New law designed to protect pregnant women against redundancy
November 15th 2022Pregnant women and new parents will receive greater protection from redundancy under new legislation currently going through parliament. Joanne Stronach Director and Head of Employment & HR reports on this recent case. Under current rules, before offering redundancy to an employee on maternity leave, shared parental leave or adoption leave, employers have an obligation to offer them a suitable alternative vacancy where one exists. The Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Bill, introduced…
Advice for employers with staff caught up in holiday travel chaos
August 2nd 2022A LEADING employment lawyer has issued advice for businesses with employees caught up in the current international travel chaos. The first week of the school holidays has seen lengthy queues at the Port of Dover, with the chaos at the ferry port mirrored by delays at international airports, with many holidaymakers left stranded abroad with flights either postponed or cancelled. The delays are expected to intensify over the next six…
Do your employees have permission to work, and do you know how to conduct Right to Work Checks?
July 20th 2022One of the basic requirements on all employers is to ensure that the people they employ have permission to work in the UK. From April 2022 the process that employers need to follow when conducting right to work checks changed – you can no longer accept physical cards or permits, you must undertake digital checks. Civil penalties are imposed on organisations that have employed an individual who does not have…
Ban on employment exclusivity clauses to be widened to help low paid
June 21st 2022The government is to widen the ban on employment exclusivity clauses, which restrict staff from working for multiple employers. Joanne Stronach Director and Head of Employment and HR provides an update. In 2015, exclusivity clauses were banned for workers on zero hours contracts, where employers are not obliged to provide any minimum working hours and the worker is not obliged to accept any work offered. The change provided more workers with…
British Gas dismissed and discriminated against mother of triplets
June 1st 2022The Employment Tribunal has ruled that British Gas discriminated against and unfairly dismissed a mother of triplets after a performance review was “stacked against” her following her return from maternity leave. Joanne Stronach Head of Employment and HR reports on this recent case. The case involved Gemma Long, who started work as an intellectual property solicitor for British Gas Trading in 2012. Long went on maternity leave on 29 May 2016…
House of Commons employee victimised over hot desking policy
May 9th 2022A House of Commons employee who had a musculoskeletal condition was discriminated against as a result of her office’s hot desking policy. Jennifer Cafferky Solicitor in our employment team reports on this recent case. Ms A Baker had worked at the House of Commons since 1991. She needed to use specialist desk equipment such as an orthopaedic chair, specialist keyboard and mouse, number pad and reading/writing slope. However, due to the…
Employee unfairly dismissed after refusing to return to office
March 22nd 2022An employee was unfairly dismissed after he refused to return to the office during the pandemic because he lived with his girlfriend who was clinically vulnerable. Jennifer Cafferky Solicitor in our employment team, reports on this recent case. The case involved Nicholas Quelch, who worked as a compliance analyst at Courtiers Support Services. On March 18, 2020, Quelch began working from home after the Prime Minister said the public must stay…
Businesses urged to do more to support women experiencing menopause
March 11th 2022EMPLOYERS need to do more to support female workers through the menopause, says a leading employment solicitor. Joanne Stronach, who is Head of Employment Law and HR at Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors, said businesses face losing valued members of the workforce unless they put in place measures to support women experiencing menopausal symptoms. Almost one in four women cut short their careers because of the menopause, with those experiencing serious symptoms…
Partner loses appeal against age discrimination ruling
February 4th 2022A former partner in an accountancy firm has lost his appeal against a ruling that he had brought an age discrimination claim out of time. Joanne Stronach, Head of Employment and HR, reports on this recent case. The case involved Philip Parr and MSR Partners LLP (formerly Moore Stephens LLP). Parr had been an equity partner of the firm when it was Moore Stephens. The LLP Members’ Agreement provided for all…
Businesses warned over cutting sick pay for isolating unvaccinated employees
February 3rd 2022EMPLOYERS should think carefully before reducing sick pay for isolating unvaccinated staff, says a leading employment solicitor. Joanne Stronach, who is Head of Employment Law and HR at Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors, said employers could put themselves at risk of contract or discrimination claims if they introduce rules without first seeking legal advice. The warning comes after several national companies including Ikea and Morrisons cut sick pay for unvaccinated staff who…
