What should employers expect in 2010?
The Equality Bill The Equality Bill, which will harmonise and strengthen discrimination law, is expected to receive Royal Assent in April 2010, with the majority of its provisions coming into force in...
View ArticleCourt of Appeal rejects appeal in Eweida v British Airways plc
The Court of Appeal’s recent judgment in the case of Eweida v British Airways plc sheds further light on how employment tribunals should interpret issues relating to clothing, jewellery and appearance...
View ArticleDisciplinary Allegations – employees’ responses must be considered
A recent decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Edinburgh is a useful reminder to employers of the need properly to consider their employees’ responses to disciplinary allegations. In the case...
View ArticlePublic sector equality duty consultation launched
A consultation paper on the public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010 has been launched by the Government Equalities Office. Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, which received Royal...
View Article1 October 2010 – what’s changing in employment law?
April and October are two of the most important months in employers’ calendars, as these are the months when changes to employment law are made each year. So what should employers be aware of this...
View ArticleEquality Act comes into force for service providers
The Equality Act 2010 has come into force with effect from 1 October. What that means for anyone providing a service (or goods or facilities) to the public or a section of the public (whether for...
View ArticleMicrosoft and Motorola in spat over patents and technical standards
Microsoft and Motorola have gone to court over a breakdown in their relationship over use of Motorola’s patented products. They had been working together to use Motorola’s patents to create technical...
View ArticlePsychics in the Police – Part I
A couple of recent judgments by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in the case of Power v Greater Manchester Police Authority have confirmed the approach that tribunals will take in religious...
View ArticlePsychics in the Police – Part II
Having established that his beliefs fell within the definition of a religious or philosophical belief that is protected by the Regulations (see my blog from earlier this morning –...
View ArticleOverview of the Equality Act 2010
INTRODUCTION The past 40 years have seen the introduction of statutes and regulations addressing discrimination in the fields of sex and race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief and...
View ArticleChristian couple unfairly discriminated against gay couple wishing to stay in...
A hotel owning couple had strict rules based on their strong Christian values. They would not let guests other than married heterosexual couples share a double room. A gay couple who had a civil...
View ArticleGovernment announces further review of employment law
On 11 May, the Government announced that it will extend its ongoing review of employment law. This forms part of the Government’s current review of employment red tape. The areas under consideration...
View ArticlePsychics in the Police – Part III
In a further instalment to the story of Mr Power and his case against the Greater Manchester Police Authority (see part I and part II), Lord Justice Stanley Burnton has, in the Court of Appeal, refused...
View ArticleThe Bribery Act: what should employers be doing to ensure compliance?
The Bribery Act 2010 will come into force on 1 July. A bribe is defined in section 1 of the Act as “a financial or other advantage” offered, promised or given to “induce a person to perform improperly...
View ArticleEmployers: The Bribery Act is now in force – are you compliant?
If not, you need to act fast. I have outlined some of the ways employers can ensure they comply with the new Act – please click here. This article is only intended as guidance. There are many issues to...
View ArticleSpain referred to ECJ for discriminatory inheritance tax laws
In a move that will be of interest to people who have assets or property in Spain, the European Commission has referred Spain to the European Court of Justice because its inheritance and gift tax...
View ArticleOfcom consults on code to prevent discrimination between broadcast advertisers
Ofcom has begun a consultation on the introduction of a code to prevent undue discrimination between broadcast advertisers. Ofcom has a duty under the Communications Act 2003 to set standards for the...
View ArticleAnother EU member state in trouble over tax… and the UK may not be far behind
There have been a couple of interesting developments concerning two blogs I posted a few weeks ago, concerning plans for the integration of UK income tax and national insurance, and possible EU legal...
View ArticleBan on age discrimination in goods and services comes into force on 1 October...
The ban on age discrimination in the provision of goods, services and facilities, introduced by the Equality Act 2010, will come into force on 1 October 2012. The new anti-discrimination law must be...
View ArticleAnnual employment tribunal statistics have been published… and claims are down
The Ministry of Justice has published its Employment Tribunals and EAT Statistics 2011-12 (1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012) Some of the highlights are as follows: 1. There were 186,300 claims accepted by...
View Article
