So here it is, 2025’s first serious contender for the What On Earth Were They Thinking? Awards, an unfair dismissal case with a common-sense answer so clear you could see it from Mars, but which it nonetheless took five years and the Court of Appeal to arrive at.… Continue Reading
On 18 November 2024, the Spanish Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling with significant implications for labour and employment relations in Spain. Previously, under the Workers’ Statute, employers were not required to hold a prior hearing for employees in disciplinary dismissal cases, unless the employee was unionized or a legal representative of the employees. However, … Continue Reading
I think I speak for many in the employment law community when I say that Section 111A(4) Employment Rights Act has always been something of a disappointment. Here we have a provision which allows the protection of a protected conversation to be blown apart by improper behaviour, a term wholly undefined in the Act, and … Continue Reading
There will be few in HR who have not at some point heard an employee say that he is so incensed by something said about him the course of disciplinary or grievance procedures that he is going to sue for defamation. This is almost always said in anger and for a great many very sensible … Continue Reading
Here are the last few questions – and our outline answers – from our recent webinar on Disciplinary Issues in the Workplace. What’s the best way to manage disputed notes from meetings, particularly where participants try to “re-write” history after the meeting? We share your pain – we have had numerous clients complain that employees … Continue Reading
Here are a few more of the questions – and our outline answers – following our recent webinar on Disciplinary Issues in the Workplace. In a large organisation, is it necessary to have consistency in decision-making across departments? Usually decisions vary depending on who heard the hearing. In short, yes. Ultimately if a matter ends … Continue Reading
Here are a couple more of the questions – and our outline answers – following our recent webinar on Disciplinary Issues in the Workplace. Can a disciplinary hearing be held in an employee’s absence? Yes, potentially, although this should usually be a last resort. As a general rule, disciplinary hearings should be conducted in person … Continue Reading
During our recent webinar on Disciplinary Issues in the Workplace, we received a number of questions via the chat facility that we will address in a few blogs over the next few weeks. First off, we have a couple of questions about bias and the independence of managers. Can a manager who witnessed an incident … Continue Reading
Last month the BBC reported the Employment Tribunal’s decision that it was fair to dismiss a Mr Doffou for gross misconduct because he had not paid for a handful of bags he packed his shopping in after his shift. Mr Doffou had been happily employed at Sainsbury’s in Romford for nearly 20 years when given … Continue Reading
“We conduct investigations in line with all applicable laws and regulations.” Easy for you to say, but what does that mean in practice? In part one, Laura Sparschuh discussed the options available to employees in Germany when reporting cases of workplace harassment. In this second article, Anna-Maria Hesse and Laura highlight what employers need to … Continue Reading
In its judgement in Zabelin -v- SPI Spirits and Shefler this month, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has offered a refresher course on some important questions around protected disclosures, contracting out of statutory rights and when the Acas Code applies. The background facts are relatively simple. Zabelin worked for SPI which is owned by Mr Shefler. … Continue Reading
One question which may come up at or before you plunge into your investigation questions is that of legal representation at the meeting for the witness. If the employee says that he wishes to bring his lawyer, do you have to agree? If not, should you agree anyway? The law on this is very clear … Continue Reading
The increased spotlight upon D&I matters which seems to be replacing covid as our clients’ dish of the day shines upon investigations too. How you investigate employees’ disclosures or complaints (especially but by no means necessarily, of discrimination or harassment) can make a considerable difference as to how those employees and others sharing their protected … Continue Reading
Once you have done all the scoping out and refining of allegations you can before starting your investigation, there will come the point where you have to raise the allegations made with the people they are made against. If the allegations are false, those people will be very angry. If they are true, they will … Continue Reading
Decades of presenting employment law training have taught me that if you ask seasoned HR audiences what they think employees usually want from a grievance, they will generally lie. “Justice“, someone will mutter uncomfortably, or “for the truth to come out”, “a better relationship with their manager” or “to correct a wrong“, all straining every … Continue Reading
When drawing up your preliminary note of what you need to know as the product of your investigation, remember that the people being investigated have rights too. Some we will come to later in this series, including confidentiality and a fair process, but the first and most fundamental part of a fair “trial” is knowing … Continue Reading
Today we start a new series of posts tackling the vexed area of workplace investigations. We will look at the background law, of which there is very little, and at best practice guidance, of which there is more than can possibly all be useful. We will offer some examples of investigations done badly and consider … Continue Reading
Our webinar on disciplinary proceedings last week began unpromisingly – there is no new law and little new practice to learn, I had to say, not necessarily what you want to hear from your legal training session. Nonetheless, we had several hundred sign-ups, perhaps tribute to the enduring mystique and indeed terror implicit in conducting … Continue Reading
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham – v – Keable is an EAT case with everything in it – Nazis, Holocaust deniers, Momentum activists and Members of Parliament, though not necessarily all at the same time. Oddly, despite this outstandingly diverse cast, the most important part of the decision for employers is actually the EAT’s … Continue Reading
Periodically a case comes along to remind us that underneath all good dismissal practice, Acas guidance and the rest is The Law, and that The Law is sometimes less rigid in its requirements of a fair dismissal than all that guidance might suggest. Moore -v- Phoenix Product Development Limited is today’s such case, an everyday … Continue Reading
In our webinar last week we looked at the law around whistleblowing with particular reference to how what is now quite an old legal concept may be used for the best or worst of reasons by employees returning to the office. The good faith airings of concerns around gaps in the employer’s Covid precautions must … Continue Reading
BBC News Online reported last week a call by trade union Prospect for the Government to legislate to “ban out of hours emails from bosses” or, beneath the headline, to “ban bosses from routinely emailing or calling outside set working hours“. This looks like the proposed introduction into English law of the “right to disconnect” … Continue Reading
I love this next question from our webinar last month. It goes right to the heart of what a grievance is about – obtaining redress where due – and raises some very interesting issues as to the extent of the employee’s own obligations to help in that process. 8. If someone refuses a mediation to … Continue Reading
It’s not natural for our freedoms and permissions to be limited in the way they have been since last March, so whatever one’s own views, it is hardly surprising that some have found those restrictions hard to swallow and have railed against COVID-19 related rules, state imposed or otherwise. The requirement to wear masks in … Continue Reading
