News

In Cherfi v G4S Security Services Ltd the Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that refusing an employee permission to leave his work to attend Friday prayers at a Mosque was justified. 

When someone wins a claim, the Employment Tribunal must decide how much compensation to award the Claimant for loss of earnings as a result of the dismissal . It will have to look at the Claimant’s chances of getting another, equally well paid job and when that might happen. In Wardle v Calyon, the Court of Appeal overturned an Employment Tribunal’s decision to award banker Michael Wardle compensation of almost £375,000.

It is commonly known that if an ex-employer gives a false negative reference to a potential employer, the ex-employer could be sued by the employee for making a ‘negligent misstatement’.   We now know that this duty goes beyond references. 

A juror who contacted a defendant through Facebook during a 10 week drugs trial is likely to face contempt of Court proceedings.

Business clients' enthusiastic response to Gotelee’s fixed pricing initiative has demonstrated the strong appeal of fee certainty.   As Managing Partner, Martin Whitworth, explains, “Clients have described the availability of fixed fees as 'refreshing, innovative  and reassuring' compared to their experience of movable estimates...

Planning law is about to change.  The Coalition Government's commitment to a dramatic decentralisation in decision making will potentially have significant consequences for housing.  The Localism Bill empowers local District and Borough (and even Parish) Councils – to formulate planning policies ...

Getting to grips with Heath and Safety compliance requirements can seem daunting.  Helpfully, the HSE has recently provided a section on its web site dedicated to making health and safety simple... 

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has been consulting with a view to changing the Employment Tribunal system quite radically to help businesses.  Some of the Tribunal changes contemplated include...

Landlords commonly insist on guarantors when granting leases to tenants, but following a recent case landlords may want to become even more cautious, particularly if their current tenant wishes to move out of the property and transfer the lease to a third party...

Following delays, the Bribery Act 2010 will come into force on 1 July 2011.  It is crucial that all commercial organisations understand what is required of them and take action to ensure compliance by having clear, live and enforced policies...   

New sentencing guidelines come into effect on 13 June 2011 covering offences of assault from causing grievous bodily harm with intent to common assault.

Many employers like to include ' restrictive covenants' in their employment contracts - terms placing limits on the activities of employees when they leave their employment. In order to be enforceable, these clauses have to be reasonable both in their scope and their duration - no one size fits all!

The case of Liberty Living plc v Reid highlights the importance of ensuring that policies and procedures are well-drafted and brought to employees' attention.

A fervent opposition to fox hunting and hare coursing has been held to amount to a philosophical belief under the Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003.

In response to the North Report on Drink and Drug Driving published last year, the Government published its proposals in March.   The prescribed alcohol limit for driving will not be changed but a number of measures will be introduced to ensure that this sort of offence is both detected and punished effectively.

Sudbury Magistrates sat for the last time at Sudbury on Wednesday 23 March

The taking of illegal drugs by force amounts to robbery -  but why wouldn't it?

Last year we published news of two interesting cases where the local planning authority had been deceived by housebuilders. One case involved the building of a house behind some bales of straw and the other involved the building of a house inside a barn. The Supreme Court has given judgement in the "barn" case in favour of the LPA and overturning the Court of Appeal's decision - which one of the Court of Appeal's own judges had described as likely to seem "incomprehensible" to law- abiding citizens.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has upheld a tribunal’s decision to reject a harassment claim, where on the facts it was not reasonable for the Claimant to take offence.

Claimants are expected by the tribunals to raise an appeal against dismissal before challenging it in the employment tribunal and a failure to do so can result in a tribunal reducing an individual’s compensation by as much as 25%. The Court of Appeal has held however that a failure to appeal is not relevant when considering the fairness of the dismissal.