Legal News: Employment update

Clare Gregory rounds up recent case law and developments affecting employers and their advisers ‘After receiving more than 11,000 calls in 2016 about stress at work, Acas has published new guidance which aims to help managers support staff who are suffering from stress.’ Tribunal fee refunds – pilot scheme launched Four years after the introduction …
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The Year Ahead: What to expect in 2018

Matthew Towers and Emily Skinner outline the key developments that employers and their advisers should prepare for in the next 12 months ‘The Conservative manifesto and the Queen’s Speech made a clear commitment to act after the Taylor review to ensure that people working in the gig economy are protected. What form that action will …
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Litigation: Five reasons why your employment tribunal spend might increase next year

A cluster of recent cases and developments is likely to mean rising costs for employers faced with a tribunal claim, warn Phil Allen and Louise Singh ‘Employers are starting to see a renewed flow of the types of claim that had largely fallen away under the fee regime.’ After a few years in the wilderness, …
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Reasons For Dismissal: Into the mind of the employer

Charles Wynn-Evans investigates how the courts and tribunals assess the reasons for an employer’s actions in dismissal and discrimination claims ‘What if the decision-maker has been manipulated into making the decision to dismiss? This was recently considered in Royal Mail Ltd v Jhuti in the context of a claim of automatic unfair dismissal by reason …
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Racial Inequality: Why it’s time to tackle the ethnicity pay gap

Businesses should take action to increase the number of people from an ethnic minority background on their boards and address their ethnicity pay gap or legislation will force them to do so, writes Melanie Stancliffe ‘Studies have shown that white men and women both have a greater chance of working as directors, managers or senior …
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Equality Act: How to prevent employee sexual harassment

Following the stream of high-profile allegations in the media, Keely Rushmore gives her tips on how to avoid sexual harassment claims and manage any complaints raised by employees ‘An employer can avoid liability for harassment of a member of staff by its employees where it can show that it took all reasonable steps (all reasonably …
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Dispute Resolution: Workplace mediation – setting up a programme

Stephen Levinson looks at the benefits, challenges and practical issues involved in introducing an in-house mediation scheme ‘An advantage of having mediation within the business is that it brings with it a cultural change that is beneficial and that ad hoc use of an external mediator is less likely to achieve.’ Many more people are …
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