The Supreme Court has ruled that section 146 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA) which does not prevent employers from taking action short of dismissal in response to striking employees is incompatible with Article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). Although the declaration of incompatibility does not affect the validity or operation of section 146, it will put pressure on the government to legislate to correct the position, and employers are likely to be mindful of the decision when considering action short of dismissal in response to industrial action. Detriments for participation in industrial action, such as removing discretionary benefits from those who take part, currently remain lawful, so long as the detriments in question aren’t so severe as to constitute a constructive dismissal.

An employment tribunal has held that the University of Bristol’s decision to dismiss a professor based on comments he shared regarding his protected anti-Zionist beliefs was both an unfair dismissal and unlawful discrimination because of his protected belief.

The Presidents of the Employment Tribunals (England & Wales and Scotland) have issued Presidential Guidance updating the Vento bands for damages for injury to feelings and psychiatric injury in discrimination claims.

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.

Following calls by the European Parliament for potentially far-reaching changes, the European Commission has now kicked off the EU legislative process to revise the European Works Council Directive. This alert provides an update on the Commission’s proposals, and we will issue further alerts as the legislative process continues.

On 7 February 2024, the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) issued several investment promotion measures under the announcements as follows: 1) Investment Promotion Measure for Social and Local Development 2) Retention and Expansion Program 3) Relocation Program 4) Investment Stimulation Measure for Economic Recovery

In this article originally published in Risk & Compliance Journal written by Baker McKenzie employment and financial services regulatory experts, we explore the diversity and inclusion proposals recently put forward by the UK financial services regulators.

In an article for PLC Magazine, Monica Kurnatowska and Rob Marsh outline employers’ obligations under the new EU Pay Transparency Directive. It considers key elements including pay reporting, pay transparency, pay assessments and equal value, and remedies and enforcement as well as the practical implications for employers in the EU and in the UK in the light of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 is due to receive Royal Assent. The Act will introduce a new duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment and is expected to come into force 12 months after Royal Assent is granted. This duty will sit alongside employees’ existing protections from sexual harassment in the workplace.

In an article for PLC Magazine, Monica Kurnatowska explores recent case law around conflicts of belief in the workplace and how employers can approach these situations in practice.