The new Finance Bill has indicated that any payment made in lieu of notice (PILON) will always be taxable. Previously, it has been considered that where no PILON clause existed in the employee’s contract that this would allow a tax-free PILON payment to be made. Additionally, any termination payment over £30,000 will now attract employer’s…
The recent tribunal case of Schofield v Manchester Airport Group plc, considered the issue of disability discrimination where an employer imposes tests to ensure that staff are competent. Mr Schofield was employed by the Airport as a Security Officer. He had dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia which, together, amounted to a disability. After Mr Schofield…
A recent decision by the European Court of Human Rights (in Bărbulescu v Romania) has emphasised that where an employer monitors an employee’s emails, without communicating to the employee that it is doing so, then this will constitute a breach of Article 8 Right to Privacy. Public Sector organisations must have clear, defined policies, setting…
In the recent case of Agoreyo v London Borough of Lambeth, the High Court considered whether it was reasonable to suspend a teacher, to allow for a fair misconduct investigation to take place or if this constituted a repudiatory breach of the implied term of trust and confidence, therefore allowing the teacher to resign and…
An investigation is central to a fair disciplinary process: if you don’t carry out a reasonable investigation prior to dismissing an employee for misconduct, you risk an unfair dismissal claim. But what is a reasonable investigation? This question has been considered recently by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in NHS 24 v Pillar. Ms Pillar argued that…
The latest Employment Tribunal (ET) ruling in the case of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council vs Willets, has ruled on the issue of Voluntary Overtime. It concludes that all elements of voluntary overtime must be considered when calculating average holiday pay (for the first 20 days of entitlement). Therefore, we recommend that all employers should apply Average Holiday…