British Home Stores Ltd v Burchell [1978] UKEAT/108/78/2007 – Law Journals

Misconduct: Can employers dismiss for committing a criminal offence?

In light of the police fines issued to those who attended Downing Street events during lockdown, Sungjin Park examines how to deal with employees who break the law A misconduct dismissal will be considered unfair if the employer has not formed a genuine belief on reasonable grounds that the offence in question has been committed. …

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Coronavirus: Ruling on driver’s face mask objection reveals the road to a fair dismissal

David Jepps examines the first reported employment tribunal decision on whether a dismissal for refusing to wear a face mask was fair Kubilius underlines that employers are at liberty to make their own rules, within reason, and a breach of such rules entitles them to take disciplinary action. Employers and their advisers have been facing …

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Right to be accompanied: Dealing with requests to postpone a disciplinary hearing

An EAT ruling has made it harder for employers to refuse to delay a disciplinary or grievance hearing because the employee’s chosen companion is unavailable, warns Rob Childe ‘The impact on Ms Smith of not being able to attend with her chosen representative to put forward her side of the story was far greater than …

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Unfair dismissal: Supreme Court questions validity of long-standing Burchell test

In ruling on the fairness of a headteacher‘s dismissal for failing to disclose a relationship with a sex offender, the UK‘s highest court appears to have cast doubt on the established test applied to misconduct dismissals, reveal Emma Burrows and Anna Scott ‘It was Ms Reilly‘s “continuing lack of insight“ in her refusal to accept …

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Unfair Dismissal: Disciplinary investigations – how much detail is reasonable?

The EAT recently had to decide whether a misconduct investigation was unreasonable because it was too thorough. Corinne Hough investigates ‘This is an unusual case; it is often argued that an investigation is not thorough enough, rather than too detailed.’ In NHS 24 v Pillar [2017], the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) concluded that an employment …

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The Year Ahead: 2017 and all that

Will Hampshire and Richard Kenyon outline ten key developments that the next 12 months have in store for employers and their advisers ‘In 2017, we can expect more disruption as new technology and employment rights collide within the arena of the national and international political battles to come.’ Back at the beginning of the 19th …

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Termination Of Employment: When disciplinary proceedings and the criminal law collide

Richard Berry discusses the main considerations for employers dealing with cases of off-duty misconduct that have a criminal element ‘One aspect of the law which can be useful for employers is that they do not necessarily have to rely on “conduct” as the statutory reason for dismissal, particularly if there is insufficient evidence to establish …

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Absenteeism: Managing employee sickness

Laura Garner offers some tips for employers when dealing with sickness absence and reviews recent case law developments ‘It is one thing for an employer to discover general performance or disciplinary concerns while an employee is off sick. However, what if the disciplinary issues relate to the sickness absence itself?’ There is no doubt that …

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Regulatory Obligations: Dealing with the employment aspects of an investigation

During any investigation by the authorities, an employer may face a conflict between its duties to the regulator and to its employees, warn Stephen Ravenscroft and Helen Joseph ‘An employer needs to strike a balance between its obligation to co-operate with a regulatory investigation and an employee’s right to be treated fairly and reasonably.’ Employers …

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Dismissal Procedures: Beware of changing reasons

Employers need to take care if they alter the grounds for dismissing an employee part-way through the disciplinary process, warn Ann Robson and Imogen Bourke ‘This case involved the employer relying on a different decision to dismiss an employee at the appeal hearing from the one that it relied on at the initial disciplinary hearing.’ …

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