February 2020 #207 – Law Journals

Pregnancy discrimination: Fertility treatment: an issue ripe for legal challenges

Michelle Last advises on employers’ obligations when an employee is undergoing fertility treatment ‘An employee who is off sick as a result of fertility treatment should be treated in the same way as an employee on sickness absence.’ The number of people undergoing fertility treatment in the UK increases steadily each year. The vast majority …

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Staff procedures: Create or update a workplace relationships policy

As Valentine’s Day approaches, Michael Ryley continues our series with a look at whether employers should draw up a relationships policy and what form this might take ‘However the employer decides to draw the balance between individual liberty and promoting a fair and orderly working environment, some sort of policy is advisable to define the …

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Discrimination: Quantifying injury to feelings awards: lessons from case law

Christopher Hitchins and Emma Phillpot consider what recent awards can tell us about the level of compensation an employer will be liable to pay for injured feelings in discrimination cases ‘Despite the Vento guidelines, it remains difficult to estimate what level of award could be made in any given situation.’ A victim of discrimination based …

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Legal news: Employment update

Antonia Blackwell and Helen Burgess round up the latest case law and developments affecting employers and their advisers ‘It would be prudent for new employers to seek protection in the form of warranties and indemnities for any workers who might try to claim they should have been consulted and should have transferred under TUPE.’ ‘No …

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Religion or belief: Ethical veganism is a protected philosophical belief

Shah Qureshi reviews the recent employment tribunal decision that ethical vegans are entitled to protection from discrimination and harassment under the Equality Act 2010 ‘The tribunal had no doubt that ethical veganism is a belief with a high degree of cogency, cohesion and importance.’ The preliminary decision in Casamitjana Costa v The League Against Cruel …

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Disciplinary procedures: Decisions made on manipulated facts

Two rulings have reconsidered whether the tribunals should only examine the mental processes of the person who took a disciplinary decision when deciding whether a dismissal was fair. Emma Burrows and Anna Scott report ‘Ms Jhuti’s manager had determined that she should be dismissed but the true reason should be hidden behind an invented reason.’ …

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Settlement agreements: EHRC contributes to the crackdown on NDAs

Charles Wynn-Evans looks at guidance recently issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on the use of confidentiality agreements ‘In issuing this guidance, the EHRC seeks to promote cultural change so workers feel able to discuss their experiences and expose sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination.’ As no employment lawyer can fail …

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