Legal news: Employment update

Adam Hartley rounds up recent case law and developments affecting employers and their advisers. ‘The EAT did not consider there to be a requirement to pro-rate the leave entitlement of part-time employees, whether to avoid a “windfall“ for term-time-only workers or to avoid full-time employees being treated less favourably than part-timers‘ Atypical workers: 12.07% formula …
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Data protection: How to deal with increased rights for data subjects

In the second of a three-part series on the GDPR, Michael Briggs and Antonia Blackwell consider employees‘ increased rights, the retention of personnel records and the content of privacy notices ‘The GDPR confirms that employees have the continued right to access their personal data so that they understand the extent, and can verify the lawfulness, …
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Gender pay gap: The first reports – procrastination, fabrication and obfuscation?

The first deadline for submitting a gender pay gap report may have passed but, as Joanna Mason warns, the risks for employers who have identified a large gap are only likely to rise ‘Setting out clear goals and practical steps to achieve organisational change is key to convincing current and future employees, as well as …
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Employment status: Beyond the Taylor review

The government should avoid making excessive changes to the employment status framework and focus on the distinction between ‘worker‘ and ‘self-employed‘, argues Diane Nicol ‘The Taylor review grappled with whether the current three-tier employment status structure is fit for purpose in the modern working environment, particularly with the advent of the gig economy.‘ The government …
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Pregnancy and maternity: Small company, small mindset

A major survey has revealed attitudes to women in small and medium-sized businesses remain decades behind the law, reports Michelle Last ‘These statistics underline the importance of companies training those responsible for recruitment decisions in the essentials of discrimination law and in how to avoid gender bias in interviews and selection processes.‘ A report published …
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Disability discrimination: There‘s no need to be a know-all

Amanda Steadman outlines the lessons from three recent disability discrimination decisions, including a Court of Appeal ruling on how far employers have to go to understand whether they need to make reasonable adjustments ‘An employer will only be held to have constructive knowledge if it has failed to take reasonable steps to discover an employee‘s …
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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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