Harassment is a serious workplace offence. If it infringes one of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, then it can give rise to an employment tribunal claim and substantial financial awards. Workplace harassment can also sometimes be a criminal offence, because the conduct taking place at work satisfies not only the employment law… [Read More]
GDPR rules for monitoring employees
Monitoring employees almost always involves collecting personal data – whether that’s CCTV footage, system access logs, browser history, location data or recorded calls – so it must comply with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, which set out strict rules on what data can be collected and how it must be processed…. [Read More]
Wrongful dismissal: Not the same as unfair dismissal
What is wrongful dismissal? A claim of wrongful dismissal can arise when you (the employer) breach the contract of employment when you dismiss an employee. Importantly, it has nothing to do with whether the dismissal was fair — that falls under statutory unfair dismissal rules. Wrongful dismissal is ultimately about contract compliance. Notice periods: express,… [Read More]
3rd party pressure: Fair reason for dismissal?
The Employment Rights Act 1996 recognises five potentially fair reasons for dismissal: When faced with an ordinary unfair dismissal claim, you must set out which of these 5 reasons you will cite as the reason for dismissal. You must then show that the dismissal for that reason was fair in all the circumstances. What’s the… [Read More]
Refusing annual leave – employer’s rights
Under Working Time Regulations 1998, all workers are entitled to at least 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year. However, this doesn’t mean that they have complete freedom to take holiday whenever they want. For the survival of the business, employers must be able to prioritise the employment needs and make sure that sufficient cover… [Read More]
