News and Knowledge

Legal Landmark Case – Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police: Pioneering Fairness in Employment Compensation

The case of Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, decided by the UK Court of Appeal in 2002, is a significant milestone in Employment Law, particularly in the context of compensation for discrimination and harassment claims.   This case established a groundbreaking framework for assessing the amount of damages awarded to employees who…

The Importance Of Your ET1 Form And Why Legal Advice Is Recommended

Approaching an Employment Tribunal can be daunting. The majority of claimants who are undergoing an employment claim will be doing so for the first time.   Before you can make a claim to the Employment Tribunal, you must go through the ACAS Early Conciliation Process. Early Conciliation is a compulsory initial step when wishing to…

Amazon and worker exploitation

As almost 90% of UK the population use Amazon, it is highly likely that you or someone in your household ordered something from the online retailing giant in the lead-up to Christmas.   Amazon is considered one of the Big Five American information technology companies, which then poses the question; is Jeff Bezos’s business model…

Cold weather and employee rights

At this time of the year and with the sudden cold snap, we have received a number of enquiries with regards to employee’s rights in this type of weather.   The first thing employees should do is check whether their employer has an adverse weather policy. If they do, it will likely make adjustments for…

Global campaigns to secure protections for LGBTQI+ people

Global campaigns to secure protections for LGBTQI+ people have made excellent progress over recent years.   But we cannot take the foot off the gas now, many people are still facing prejudice and violence on a daily basis. Sexual orientation and gender identity are hugely integral aspects of ourselves and should never lead to discrimination…

Equality Act Case Studies for Autism Acceptance Week

Under the Equality Act 2010 (EqA), autism and Asperger’s Syndrome are defined as disabilities, and employers have a responsibility under this Act to make any reasonable adjustments to remove disadvantage faced due to disability.   For Autism Acceptance Week 2022, I have put together some summaries on important and recent cases involving autism.   Mr…

What is redundancy and when is it lawful?

Redundancy is a lawful method of dismissal which allows an employer a way of reducing the size of its workforce.   The rates of redundancies have been high between 2020 and 2022 due to the arrival of COVID-19; it has forced many businesses to take the hardest decisions to ensure their own survival.    …

Employment Tribunals Resulting From Incidents at Christmas Parties

With the current Omicron variant of COVID-19 impacting planned Christmas parties all over the country (but possibly not No. 10 Downing Street), it steals my chance to write my usual Grinch-worthy piece of content on the potential Employment Law issues that can arise from a boozy Xmas party.   So, this year I thought I…

A Guide to Restrictive Covenants

An employee leaving a company can often be in an advantageous position to take advantage of information about their former employer’s business, customers or other confidential information.   The use of this information could potentially cause harm to the former employer`s business as a result. There are a number of implied terms in an employee`s…

Determining If You’re Being Bullied At Work

With various happenings surfacing in the news at the time of writing, we thought it might be useful to write a piece on determining if the treatment you are receiving in the workplace could be classed as being bullied at work.   According to the Equality Act 2010, harassment and bullying are defined as “behaviour…