News

The court of appeal has confirmed that suspension of an employee is to be treated like any other alleged breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence. Does the employers conduct, without reasonable and proper cause, destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence? This was confirmed in The Mayor & … Read more

Background Mr Aplin was an openly gay Headteacher at Tywyn Primary School. He was suspended by the school on 1 September 2015 after they were notified that Mr Aplin had consensual sexual intercourse with two 17-year-old boys after meeting them through an internet dating website. The website required joining individuals to certify that they are … Read more

The Claimant was employed by the Respondent company from 30 August 2016 until 22 November 2016 as a joiner.  The claimant has insufficient length of service to claim ordinary unfair dismissal. He claimed unfair dismissal under s 100(1)(d) ERA 1996 by reason of the dust in the workshop where he worked. The Claimant was line … Read more

The Claimant, Ms Lamb had been employed at The Garrard Academy (the School) as a teacher. Ms Lamb went off sick on 29th February 2012 because of depression and alleged bullying at work. In March 2012 the Claimant raised a grievance about two incidents against the deputy headteacher at the School. The first incident related … Read more

This was an appeal following a decision made by the Employment Tribunal. Part of the appeal asked whether or not section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (“ERA 1996”) entitles an employee to a written statement of terms and conditions of employment if his or her employment ends between one and two months after the … Read more

There is a common misconception that a current or former employee is entitled to a ‘good’ reference or, more accurately, that an employer cannot make any negative comments about an employee.  This is simply wrong. In the education sector a useful starting point is the School Staffing (England) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2680) which states that … Read more

In Ball v First Essex Buses Limited ET 3201435/2017 an Employment Tribunal decided an employee was unfairly dismissed for gross misconduct when he failed a routine drug test. The Law An employer must hold such investigation as is “reasonable in all the circumstances” when investigating a potential misconduct issue (Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd v Hitt [2002] … Read more

Firstly, it is important to note that cases involving vicarious liability depend heavily on the facts. Vicarious liability in employment terms is where an Employer is held responsible for the acts or omissions of an Employee in the course of employment. The test used in these cases asks the question, were the torts so closely … Read more