Employment law stories in the news – 06.05.2019 to 12.05.2019

In the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news we take a look at ten employment law stories that have made headlines between 6 May 2019 and 12 May 2019

  1. Sexual harassment victory for sales manager ‘repeatedly asked to massage boss’ – A sales manager has won a claim for sexual harassment after she was asked multiple times for a massage by her managing director, who also requested she sleep with him (People Management)
  2. Government still owes £16m in employment tribunal refunds – Nearly two years after the Supreme Court rendered the government’s employment tribunal fees unlawful, the government still owes claimants £16m in refunds, it has emerged (The Law Society Gazette)
  3. Capping exit payments in the public sector – Notwithstanding the apparent moratorium on the conduct of Government business in the run up to Brexit, the UK Government made time to progress its concerns about the size of exit payments made to employees leaving public sector roles by re-launching consultation on regulations which would cap public sector exit payments at £95,000 (Local Gov)
  4. Mencap sleep-in case to be heard in Supreme Court – Mencap has said the care sector has been “plunged back into uncertainty” after the Supreme Court announced it will hear an appeal against a landmark ruling made in favour of the charity (Civil Society)
  5. ‘I lost my job over tweet challenging trans ideology’ – A woman who said biology determines whether people are male or female – rather than identity or feelings – is taking legal action after losing her position at an economic think-tank (The Christian Institute)
  6. Closed firm to pay employee after texting him not to come in – A collapsing firm which sacked staff without going through the required procedures must pay a former employee three months’ wages (The Law Society Gazette)
  7. Appeal court hears parental pay discrimination claims – The Court of Appeal has heard two cases that consider whether it is discriminatory for employers to enhance maternity pay but not shared parental pay – the outcome of which could have a significant impact on organisations’ policies (Personnel Today)
  8. Aggrieved staff gagged after agreeing Acas settlement – More than 22,000 cases of alleged mistreatment of staff by employers have been raised in the past three years, according to new Scottish figures (The Times)
  9. Ex-staffer takes MP Chris Law to tribunal – Dundee West MP Chris Law is being taken to an employment tribunal over claims he failed to protect a former employee from “physical and emotional abuse” (BBC)
  10. NatWest hands female worker £150,000 compensation after equal pay row – A NatWest worker has been handed £150,000 in damages by the bank after taking action over unequal pay. The employee, known as Miss Williams, worked as a female support analyst in NatWest’s technology division for seven years (The Sun)