January 2010 Archives - Employment Law Advocates

Christmas and New Year Office Closure

01-Dec-2011 / Employment Law Advocates / Comments Off

Our office will be closing for the holiday period at 12.00pm on Friday 23rd December 2011 and will reopen again until 10.00am on Tuesday 3rd January 2012. Advocates will be mostly unavailable but may have intermittent access to email or telephone during this period. If you are an existing client, please contact your Advocate directly by email or telephone. If you are a new client or are seeking advice, please email info@employmentlawadvocates.com or complete the enquiry form on our Contact Us page ...

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The Church and the Equality Bill

27-Jan-2010 / James Medhurst / 3 Comments

It has been reported that the House of Lords has defeated several government amendments narrowing the exemption from sexual orientation¬†discrimination¬†currently allowed to religious organisations. This is slightly misleading because one form of the wording rejected appears in the original draft of the bill and the only amendment since¬†was at the request of church leaders, to remove any doubt that ministers will be¬†covered by the exemption. This followed a legal opinion¬†by John Bowers QC¬†for the Christian Institute. What is particularly unfortunate ...

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Countdown to Buckland – 15 days to go

24-Jan-2010 / James Medhurst / No Comments

In Buckland, Judge Clark sets out a four stage test. Firstly, is there a breach of trust and confidence? Secondly,¬†does acceptance of¬†that breach¬†entitle¬†an employee to resign,¬†using the¬†authority of Sharp v Western Excavating? Thirdly, is the dismissal for a potentially fair reason? Fourthly, is the dismissal fair? I want to concentrate on the second stage and it is necessary to go straight to the case of Woods. My first observation is that Woods expresses some reservations about Sharp, which it is said ...

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Employee’s entitlement to legal representation

21-Jan-2010 / Rad Kohanzad / No Comments

Where disciplinary proceedings could ultimately terminate an employee’s career, it is highly likely that s/he should be entitled to legal representation at the disciplinary hearing. In the case of The Governors of School X v G EWCA Civ 1, the Court of Appeal found that the employee in question was entitled to legal representation. M, a 24 year old teaching assistant, was accused of having kissed and had sexual contact with a 15 year old student, which tended to show ...

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Continuing acts

19-Jan-2010 / James Medhurst / No Comments

The decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Allen v Jobcentre Plus¬†raises an interesting question. It is common practice for tribunals, when dealing with a¬†point of whether there is a continuing act which brings claims that would otherwise be out of time within their jurisdiction, to reserve the matter to¬†the final hearing without a pre-hearing review. The reason is that claimants¬†have to do no more than show a prima facie case at the preliminary stage, with the effect that much ...

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Countdown to Buckland – 23 days to go

16-Jan-2010 / James Medhurst / No Comments

To start my review of¬†constructive dismissal law, I must deal with a point of which, in my opinion, far too much has been made. In the only House of Lords decision in this area, Malik v BCCI, Lord Steyn appears to state that the test of whether there is¬†a breach of the¬†implied term of trust and confidence is whether an employer has, without reasonable or proper cause, conducted itself in a manner "calculated and likely" to destroy or seriously damage ...

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