July/August 2011 #122 – Law Journals

Negligent Misstatement: Careless talk costs trials

Employers need to be cautious when discussing ex-employees, even outside formal references, warns Naomi Greenwood ‘The facts in McKie v Swindon College [2011] were not covered by any existing authority and the judge therefore needed to consider whether the legal principles contained in the line of authorities could be extended to a different factual situation …

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Sex Discrimination: Special treatment was too special

The EAT has ruled that by not selecting an employee who was on maternity leave for redundancy, an employer disadvantaged her colleague instead, reports Gemma Rusling ‘If a woman who is pregnant or on maternity leave has been treated disproportionately more favourably than is reasonably necessary to compensate her for the disadvantages that arise from …

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TUPE: The pensions predicament

Catherine Drinnan describes why it is important to consider pension issues on the transfer of an undertaking ‘Although occupational pension schemes may generally be outside the scope of TUPE, all pension rights of the transferring employees should still be subject to full diligence procedures.’ A recent case has highlighted that transferees in a business sale …

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Flexible Working: Bringing up baby

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Catherine Wilson examines the proposals in the Modern Workplaces consultation on shared parental leave and extending the right to request to work flexibly ‘The key proposal in Modern Workplaces is the extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees. This would be linked to the replacement of the current statutory process for …

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Working Time Regulations: A break from uncertainty?

Amy Bird assesses the government’s attempts to use its Modern Workplaces consultation to resolve holiday and sickness conundrums created by European case law ‘Although the government’s proposals may solve the technical legal problems posed by Pereda and Stringer, if implemented they would cause some practical headaches for employers, as well as leaving some other common …

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Equal Pay: Tribunals could compel audits

Employers who lose a discrimination or equality of terms claim could be required to conduct a pay audit under new proposals, explains Anne Sammon ‘The new legislation would require tribunals to order an employer to conduct a pay audit where a claimant succeeds in claims relating to pay discrimination or equality of terms. The employer …

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Bribery Act 2010: A nightmare, or just a bad dream?

Will Winch studies the effect and extent of the UK’s new anti-corruption legislation ‘Corporate hospitality could be used as a cover for bribery. Therefore the prosecutor will no doubt examine the context of the hospitality or gift, as well as its value, when assessing whether something constitutes a bribe.’ On 1 July 2011 the Bribery …

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Discrimination Awards: Who pays, how much and for how long?

In the light of two recent rulings, Rachel Dineley looks at how compensation is calculated in discrimination cases ‘The tribunal’s error in Wardle v Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank [2011] had been in assuming that it must award damages until the point when it could be sure that the claimant would find an equivalent …

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