Catching up with one of the more interesting and highly pertinent cases reported just before the festive break, we consider this week the growing amount of social media related gross misconduct dismissals. Clearly such dismissals will only be set to increase over the coming years, parallel to use of social media itself, so this really is an area where having some knowledge of the current case law landscape will be increasingly invaluable to both employers and employees.
Read MoreArticles
Here you will find all the latest news from the SCE team. In this section we will feature news about what we have been up to, recent mentions in the press, information about the work we do in the community and lots more.
Monthly Archive January 2015
How to deal with employees when it’s snowing
I think the majority of us would agree that we love the snow and it is great to go out and build a snowman or go sledging. However problems arise when employees come into work late or cannot physically get into work due to disruptions with transport, school closures and severe weather warnings. This situation gives rise to the following questions:
1. What are the rights of employees and
2. How can employers ensure that they apply a fair policy given the circumstances of an individual and taking into account their business needs.
Here’s a guide to help you all get it right.
Read MoreTrans-National Remote Working and Unfair Dismissal
Certain sectors of the UK labour market are a patchwork of foreign nationals working for large trans-border concerns. Much like Liam Neeson’s character in a certain film franchise, these individuals are often possessed of a very specific set of skills which places them in high demand, making alternative arrangements to enable them to flit between countries or even work remotely from another jurisdiction altogether more common than perhaps once was.
Such unconventional work practices of course then are likely to give rise to some of the more interesting questions in relation to the Employment Tribunal’s (“ET”) jurisdiction to hear complaints. One such recent case that engaged this topic was that of the Employment Appeals Tribunal (“EAT”) matter of Lodge v Dignity & Choice in Dying.
Read MoreObesity can be a disability under EU law
Following the landmark ruling of the European Court of Justice in FOA (Kaltoft) v Billund, obesity can potentially be considered as being a disability under EU law, however obesity itself is not deemed to be a protected characteristic.
In summary, Mr Kaltoft was a Danish child minder who was dismissed by his local city council in 2010 by way of redundancy. However he alleged that it was his obesity that brought about his redundancy dismissal. For clarity on the issue, four questions were put forward by the Denmark District Court to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling.
Read More