UK: recent additions to Employment Notes

Employment law news over the last few months has inevitably been dominated by Covid-19 developments, which we have covered in numerous posts on this blog.  This update provides links to our recent posts on other developments.  These include April 2020 legislative changes, new EHRC harassment guidance, Government consultations on proposed new rights and Law Commission recommendations for reform of employment tribunal jurisdiction.  Case summaries include significant rulings on vicarious liability and TUPE, novel court rulings on implied duties, and cases on restrictive covenants, whistleblowing, philosophical belief, redundancy, equal pay and more.

Please click on Read More for a full list and links to the relevant posts.

• April 2020 employment law changes
• Harassment: new EHRC guidance likely to require significant updates to employer policies
• Vicarious liability: Supreme Court rules that Morrisons not vicariously liable for ‘rogue’ employee’s data breach and no vicarious liability for actions of genuinely self-employed contractor
• Restrictive covenants: no inducement of breach where legal advice that covenant 'probably unenforceable' and court ruling on non-compete, repudiatory breach, job notification clause and disclosure obligations
• Implied duties: High Court rulings on duty of care to protect against economic loss
• Whistleblowing: recent cases illustrate the limits to lawful employer action in response to allegations and detriment because of "ordinary" unreasonable behaviour while making a disclosure could not be severed from the disclosure
• TUPE: ECJ rules that employee contract can be split between multiple separate transferees and pre-transfer beneficial changes to terms are void
• Shared parental pay: Supreme Court refuses permission to appeal discrimination claim
• Philosophical belief: guidance for employers following ruling that ethical veganism protected; tribunal rules that transgender views not protected
• Equal pay: rulings on time limit for claims and duration of material factor defence
• Unfair dismissal: rulings on dismissal to avoid reputational risk, dismissal for disclosing colleague's pay, and claims by employees working abroad
• Redundancy: requirement to interview for own job plus lack of consultation and appeal rendered dismissal unfair
• Disciplinary investigations: rulings highlight importance of updating decision-maker and ability to start disciplinary process before investigation completed if appropriate
• Disclosure: tribunal can order disclosure of documents by party outside GB
• Subject access requests: stricter timescale for response
• Government consultations on neonatal leave, unpaid carers’ leave and domestic abuse survivors
• Law Commission recommends extension of employment tribunal jurisdictions

In addition to our blog posts on Covid-19 developments, we have published and updated briefings on the Job Retention Scheme and Key Issues for UK Employers coming out of the lockdown, including health and safety issues.  You can also access further perspectives from across our global network via our website hub, and our mass redundancies overview is available here.