In Phoenix House Ltd v Stockman, the EAT were asked to determine whether Mrs Stockman’s behaviour in covertly recording a meeting with HR amounted to misconduct and, if so, whether the compensation awarded by the ET should be reduced as a result. In May 2013, Mrs Stockman, a financial accountant, covertly recorded a meeting with HR following an incident that had taken place earlier that day. A lengthy disciplinary process followed. In November, it was…

A case was decided this week in the London Central Employment Tribunal (Dewhurst v Revisecatch) which has dramatic ramifications for employers. The Tribunal’s decision is that, where there is a transfer covered by the Transfer Regulations, individuals who are properly classified as “workers” are covered by the Transfer Regulations. The Transfer Regulations apply to anyone working as an “employee”. This is defined in the Regulations as someone who “works for another person, whether under a…

The Supreme Court has today released its decision in the whistleblowing case of Royal Mail Group v Jhuti.  The case concerns the unfair dismissal protection for whistleblowers, which provides that a dismissal will be unfair if the reason for it (or the main reason) is that the employee has made a whistleblowing disclosure.  The question in the Jhuti case was whether, in identifying the reason for a dismissal, it is only the motivation of the…

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is the body responsible for regulating workplace pension schemes in the UK. Where an employer operates a defined benefit trust-based pension scheme for its employees, legislation requires it to notify TPR if certain events occur. Some events must always be notified, while others only need to be notified in certain circumstances. Events which employers must always notify Receipt of advice that the employer is wrongfully trading or knowledge that there is…

In June 2019, the Women and Equalities Select Committee (WESC) published its report on the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in discrimination and harassment cases. This week, the Government’s response to that report has been published. The Government had previously (in July) published its proposals for new legislation regarding the use of NDAs, and the response this week restates much of what we knew already: in particular, new legislation will be introduced restricting the use…

On 15 October, the eagerly awaited Pension Schemes Bill (the Bill) had its first reading in the House of Lords. Whilst the Bill addresses the launch of collective defined contribution (or CDC) pension schemes and includes provisions enabling pensions dashboards, employers will be particularly impacted by the new requirement on trustees to produce a funding and investment strategy, to which employer agreement must be obtained. However, perhaps of more immediate concern to employers will be…

When making certain future changes to their pension scheme, employers should keep in mind the requirement to consult with their employees before making the change. In this blog post, we run through the key aspects of member consultations to provide a reminder of what exactly employers need to do, and why they need to do it. Who? Employers who have 50 or more employees based in Great Britain are subject to consultation requirements set out…