EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE JANUARY 2017

by Emma | Jan 4, 2017 | Newsletter

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Flexible working after Maternity Leave

In Whiteman v CPS Interiors Ltd and others, the employment tribunal held that an employer properly handled a new mother’s rejected flexible working request to work from home.

Ms Whiteman, a designer for a company that refurbishes commercial premises, requested to reduce her hours on her return from maternity leave after having twins. Her employer accepted her request.  However, the employer turned down Ms Whiteman’s request to work from home (apart from occasional office visits) and to do most of her work in the evenings (after 6pm).  The employer considered that, although working at home primarily in the evenings might have been possible, it could not accommodate the homeworking request because:

• its collaborative way of working often involves designers together in a room looking at technical designs; and
• designs often have to be changed at short notice, something that would be difficult if the employee worked only at home in the evenings.

Ms Whiteman resigned, citing the handling of her flexible working request as the reason. She brought tribunal claims for breaches of the flexible working legislation, constructive dismissal and indirect sex discrimination.  The employment tribunal rejected all her claims, stressing that there is no right to work flexibly.

In Smith v Gleacher Shacklock LLP, the employment tribunal held that it was not indirect sex discrimination for an investment banking firm to require a mother to work full time.

Ms Smith, a single parent working as an executive secretary for a small investment bank, was returning from maternity leave.  She asked to work three days per week in the office, followed by homeworking on Thursdays and not working on Fridays.

Following a meeting, her employer turned down her flexible working request because of the:

• impact on the firm’s ability to look after clients,
• unpredictability of her role
• tight timescales for various tasks
• disproportionate pressure on the small team.

Recent examples were given of difficulties that would have occurred had Ms Smith not been in the office. The employer made various compromise suggestions, including that she could leave early for nursery runs and initially return on a part-time basis.

An agreement could not be reached and Ms Smith brought tribunal claims for indirect sex discrimination and breaches of flexible working legislation. She later resigned.  The employment tribunal rejected Ms Smith’s claims.  The tribunal accepted that requiring full-time working places women at a particular disadvantage compared with men because women are more likely to be sole parents than men.

The tribunal concluded that, in any event, the employer’s stance was justified. The employer’s legitimate aim is to “ensure that its partners and clients receive high-quality, efficient secretarial support throughout the week, without problematic handovers”.

If you require any assistance with flexible working requests, or requests after returning from maternity please contact me.

Equal pay – ASDA

An employment tribunal has ruled that the women, who mainly work at check-outs or stacking shelves, can compare themselves to higher paid men who work at warehouses.

This case highlights how comparator jobs aren’t obvious.

Please contact me if you have any equal pay issues or queries.

£180,000 compensation won by School Teacher

The Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled his employer discriminated against him on the grounds of his disability during his dismissal for a disciplinary offence.  Philip Grosset was sacked for gross misconduct after showing an 18-certificate horror film Halloween to 16-year-old students.

Grosset described his actions as a “poor choice” made at a time of “extreme stress and ill-health”, which did not deserve more than a verbal warning at most. Instead, he was sacked – and the tribunal accepted his argument that the school’s failure to take account of his disability before and during the process amounted to discrimination.

This case shows how giving out ‘unreasonable’ sanctions following a disciplinary process can backfire.

Please contact me prior to a disciplinary hearing for guidance.

Gender Pay reporting regulations finalised

This will affect businesses with over 250 employees. For further information please contact me.

Any questions regarding January’s update, please contact us on 07929 506 143 or echrltd@aol.co.uk

Employment Law Update – Nov 2016

by Emma | Oct 31, 2016 | Newsletter

Shared Parental Leave

In the first employment tribunal case to address a discrimination complaint over shared parental leave (SPL), a father has been awarded almost £30,000 after his employer refused to pay his shared parental leave at the same rate as his wife who was employed by the same company.

In the case, Snell v Network Rail, both the claimant and his wife were employed by Network Rail. The company’s policy provided for mothers to be paid at an enhanced rate during SPL but only the statutory rate for partners.

The tribunal agreed that a SPL policy that disadvantages partners (who are more likely than not to be men) by paying them at a less favourable rate than the mother of a child is indirectly discriminatory.

Employers need to be careful to ensure that pay is consistent across both men and women who take shared parental leave.

Please contact us if you have any queries or concerns regarding your Shared Parental Leave Policy.

Reasonable Adjustments

In the case of G4S Cash Solutions (UK) Ltd v Powell, after the Claimant became disabled through a back injury the Respondent gave him work in a new role at his existing rate of pay and led him to believe that the role was long-term. The following year, however, it said that it was only prepared to employ him in this role at a reduced rate of pay; and when the Claimant refused to accept these terms he was dismissed.

The view was taken that there was no reason in principle why the duty to make reasonable adjustments should exclude any requirement to protect an employee’s pay and that pay protection is no more than another form of cost for an employer making a reasonable adjustment.

Please contact us if you need any advice on disability or reasonable adjustments.

Commission payments should be included in holiday pay confirms the Court of Appeal

Employers who have not been including commission payments in holiday pay calculations need to be aware that they now run the very real risk of having a succession of unlawful deductions from wages claims brought against them.

Please contact us if you have any queries on your holiday calculations.

Caste Discrimination

The government has announced that it will be proceeding with a full consultation on caste discrimination. The consultation will seek views on whether additional measures are needed to ensure victims of caste discrimination have appropriate legal protection and effective remedies under the Equality Act 2010.

Music can help productivity says survey

Recent research reveals that two in three people (61%) listen to music in the workplace and best yet, that listening to music at work leads to happier employees and boosts office morale and creativity.

Here’s some of our fascinating findings:

• Over a third (36%) of workers find that music helps to get them through the day
• 20% of workers find that listening to music is a welcome distraction from their “boring” jobs.
• 16% admitted that they listen to music to drown out colleagues.
• One in ten (10%) revealed that they have judged a colleague based on their choice of music.

Research showed that the most popular genre of music in the workplace is pop/chart music, with over a third (34%) choosing it as their preferred genre, closely followed by rock (29%).

Any questions regarding November’s update, please contact us on 07929 506 143 or echrltd@aol.co.uk