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.
Employee Was Not Unfairly Dismissed Over Offensive Facebook Posts About Director
An employee’s “extremely derogatory” social media posts about his boss’s generosity in awarding a Christmas bonus did not justify the employer’s failure to give him notice pay when he was dismissed, the Manchester Employment Tribunal has ruled.
Read MoreHere are 8 tips to help you to improve gender equality in your organisation.
Read MoreWhen you seek professional advice from a qualified solicitor, architect, financial advisor, surveyor or insurance broker, you expect their expert guidance to be consistent with the best practice for their particular sector. Unfortunately, in some cases, this advice is misleading or inaccurate – and you may incur a substantial financial loss as a result.
All professionals, whatever their area of expertise, have a duty of care to their clients. If this duty of care is breached, and the breach directly results in any form of financial loss or damage to the client, it may be possible to make a professional negligence claim.
This guide is intended to be a brief overview of some of the important considerations and procedures when embarking upon a professional negligence claim.
Read MoreTribunal Awards NHS Manager £1m In Racial Discrimination Case
A former NHS trust manager who was unfairly dismissed and suffered racial discrimination has been awarded a reported £1 million by London South Employment Tribunal.
Richard Hastings, an IT manager at King’s College NHS Foundation Trust, was dismissed for gross misconduct in October 2015 after he was accused of assault following a dispute with a van driver in his workplace car park.
Read MoreAllegations of workplace bullying are difficult for an employer to deal with because bullying can be hard to recognise and define. In this article we look at how employers can best handle a bullying grievance.
What does someone mean when they say they are “being bullied”? It’s something which is very much in the eye of the beholder – one person’s robust management style is another’s bullying, and the employer faces the unenviable task of adjudicating where the line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour lies. While most people will agree what constitutes bullying in extreme cases, there is a grey area in the middle which may cause more debate.
Read MoreDisabled Shop Worker Wins Tribunal Award From M&S Over Lift Key
An Employment Tribunal (ET) has made an award of £1,000 against Marks and Spencer after a delay in providing a disabled shop worker with a lift key to allow him to reach the toilets more easily.
Read MoreIt is always important to have the right contract in place for any transaction so that both parties are clear about expectations and obligations. However, no matter how good the relationship between the parties, sometimes disputes occasionally arise if any of the terms of the contract are broken. If you are involved in a contract and the other party fails to live up to their end of the contract, what can you do? One option is to sue them for breach of contract.
Read MoreUnfair Dismissal
Is it fair to dismiss an employee in the transport industry who fails a drugs test? Not always, said the employment tribunal (‘ET’) recently in Ball v First Essex Buses.
Read MoreWhat position should an employer take regarding an employee who has committed a criminal offence outside of work?
We are all aware that, when someone is charged with a criminal offence, they are innocent until proven guilty. Any dismissal will be unfair unless it is for one of the statutory fair reasons and as employer you act reasonably in all the circumstances.
If an employee is convicted of a criminal offence occurring outside work, a dismissal is only likely to be fair if that criminal offence has some material impact on the employee’s ability or suitability to do their job or affects their acceptability to other employees to a material extent.
Read MoreUK Government Annouces New Code Of Practice To Tackle Workplace Sexual Harassment
A new statutory Code of Practice will be developed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in order to guide employers on their legal responsibilities regarding sexual harassment in the workplace. This was one of 12 actions recently announced by the UK government as it makes confronting workplace harassment a priority.
The announcements are in response to the July 2018 recommendations of the UK Women and Equalities Committee, which called for (1) putting sexual harassment at the top of the UK government’s agenda; (2) requiring regulators to take a more active role in tackling harassment; (3) making enforcement processes work better for employees by setting them out in the Code; (4) cleaning up the use of nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) used in employment contracts and settlement agreements; and (5) collecting robust data on sexual harassment in the workplace at regular intervals.
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