disciplinary process, warn Ann Robson and Imogen Bourke ‘This case involved the employer relying on a different decision to dismiss an employee at the appeal hearing from the one that it relied on at the initial disciplinary hearing.’ …
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Book Review: All things to all people

Nicholas Stott reviews the third edition of The Employment Tribunals Handbook: Practice, Procedure and Strategies for Success The Employment Tribunals Handbook: Practice, Procedure and Strategies for Success Alan Payne, John-Paul Waite  and Jonathan Dixey 3rd ed., 2011, Bloomsbury Professional Ltd £60.00 ISBN: 978 1 84766 672 7 This book, written by three barristers, is a …
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TUPE: Quick fix or in a fix?

Fixed-term employment can be a useful tool in an outsourcing situation but there are dangers when such contracts come up for renewal, writes Nicola Ihnatowicz ‘TUPE operates to transfer employees with their existing contractual rights, so an employee who is in the middle of a fixed-term contract will transfer with that same contract of employment.’With …
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Unfair Dismissal: It’s time to simplify the law

The leaked Beecroft report may not go the right way about it but there is a case for far-reaching reform of the unfair dismissal regime, argues James Davies ‘It is fair to say that there are serious flaws with unfair dismissal law that would warrant a fundamental review of its purpose and effectiveness.’Abolishing unfair dismissal …
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Discrimination Awards: Why the cap doesn’t fit

Christopher Hitchins casts doubt on the government’s ability to limit damages for discrimination given the restraints of EU law ‘The government is considering implementing a system of caps on discrimination awards in the UK. Some of these changes have already been announced and a proposed implementation date has been set.’ Against the backdrop of the …
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Overseas Workers: Beyond borders: the scope of UK employment rights

Michael McCartney and Rebecca Johns discuss the UK courts’ jurisdiction to hear claims brought by employees working abroad ‘The territorial limits that apply to the various statutory employment rights will also only be relevant if the tribunal is applying English law to the dispute in question.’ The issue of which UK employment rights overseas workers …
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Illegality: Mistake or misrepresentation?

Sarah Young analyses a recent case on whether a worker knew he was not entitled to claim self-employed status ‘As a general rule, an illegal contract is unenforceable and most statutory employment rights, such as the right to bring an unfair dismissal claim, cannot be enforced under it.’ The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has recently …
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Gender Equality: Achieving diversity across the board

Anne Sammon looks at the latest moves aimed at increasing the number of women in senior positions in UK and European companies ‘No longer is board diversity being seen as just an equality issue. It is now also being seen as crucial for corporate governance, with increasing amounts of research suggesting that gender diversity on …
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Retirement Notices: Moving the goalposts

A recent EAT ruling means that the repealed statutory retirement procedures could come back to bite employers, warn Michael Cole and Charlotte Stafford ‘Under the Regulations, employers needed to serve employees with notice of retirement six to 12 months before the intended date of retirement.’ In the diary of most employers, 5 April 2011 was …
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