Nurse dismissed by North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS for refusing to work weekends wins appeal in landmark ruling
July 6th 2021A nurse who was dismissed for refusing to work weekends has won a landmark ruling that could affect thousands of women with children. Joanne Stronach Head of Employment & HR reports on this recent case. The community nurse had worked fixed days because she had three children, including two with disabilities. However, she was dismissed after the trust introduced weekend working. She said she was unable to work Saturdays and Sundays…
Boss told cancer patient she was ‘lucky to get a free boob job’
June 23rd 2021A woman with breast cancer who was told by her boss that she was lucky to get a free boob job from the NHS, has won her claim of harassment. Joanne Stronach Head of Employment & HR reports on this recent case. Aggie Kownacka was a recruitment manager for Textbook Teachers from June 2017 until December 2018. In May 2018, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and was required to undergo…
Court allows company to search employee’s personal computer
June 14th 2021A company has been granted permission to search an employee’s personal computer and other devices as part of its investigation into the potential misuse of confidential information. Joanne Stronach Head of Employment & HR reports on this recent case. The case involvedDigital Realty Trust Inc and its senior director of acquisitions, Mr Coogan. The nature of his role meant that he had access to commercially sensitive and confidential information central…
Sleep-in care workers lose final appeal over minimum wage
May 24th 2021Care workers who slept overnight at their workplace were “available for work” rather than “working” and so were not entitled to be paid the national minimum wage for the whole of their sleep-in shift. Joanne Stronach Director & Head of Employment and HR reports on this recent case. That was the decision of the Supreme Court in two cases that have major implications for residential care homes. Care workers who…
Cleaner accused of ‘throwing a sicky’ was unfairly dismissed
April 28th 2021The Employment Tribunal has ruled that a cleaner was unfairly dismissed after she resigned because her employer accusing her of lying about her illness. Joanne Stronach Director & Head of Employment and HR reports on this recent case. The case involved Pamela Wynn Newcombe, who was employed by Machynlleth Town Council from 2013 to 2019. In 2017, she became involved in a dispute over plans to alter her working hours.…
Engineer too late to claim holiday pay from Pimlico Plumbers
April 21st 2021An engineer who won a landmark case that he should be classed as a worker at Pimlico Plumbers has lost his claim for backdated holiday pay. Joanne Stronach Director & Head of Employment and HR reports on this recent case. Gary Smith had worked for Pimlico as a heating engineer from 2005 to 2011. Throughout that period Pimlico regarded him as a self-employed independent contractor, without entitlement to paid annual…
Driver’s dismissal for not wearing a facemask ‘was not unfair’
April 15th 2021A delivery driver has lost a claim of unfair dismissal after he was fired for refusing to wear a facemask while on duty during lockdown. Joanne Stronach Director & Head of Employment and HR reports on this recent case. The case involved Deimantas Kubilius who had worked as a driver for Kent Foods Limited for four years. Most of his work involved driving to and from their supplier Tate &…
White worker wins race discrimination claim against food company
March 25th 2021A white worker at a firm producing Asian food was racially discriminated against after his supervisor told him to “go and work for an English company”. Claire Davies Director and Employment & HR Solicitor reports. The case involved Colin Sorby who worked at Mumtaz Foods on a zero-hour contract with Bradford Management Services. In October 2019, his supervisor Azeem Akhtar told him that Mumtaz Foods was an Asian company and…
How will employees’ rights be affected post lockdown?
March 16th 2021Thinking it over with Carol Fish Director & Head of Serious and Catastrophic Injury… After Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out his roadmap to ending lockdown in England, thoughts for many employers are turning to how they will bring their teams back into offices when restrictions ease. The widespread administration of the vaccine in the UK is good news for many employers to help working life slowly return to normal over time.…
Bullied NHS employee given fake task as a prank awarded £10,000
March 9th 2021An NHS employee has been awarded nearly £10,000 after she was subjected to a series of cruel and bullying tricks by her co-workers. Joanne Stronach Director and Head of Employment & HR reports. Carol Hurley began work as a deputy finance business partner for East Sussex NHS Trust in October 2016. The following summer she received a ‘joke’ email from her line manager Stella Armstrong to ‘remind’ her that she…
