What’s happening this month?
Our next round of HR Breakfast Club sessions will be taking place this month. We will be looking at the issues arising from the so-called “gig” economy of short-term contracts and freelance work and considering the recent high profile cases involving Uber, Pimlico Plumbers and Deliveroo. The sessions promise to be as practical as possible and focus on what steps you can take to address some of the risks arising from these cases.
The sessions will be taking place in Peterborough and Huntingdon on the following dates:
- Wednesday 14 June, Buckles Solicitors LLP in Peterborough
- Tuesday 20 June, Buckles Solicitors LLP in Peterborough
- Thursday 22 June, The Holiday Inn Racecourse in Huntingdon
Places are limited and are going quickly so if you have in-house responsibility for HR at your organisation and would like to attend, and have not already secured a place, you will need to do so quickly!
Anything interesting in the news?
There is the small matter of the General Election taking place on 8 June and whilst all the focus in the news has been on Brexit, tax and the NHS, it is worth taking a few minutes to consider what employment law issues are at stake.
- The Conservatives have promised to maintain existing rights post Brexit, to continue the Taylor review into employment status (for more information on this see our HR Breakfast Clubs above!) and to introduce a number of new rights to unpaid time off for training, to care for sick relatives and child bereavement. They have also proposed to extend discrimination protection to mental health problems, an area which is already covered now to some extent.
- The Labour party’s proposals are more radical. They would abolish Tribunal fees, make all existing employment rights “day one” rights and extend them to workers, increase the length of maternity and paternity pay, ban zero hours contracts, give unions new rights in the workplace and create a Ministry of Labour.
- The Liberal Democrats would keep the UK in the Single Market and preserve freedom of movement within the EU. They would also introduce pay gap reporting, introduce name-blind recruitment in the public sector and address the abuse of zero hours contracts. They would make flexible working, paternity and shared parental leave “day one” rights and create an additional month’s leave for fathers and extend free childcare places. They would also abolish Tribunal fees.
The choice is yours!
Turning away from the election, I was surprised to read an article this month whereby an employer had dismissed an employee purportedly for reasons relating to his conduct. However, I understand from the content of the article that the employer had wanted him to retire at 65 and had recruited a replacement to his role. Following the employee’s refusal to retire they had concocted other reasons, namely reasons of conduct, to bring his employment to an end. The employee was successful in his claim for unfair dismissal and age discrimination and was reportedly awarded a sum of £182,000.
This case serves as a reminder that employers who want to have a fixed retirement age should be very careful as the requirement to retire at a prescribed age is discriminatory. An employer must therefore be able to show that the retirement age is intended to meet a legitimate aim and that it is proportionate to use the retirement age as a means of meeting that aim. Trying to concoct other reasons for an employee’s dismissal, where the real reason is retirement, will not succeed at Tribunal!
Any new cases to be aware of?
In the case of Beatt v Croydon Health Services NHS Trust the Court of Appeal considered the dismissal of a doctor who had made disclosures to his employer and whether it was relevant that the employer believed the employee’s disclosure was not protected.
This case involved a consultant cardiologist, Dr Beatt, who had been employed with the NHS Trust for around seven years. Whilst he was performing an operation on a patient one of his more senior staff nurses was suspended and his patient died. Dr Beatt attributed his patient’s death to the absence of the nurse. He also raised other concerns with regard to staffing levels and experience and patient care. These allegations were investigated and found to be without merit. Dr Beatt was suspended for making false accusations about patient safety and was subsequently dismissed. He succeeded in claiming that his dismissal was for making protected disclosures and was therefore automatically unfair.
The Court of Appeal concluded that a disclosure is protected if it meets the statutory conditions laid within statute. It is not relevant whether the employer genuinely believed that the disclosure was not protected.
The second case of particular interest is Green v SIG Trading Limited, which is an EAT decision. In this case Mr Green was employed as the Managing Director of SIG’s operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He resided in Lebanon, commuted to work two to four days a week and reported to a manager in the UK. His contract of employment expressly stated that it was governed by English law, it referred to British employment legislation and UK policies, it included a mobility clause whereby he may be required to work in the UK and it included post termination restrictions relating to the UK and Ireland. As part of the terms of his employment he was also required to hold a residence visa and work permit. The company, SIG Trading Limited, is registered in the UK. Mr Green was dismissed for redundancy.
Mr Green brought claims in the Employment Tribunal but these were dismissed as the Tribunal concluded his connections with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were stronger and, as such, they did not have jurisdiction to hear his claim. The case was appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal who held that the focus should have been on Mr Green’s employer being a UK business, not on his roles and duties, and, as such, the Tribunal did have jurisdiction to hear his claims.
For those of you with businesses overseas this is an interesting case when considering jurisdictional points.
To sign up to receive our monthly employment e-bulletin, please head to our newsletter subscription page.
