Legal news: Employment update

Jo Broadbent rounds up recent case law developments affecting employers and their advisers ‘At the full hearing of Donelien, the tribunal had to decide whether the employer had knowledge of the disability so as to give rise to a duty to make reasonable adjustments and held that it did not.‘ No constructive knowledge of disability …
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Employment law reform: ‘Good Work‘ – the government‘s response to the Taylor review

Phil Allen examines the detail of the government‘s proposed overhaul of worker rights ‘The breadth of the employment status consultation may raise questions about how genuine the government‘s intention is to change the law.‘ The government has responded to last year‘s Taylor review of modern working practices with a paper called ‘Good Work‘, which it …
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Data protection: How to establish a lawful basis for handling employee information

In the first of a three-part series on the GDPR, Antonia Blackwell and Adele Hayfield explain why employers can no longer rely on employees‘ consent to hold their information ‘Organisations will need to assess the legal basis for each processing activity that they carry out and notify the data subject of this.‘ Part 2: ‘How …
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Pre-employment checks: Full disclosure – what do employers have a right to know before hiring?

In light of news stories that employers have been duped into hiring candidates whose applications were largely fictitious, Joanna Chatterton and Ed Livingstone consider what employers can lawfully do to ensure a job applicant is who they say they are ‘Candidates have certain protections which prevent over-zealous vetting and pre-employment checks.‘ It is an unavoidable …
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Employee surveillance: CCTV in the workplace – the limits of Big Brother

A recent human rights decision and forthcoming changes to data protection rules are likely to make it harder for employers to justify CCTV monitoring of employees, warn Michael Chattle and Stephanie Creed ‘Employees enjoy considerable protection and both the UK and EU courts take a dim view of unnecessary or groundless monitoring.‘ CCTV cameras are …
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Pay in lieu of notice: Taxing times for termination payments

Charles Wynn-Evans reports on the forthcoming changes to the taxation of termination payments to employees ‘Although the intention behind the government‘s reforms was to simplify the legislation, the revised rules have ended up being far from simple.‘ The changes to the tax treatment of payments made to employees on the termination of their employment coming …
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Fixed-term employees: Ending a fixed-term contract – why it‘s not as easy as it sounds

Ellie Boyd explores how to avoid the main pitfalls when dealing with fixed-term employees, including how to avoid an unfair dismissal claim on non-renewal of a contract ‘While claims brought under the regulations are relatively few and far between, there is no limit on compensation in the event of breach. Employers should therefore not underestimate …
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