Background Ms Brazel, a visiting music teacher at Bedford Girls School, was employed by the trust on a zero-hours contract. Employed by Harpur Trust (Harpur) under a permanent contract on a zero hours basis. Harpur is not obliged to provide a fixed minimum amount of work and she is paid only for the amount of work carried out. Ms Brazel works mainly during school term-time. The length of the school terms vary from year to year but are between 32 and 35 weeks. She is a part-time worker in two senses, firstly, that she does not work a full working week and, secondly, that for large parts of the year (during school holidays) she does not work for Harpur at all. It is only this second type of part-time working – Read More…

In Mackereth v DWP [2022] EAT 99, the Employment Appeal Tribunal heard an appeal against the dismissal of discrimination claims where the claimant had refused to agree to the use of preferred pronouns due to religious reasons. The claimant, a Christian doctor was employed as a health and disabilities assessor where the role was to carry out assessments of claimants for disability-related benefits. He believed that a person cannot change their sex/gender at will and therefore would not agree to the use of a trans person’s chosen pronouns. This conflicted with the employer’s policies. The employer attempted to clarify the claimant’s position to see if his beliefs could be accommodated. The claimant left his employment with the respondent and brought claims of harassment and discrimination relying on the protected characteristic – Read More…

A maternity rights charity called ‘Pregnant Then Screwed’ has carried out a survey into dads and other parents who may take paternity leave. The findings have raised concerns and there is a strong argument to say paternity rights and benefits should be improved. 8 in 10 dads said that their employers are not doing enough to support fathers in the workplace with almost half (46%) saying they have, or would consider switching roles to access better paternity leave and pay. In the UK, fathers can choose to take either 1 or 2 weeks paternity leave and this must be taken in one go. The current statutory weekly rate of paternity pay is £156.66, or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower). An employer could choose to enhance the – Read More…

In Rentplus UK Ltd v Coulson [2022] EAT 81, the EAT upheld the employment Tribunal’s decision to award a 25% uplift to compensation due to the employers failure to comply with the Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance procedures. Facts The claimant joined the respondent as Director of Partnerships in 2015, soon after it had been established. Unbeknown to the claimant, a decision was taken in March 2017 that she would be dismissed. Steven Collins was appointed as a consultant to the respondent in April 2017. The then CEO, Richard Connolly, decided that he would step down in the autumn of 2017. Mr Connolly introduced Mr Collins to members of the Board, with the intention that Mr Collins might succeed him as CEO. Mr Collins was employed as – Read More…

The Department for Education (DfE) has published an updated version of its statutory guidance to create ‘Keeping children safe in education 2022’. This guidance will come into effect from 1st September 2022. The changes to the previous document include: Additional information about domestic abuse; The importance of schools talking to parents and carers regarding a child’s access to online sites once away from school; Guidance on child-on-child abuse (previously peer-on-peer abuse) has been merged into KCSIE 2022; Safeguarding and child protection training will help governors and trustees; Further information on the role of the virtual school head; Information about schools and colleges ensuring children who may be LGBT have a trusted adult who they can be open with; A reminder that DBS checks on volunteers are free; Highlighted the importance of ensuring children – Read More…

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld a tribunal decision that an employee had not been automatically unfairly dismissed under section 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 for leaving work and refusing to return at the start of the first COVID-19 lockdown. The employee did not attend the workplace as he claimed he was concerned about catching COVID-19 and passing it on to one of his children. His child had underlying health conditions. The employer was following the government guidance in relation to social distancing, including handwashing and face masks being made available. Furthermore, the building in which the employee worked was large with few employees. The employee had not raised any specific workplace concerns to his employer; the tribunal found the employee did not have a reasonable belief – Read More…

The Fawcett Society has released a new report on menopause and the workplace, published in April 2022. The report delves into women’s experiences at work and is the largest representative survey of menopausal women conducted in the UK. It says change is needed urgently as workplaces are failing menopausal women. Its key findings show: One in ten women who worked during the menopause have left a job due to their symptoms. Eight out of ten women say their employer hasn’t shared information, trained staff, or put in place a menopause absence policy. Almost half of women haven’t approached their GPs and three in ten have seen delays in diagnosis. Only four in ten women were offered HRT in a timely fashion. It has called for change through the following action points: – Read More…

Sickness absence increased last year following the end of the furlough scheme official figures show. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows the sickness absence rate in the UK in 2021 rose to 2.2%, from a record low of 1.8% in 2020; this is the highest it has been since 2010, when it was also 2.2%. An estimated 149.3 million working days were lost because of sickness or injury in the UK in 2021, equivalent to 4.6 days per worker. The most common reason for sickness absence in 2021 was “other” conditions, including accidents, poisonings, diabetes and coronavirus (COVID-19). COVID-19 accounted for nearly one in four of all occurrences of sickness absence in 2021. The groups with the highest rates of sickness absence in 2021 included women, older – Read More…

Presidential Guidance on employment tribunal awards for injury to feelings has been issued for claims presented on or after 6th April 2022. The Addendum outlines the following updates to Vento bands which have been adjusted to take account of the RPI measure of inflation: A lower band of £990 to £9,900 for less serious cases. A middle band of £9,900 to £29,600 for cases which do not merit an award in the upper band. An upper band of £29,600 to £49,300 for the most serious cases. Amounts in excess of £49,300 can be awarded in the most exceptional cases. Source: Tribunals Judiciary: Fifth Addendum to Presidential Guidance originally issued on 5 September 2017 (28 March 2022).

In White v HC-One Oval Ltd [2022] EAT 56, the EAT held that the employment tribunal was wrong to determine that a claim for unfair dismissal had no reasonable prospect of success because the employee had volunteered for redundancy. In September 2018, care home operator HC-One Oval Ltd announced it was reducing the number of employees carrying out reception and administrative work. Ms White was provisionally selected for redundancy. Subsequently, she requested voluntary redundancy, which was accepted. After termination of her employment, Ms White submitted a claim for unfair dismissal. She alleged that: – In July 2018, she had raised a grievance about having to cover the duties of an absent colleague as well as her own, without extra pay. – During the redundancy process, an administrative role had become – Read More…