Employment law stories in the news this week – 21.04.2014 to 27.04.2014

MoJIn the latest of our series of posts on employment stories in the news this week, we take a look at ten stories related to employment law that have made the news between 21 April and 27 April 2014.

  1. Call centre worker spends £30,000 after being accidentally paid £250,000 – A call centre worker spent thousands of pounds after being accidently paid nearly £250,000 by his bosses, a court has heard. In a two-day spending spree, Imran Ahmed, 21, spent almost £30,000 on cars and gambling (The Telegraph)
  2. Leading doctor calls for inquiry into NHS treatment of whistle-blowers – The treatment of NHS whistle-blowers must be subject to a public inquiry, a leading doctor and patient safety pioneer has said, after a heart surgeon who raised the alarm about poor care was found to have been wrongly dismissed by his hospital (The Independent)
  3. Zero-hours crackdown plan unveiled by Labour leader – Ed Miliband has detailed plans to tackle the “epidemic” of zero-hours contracts if Labour wins the next election. The Labour leader says workers with irregular shifts and pay should be given more employment rights (BBC)
  4. John Lewis boss against extension of Sunday trading – The boss of John Lewis has spoken out against the prospect of extending shop trading hours on a Sunday despite moves by MPs and supermarket groups. Andy Street, the managing director of John Lewis, said the existing laws provided a “very good balance” for staff and customers (The Telegraph)
  5. Catholic school withdraws job offer over headteacher’s marital status – A Catholic ‘faith school’ in Wales has withdrawn a job offer from a potential new headteacher because he failed to live up to their idea of Catholic morality, citing an unspecified issue surrounding his marital status (The Secular Society)
  6. Male workers at Welsh university win equal pay claim – Twenty-three male workers at a university in Wales who were paid less than their female counterparts have won around £500,000 in compensation after suing for sex discrimination (The Guardian)
  7. Cornish people granted minority status within UK – Cornish people will be granted minority status under European rules for the protection of national minorities. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander made the announcement on a visit to the county (BBC)
  8. Rogue employers face £20,000 minimum wage fine – Employers who do not pay their workers the national minimum wage (NMW) will face an increased penalty of up to £20,000, the government has announced (WSB)
  9. RBS plan for 200% bonuses blocked by Treasury body – Royal Bank of Scotland has abandoned attempts to pay bonuses twice the size of salaries after being told the move would not be approved. UKFI, the body that manages the Treasury’s 81% stake in the bank, told RBS it would veto plans for a 2:1 bonus ratio at the next shareholder meeting (BBC)
  10. Guard who struck youth with basket is awarded €20,000 – The Irish arm of supermarket giant Tesco has been ordered to pay more than €20,000 to a security worker who struck a youth with a shopping basket. The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) awarded €20,885 after finding that Olatunji Lyinolakan had been unfairly dismissed by Tesco Ireland Ltd following the night-time incident at one of its stores (The Independent.ie)