Insights & News

Dismissal unfair where investigating manager was motivated by dislike of employee's union activities

03 December 2019

An employee was unfairly dismissed because the disciplinary process was manipulated by a manager who was motivated by dislike of the employee’s trade union activities, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has confirmed. This was despite the fact that neither the disciplinary nor appeal manager was influenced by prejudice against union activities.

Employer ordered to disclose privileged material

19 September 2019

In a recent decision, an employer was ordered to disclose comments received from its external solicitor in relation to the dismissal of an employee because it had deliberately disclosed other related privileged documents which were helpful to its case. It could not cherry pick which privileged documents to rely on.

Lewis Silkin’s award-winning rockhopper service celebrates fifth anniversary

Press Release

15 July 2019

It is five years since Lewis Silkin launched rockhopper, its highly successful, fixed-fee HR support service.

Secret recording of conversations is not necessarily gross misconduct

12 July 2019

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has agreed that a claimant who secretly recorded a meeting with HR should have her compensation reduced, but did not accept that this was necessarily gross misconduct. The EAT also made a number of interesting comments about covert recordings and reductions of awards.

James Davies comments for The Law Society Gazette: THE LOW DOWN

Press

04 September 2018

James Davies comments in an article for The Law Society Gazette, which discusses the demand for employment law advice due to the increase in ‘gig economy’ cases and the abolition of tribunal fees.

Free trade and controlling free movement - can the UK and the EU square the circle (18 months on)?

05 July 2018

The Brexit rollercoaster continues to rattle along as we hurtle towards 29 March 2019, the projected date for the UK to leave the EU.

Too hot to handle? What employers need to know about the heatwave

04 July 2018

There’s nothing Brits like more than talking about the weather and this year we’ve had a lot to discuss. Just a few months ago, the country was shivering in sub-zero temperatures, brought from Siberia by the “beast from the east”. Now that seems like a distant memory and we’re enjoying one of the hottest summers on record.

The risk for employers in bypassing collective bargaining

16 March 2017

Where an employer has recognised a trade union for collective bargaining purposes, can it still put an offer directly to its employees? This was the thorny issue for consideration in a recent Employment Tribunal decision.