This month the Government has confirmed that a draft statutory code of practice on dismissal and re-engagement will be published and consulted on when parliamentary time allows. At the same time it has also been reported that the changes to flexible working and introducing a week’s unpaid carer’s leave (which the Government consulted over in the autumn of 2021) will not progress during this Parliament as the long awaited Employment Bill will not be in the Queen’s speech.
1. Cyber incidents: Managing the employee fallout
In this article, we consider the key practical and legal considerations for employers in their capacity as data controllers when dealing with ransomware attacks and other cyber incidents. This article first appeared in the May 2022 issue of PLC Magazine.
2. Indirect sex discrimination: Turning down a flexible working request
The EAT has confirmed that the pool for comparison for an indirect discrimination claim must accurately relate to the PCP that the claimant is pleading.
3. Unfair dismissal: A dismissal may be unfair even if the employee has volunteered for redundancy
The EAT has held that a tribunal was wrong to strike out a claim for unfair dismissal on the basis that it had no reasonable prospect of success because the claimant had requested redundancy.
4. Unfair dismissal and disability discrimination: Making reasonable adjustments to the dismissal process
The EAT has held that the dismissal of a disabled employee was not unfair in spite of the fact that the employer had failed to make reasonable adjustments to the dismissal process.
5. Automatic Unfair Dismissal and Covid-19
In what is understood to be the first consideration by the EAT of a Covid-19 related dismissal, the EAT has found that an employee was not automatically unfairly dismissed for leaving the workplace because they had a reasonable belief that there were serious and imminent circumstances of danger and had taken reasonable steps to avert those dangers.
