A dismissal will be automatically unfair if the sole or principal reason for dismissal is that the employee took or sought to take parental leave. In Hilton Foods Solutions v. Wright, the EAT has decided that this protection does not require the employee to have made a formal request. Communications about taking parental leave might reach a stage that could be described as having sought to take the leave. This will be a question of fact for employment tribunals.

An employer did not breach its duty to make reasonable adjustments for an employee with a stammer when it held internal promotion interviews via video conference. The employee’s stammer made him curtail his answers in the interview, which negatively affected his assessment. However, he had not told his employer that his stammer might have this effect and, on the facts of this case, the employer was reasonable in not realizing it.

The EAT has confirmed that a decision to dismiss based on “tainted information” given by another individual to the decision-maker would not make the dismissal discriminatory unless the decision-maker themselves were motivated by the protected characteristic in question.

The Financial Conduct Authority has recently reiterated that its new Consumer Duty represents a significant shift in its expectations of affected firms. Good customer outcomes must be at the heart of firms’ business strategy and objectives. In an article for Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence, Annabel Mackay and Kimberly Everitt provide an overview of the employment law implications of the Consumer Duty and lists next steps firms should take to ensure compliance.

The European Whistleblowing Directive (WBD) was supposed to be implemented by the European Union’s 27 member states by no later than 17th December 2021, impacting employers with operations in those jurisdictions.
This article looks at what those key challenges are and the unique support we can offer in helping global employers harmonize their global approach to managing whistleblowing reports within the prescriptive requirements of the WBD.

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that an Acas-negotiated COT3 settlement agreement covered an individual’s claim that his former employer had knowingly helped a subsidiary unlawfully victimize him when the subsidiary rejected his job application. This situation was covered by the COT3’s express terms settling claims that indirectly arose in connection with his employment.

The European Whistleblowing Directive was to be implemented by the European Union’s 27 member states by no later than 17 December 2021, impacting employers with operations in those jurisdictions. Member states are still passing their implementing legislation, meaning employers are facing a period of intense activity as they adapt to changes in legislation across the region.

In a briefing published by Regulatory Intelligence, Annabel Mackay and Samantha Pickett explain the importance of cultivating an ethical culture from a financial regulatory, employment law and employee engagement perspective, and suggest how leaders can use communication strategies to do so.

The practice of ‘fire and rehire’, where an employer dismisses a worker and then re-engages them on different (sometimes perceived as less favorable) terms, is a current hot topic in UK employment law. The government has, to date, declined to legislate on the issue, although it stressed that the practice should only be used as a last resort. On 29 March 2022, the government announced that it would introduce a new statutory code on the practice, which will also detail how employers should hold fair, transparent and meaningful consultations on proposed changes to terms of employment.

The UK government has begun a consultation on disability workforce reporting. The consultation includes questions on current practice and explores the possibility of voluntary or mandatory reporting practices.