Unconventional NHS Job Interview Infected by Discrimination, ET Rules

Employment Law

Many employers understandably prefer an informal atmosphere when interviewing job candidates. However, as an Employment Tribunal (ET) ruling showed, there is always a risk that such an approach may leave room for bias or discrimination to creep unintentionally into the selection process. The case concerned a man of mature years who applied to an NHS trust for a post as a project manager. The five candidates were encouraged to make original, fun yet thoughtful and punchy presentations. In response, the man employed visual aids during his interview, including a backpack given to him by his daughter which featured characters from …

Unconventional NHS Job Interview Infected by Discrimination, ET Rules Read More »

When Does an Employee Start Work? Guideline Decision

Employment Law, Featured

The requirement that workers must have two years of continuous employment before they can bring an unfair dismissal claim means that the precise date on which they started work can be of critical importance. Precisely that issue arose in the case of a safety supervisor who unofficially began work a week before his employment by a demolition company formally commenced. The man lodged an unfair dismissal claim with an Employment Tribunal (ET) after losing his job. Following a preliminary hearing, however, his claim was rejected on the basis that he had not worked continuously for the company for two years. …

When Does an Employee Start Work? Guideline Decision Read More »

Encouraging New Employees to Bring Clients With Them Can Be Risky

Employment Law, Commercial Law

Encouraging employees recruited from competitors to bring their clients with them may not be inherently wrong, but it is often legally hazardous. A Court of Appeal ruling in the context of the travel agency business served to highlight the pitfalls. A travel agency which used a franchise model to employ over 700 sales consultants took action after a substantial number of them left to join a competitor. For reasons of economy, the agency proceeded against two of the franchisees on a sample basis. After a trial, a judge found that, in taking client information belonging to the agency with them …

Encouraging New Employees to Bring Clients With Them Can Be Risky Read More »

National Minimum Wage – Exploited Hotel Workers Awarded Almost £60,000

Employment Law

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) has been enforced in Britain for over 20 years, yet the repugnant exploitation of low-paid workers has by no means been eradicated. A case on point concerned a couple who were between them paid £250 a week for working long hours in a hotel. The married couple managed the hotel on behalf of its owner. They worked seven hours a day, seven days a week, for which they were each paid £125. They were accommodated free of charge in the hotel, where they had worked for three and a half years. They were initially told …

National Minimum Wage – Exploited Hotel Workers Awarded Almost £60,000 Read More »