Publications

This week is anti-bullying week. This is an annual event organised by the Anti-Bullying Alliance to raise awareness of bullying and highlight ways of preventing it. Each year anti-bullying week has a theme; this year it is Reach Out. Reach Out aims to encourage people to do something positive to counter the harm and hurt that bullying causes.

The Government announced on 21 October 2022 that it was backing the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill.

Under the terms of a settlement agreement, employees typically accept a payment in return for their employment coming to an end and in settlement of certain legal claims they may have against their employer. 

Kamahl Santamaria, a longstanding television journalist, was recently removed from a new broadcasting role after just 32 days amid accusations of sexual harassment.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (‘EAT’) has held that a tribunal erred in finding the redundancy dismissal of a nurse fair.

As part of its plan to deregulate and reduce the burden on businesses, the Government announced on 23 September 2022 that the IR35 off-payroll working rules will be repealed from 06 April 2023.

In the recent decision of University of Dundee v Chakraborty, the EAT held that legal privilege does not apply retrospectively to protect an original version of an investigation report that was subsequently amended upon legal advice.

Acas has published new guidance on staff suspensions, specifically in the context of disciplinary or grievance investigations.

The TUC recently published a report on racism and inequality in the workplace, finding that two in five people have experienced racism at work in the past five years.

The Queen’s state funeral is due to be held on Monday 19 September and has been declared a bank holiday. We discuss whether employees are entitled to be granted the day off work.

Whilst in some cases grievances can be resolved informally, where this is not possible employers will generally be required to carry out an investigation.

In Cowie and ors v Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the EAT has held that an employer’s paid special leave policy during the Covid-19 pandemic did not give rise to discrimination arising from disability or indirect sex discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.