Employment law stories in the news this week – 10.03.2013 to 16.03.2013

MoJIn the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news this week, we take a look at ten employment law stories that have made the news between 10 March 2014 and 16 March 2014.

  1. Bullying forced me out, claims hospitals’ whistleblower – A National Health inspector was “vilified, bullied, ridiculed, lied about and ostracised” when she blew the whistle on the failing hospital regulator, an employment tribunal has been told (The Times)
  2. Death rate whistleblower says she ‘fears sack’ – An NHS whistleblower could be sacked for raising concerns that a hospital was fiddling its death rates – bringing into question promises made by ministers to protect those who speak out in the public interest (The Nursing Times)
  3. Uni ‘bullying’ tribunal judge weighs decision – The employment tribunal of a former events co-ordinator at Kellogg College finished yesterday. Catriona Carter Jonas, of Adkin Way, Wantage, is suing the Chancellor, masters and scholars of Oxford University for alleged discrimination on age grounds, unfair dismissal and non-payment of outstanding wages (The Oxford Times)
  4. Zero hours contracts consultation closes with over 30,000 responses – The government’s consultation on zero hours contracts has now closed, having received more than 30,000 responses. The 12 week consultation was launched in late December 2013 by Business Secretary Vince Cable, following a review of evidence on the extent of the use of zero hours contracts conducted last summer (Gov.uk)
  5. Children and Families Bill receives Royal Assent – Legislation that will bring into force various changes to maternity, paternity and adoption rights has completed its route through Parliament. The Children and Families Act 2014 received Royal Assent yesterday, later than originally planned, introducing a number of measures (Personnel Today)
  6. Public Concern at Work releases report – The Whistleblowing Commission set up by Public Concern at Work to investigate the law and practice of whistleblowing has released its report on the effectiveness of existing arrangements for workplace whistleblowing in the UK (Public Concern at Work)
  7. Sacked ‘shark-wrestling’ charity worker agrees settlement – Paul Marshallsea, dismissed from the Pant and Dowlais Boys & Girls Club after being spotted on a beach while on sick leave, has settled with his former employer without a tribunal hearing (Third Sector)
  8. Nicolas Anelka sacked by West Brom for ‘gross misconduct’ – Nicolas Anelka’s troubled West Bromwich Albion career ended in acrimony on Friday night when the Premier League club sacked the Frenchman for “gross misconduct”. Anelka – who was recently given a five-match ban and an £80,000 fine by the Football Association for the quenelle gesture he made at Upton Park in December – had earlier announced via Twitter that he was terminating his playing contract, which had three and half months to run (The Guardian)
  9. Figures show huge rise in zero-hours contracts – The scale of the use of zero-hours contracts has been revealed after official figures showed that nearly 583,000 employees – more than double the government’s estimate – were forced to sign up to the controversial conditions last year (The Guardian)
  10. Purple Parking workers win ageism battle after dozens sacked for ‘being too old’ – Britain’s biggest airport car parking company, Purple Parking, has admitted age discrimination against its workers after it sacked dozens of them for being too old (The Independent)