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Employment Legal Updates

Keeping you up to date on the latest issues and what it means for you.

Test case success for asbestos victims
Asbestos sufferers have today won a High Court test case that will help other victims secure compensation.
Date: 2008-11-21

Employment Act 2008 passed
The much anticipated Employment Act 2008 (the Act) received Royal Assent on the 13 November.
Date: 2008-11-20

Goodbye statutory procedures, hello ACAS code of practice
The new ACAS Code of Practice (the Code has been approved by the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, and will now go to Parliament for final approval.
Date: 2008-11-14

Asbestos could pose threat to public sector workers
Public sector workers could be among thousands more people exposed to the dangers of asbestos than at first thought.
Date: 2008-11-11

Redundancy rights and wrongs
With the UK economy continuing to be buffeted by the storm of the global financial crisis, the effects are now starting to be felt nearer to home in the real economy.
Date: 2008-11-10

Get ready for immigration system’s big shake-up
The biggest shake-up of the immigration system for 45-years happens at the end of November. Tiers 2 and 5 of the new Australian-style points-based system come into force on 27 November 2008.
Date: 2008-11-10

Doh! Law degree requirement was not age discrimination
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) found that a 61-year-old employee was not discriminated against on the grounds of age when his employer introduced a new grading system.
Date: 2008-11-01

EAT confirms broad reach of religious discrimination laws
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has given a broad interpretation of UK law to ensure compliance with European legislation.
Date: 2008-10-31

New face of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award found at Shoosmiths
A solicitor from national law firm Shoosmiths has been selected by youth charity, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) to become one of the faces of its new brand.
Date: 2008-10-30

New Year heralds prison sentences for health and safety offences
A new Act which comes into force on 16 January 2009 imposes serious new penalties for directors, employers and employees who are convicted of a health and safety offence.
Date: 2008-10-28

New regime for temporary agency workers approved by Europe
The European Parliament has approved the controversial temporary agency workers directive after six years of wrangling between EU members. The directive allows for temporary workers in the EU to be treated equally from day one.
Date: 2008-10-22

Remember, remember the 5th of November
That time of year is fast approaching, and with it comes the annual firework display, roaring bonfire... and approximately 1,000 people injured.
Date: 2008-10-20

Employers in tribunal claims will have details disclosed
The Information Commissioner has ordered the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) to disclose names and addresses of respondents to employment tribunal claims made since October 2004.
Date: 2008-10-20

Questions over ex gratia payments continue to tax employers
Tax treatment of termination payments is a perennial issue for employers and their lawyers. Employees often believe they are automatically entitled to the first £30,000 of such payments tax free, but this depends on the facts of the individual case.
Date: 2008-10-20

Stress in the workplace: reasons to be fearful
Employers owe a duty of care to staff, and must do all they can to protect employees’ health and safety at work. This extends to protecting employees’ mental health. Employers failing to do so can be liable for unlimited damages for psychiatric injury.
Date: 2008-10-20

Finance Act 2008 contains new residence rule
A new rule to determine whether a person is resident in the UK for tax purposes is contained in the Finance Act 2008.
Date: 2008-10-13

Change home ownership to help next generation
Householders are being urged to change the way they own their homes if they are to provide for their children.
Date: 2008-10-08

Businesses urged to protect workers or face legal action
Businesses are being urged to protect their staff by carrying out workplace risk assessments – or face legal action.
Date: 2008-10-06

National minimum wage increase
From Wednesday 1 October the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rises to £5.73 per hour for workers aged 22 and over, £4.77 for 18-21 year olds and £3.53 for those aged 16 and 17.
Date: 2008-10-01

Opinion on retirement suggests UK age laws are safe
On 23 September the European Advocate General (AG) delivered his long awaited opinion in the “Heyday” case concerning the UK’s retirement age. His conclusions in the opinion have been widely seen as good news for employers.
Date: 2008-10-01

Shoosmiths helps clients plan for a better future
National law firm Shoosmiths and accountants Chantrey Vellacott DFK have teamed-up to hold seminars aimed to help anyone concerned with tax planning.
Date: 2008-09-24

Shoosmiths among top five most dynamic law firms
Shoosmiths is among the top five most progressive and dynamic law firms in the UK.
Date: 2008-09-23

Extension to flexible working from April 2009
The Government has announced that it will extend the right to request flexible working to parents of children up to and including the age of 16 in April 2009.
Date: 2008-08-28

Jumping the gun on retirement was age discrimination
In a recent case an employer paid a heavy financial penalty for retiring an employee one day before his 65th birthday. The employment tribunal awarded the employee over £36,000 in compensation.
Date: 2008-08-20

Equal pay claims could cost employers dearly on a TUPE transfer
A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) judgement in the case of Sodexo v Gutridge examined the effect of TUPE (the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006) on transferring employees’ claims for equal pay.
Date: 2008-08-19

Loophole closure tip-off from Shoosmiths
National law firm Shoosmiths has warned employers that they will shortly no longer be able to use tips given to staff to discharge the obligation to pay the national minimum wage.
Date: 2008-08-13

Employee tips loophole to be closed
The law is to be changed so that tips given to staff can no longer count towards an employer's obligation to pay the national minimum wage
Date: 2008-08-05

Appeal win is good news for defendant companies
A recent Court of Appeal decision has clarified the position with regard to s.3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and specifically the concept of ‘risk’.
Date: 2008-08-05

Thousands still exposed to asbestos danger warns specialist
Asbestos is still a danger to thousands of UK workmen, a specialist lawyer has warned.
Date: 2008-08-04

MoD admits liability in soldier-on-soldier assault case
The Ministry of Defence has admitted liability and agreed to pay £127,000 damages after an off-duty soldier-on-soldier assault left the victim seriously injured and suffering depression.
Date: 2008-08-01

Must you disclose internal investigations to regulators?
Following a serious accident or fatality in the workplace, an organisation will no doubt want to carry out an internal investigation to try and ascertain what the root causes of the incident were and prevent future accidents recurring.
Date: 2008-07-31

Driving at work: the health and safety implications
Driving is the most dangerous work activity that most people undertake. An average 20 people are killed and 250 seriously injured every week in crashes involving someone who was driving, riding or otherwise using the road for work purposes.
Date: 2008-07-28

European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling extends UK’s discrimination law
The ECJ has delivered a ruling which extends the ambit of the UK’s disability discrimination legislation to those who are discriminated against because of their association with a disabled person but who are not themselves disabled.
Date: 2008-07-22

House of Lords changes the law on disability-related discrimination
The House of Lords has delivered a major judgement which will change the way in which the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is interpreted and which is expected to make it harder for employees to succeed in claims of disability related discrimination.
Date: 2008-07-14

Data protection good practice on transfer of TUPE employee liability information
Good practice guidance for dealing with data transfers in the context of a business sale or service provision change has been published by the Information Commissioner
Date: 2008-07-01

New era for equality legislation moves closer
The Government published details of the new Equality Bill in a White Paper, called “Framework for a Fairer Future - The Equality Bill” on 26 June. The Bill is expected to be introduced into Parliament in November.
Date: 2008-07-01

Draft ACAS guidance on new disciplinary and grievance Code of Practice published
ACAS has published draft guidance to accompany the new Code of Practice that is expected to come into force in April 2009 which sets out good practice for dealing with discipline and grievances in the workplace.
Date: 2008-07-01

Consultation launched on new right to request time off for training
The Government has published details of a proposed new right for employees to request time off work for training purposes.
Date: 2008-07-01

Shoosmiths punches above its weight in top customer awards
The residential property conveyancing arm of national law firm Shoosmiths has been highly commended in customer service awards entered by some of the UKs leading companies.
Date: 2008-06-17

Working time opt-out saved
The Government has won agreement from EU employment ministers that the UK can keep its opt-out from the 48-hour working week, introduced by the Working Time Directive.
Date: 2008-06-10

UK's age law under scrutiny in Europe next month
Heyday’s challenge to the UK’s age discrimination law is due to be heard by the European Advocate General earlier than previously thought, a hearing has been scheduled for 2nd July
Date: 2008-06-03

Witnessesentials - Top tips for witnesses at employment tribunals
No employer likes to think that they could end up being taken to an employment tribunal by an employee. However, there are occasions when an employer is unlucky and has to deal with an employee who is determined to have their “day in Court.”
Date: 2008-05-28

Top level knowledge added as Shoosmiths' IT work grows
Shoosmiths has added high level IT knowledge to its Thames Valley commercial team as technology work continues to increase.
Date: 2008-05-22

Agency workers win equal rights after 12 weeks
On 20 May the Government announced that it had agreed a deal between unions and employers that will see agency workers in the UK receive equal treatment after 12 weeks' employment.
Date: 2008-05-21

Minimising the risk of discrimination
According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission there are 10 million people in the UK who have rights under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Date: 2008-03-25

Are your employees social networking or just not working?
The popularity of social networking sites is a modern day phenomenon: the use of these sites has grown at a huge rate in a relatively short space of time. We look at the problems this can cause in the workplace and what employers can do about it.
Date: 2008-03-18

Temporary workers and collective redundancy: don't fall foul of the law!
Temporary workers are often used in the retail sector to plug the labour gap over busy trading periods but retailers could be inadvertently breaching collective redundancy law when the temps are no longer needed.
Date: 2008-03-05

Employers could be liable for equipment in private homes
Thousands of companies and organisations could be sued by staff injured even when using equipment not provided or maintained by their employer.
Date: 2008-03-04

Restrictive covenants: How far can you go?
What can an employer do when a key employee leaves them for a competitor? How do restrictive covenants work and what are the common problems for employers seeking to enforce them?
Date: 2008-02-27

Residential landlords alert after scalded baby death inquest
Shoosmiths is urging residential landlords to heed warnings about the dangers of hot water systems after an inquest into the death of a severely scalded 10-month-old baby said the tragedy could have been avoided.
Date: 2008-02-06

Not just parents juggling work and caring - Shoosmiths
Carers who juggle work with looking after someone disabled or elderly have had their situation acknowledged by a European ruling, according to national law firm Shoosmiths.
Date: 2008-02-04

Penalties for employing illegal workers set to soar
With new penalties to tackle illegal working coming into force, employers need to ensure that they are fully up to speed on checking employees’ right to work in the UK. Be warned, the penalties are increasing significantly and will not be avoided easily.
Date: 2008-01-30

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Peter Duff

Partner
T: 08700 86 5049
I: +44 (0)115 906 5049
E: peter.duff@shoosmiths.co.uk