Employment law stories in the news – 07.05.2018 to 13.05.2018

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 made headlines between 7 May 2018 and 13 May 2018

  1. Company fined after death of worker – A Somerset pre-cast concrete products manufacturing company has been fined after a 43-year-old man was fatally injured when trapped by machinery. Bath Magistrates’ Court heard how Jeffery Baulf, a maintenance fitter employed by CPM Group Limited, was carrying out maintenance work while the machine was not isolated. A conveyor started moving and Mr Baulf suffered fatal injuries when he got trapped (HSE)
  2. AA ‘withholding’ former worker’s data – A former AA worker has reported the company to the information commissioner for withholding personal records as she prepares to sue it for unfair dismissal and discrimination (The Times)
  3. Gender pay: Hundreds of firms face action over non-disclosure – Hundreds of companies face legal action after failing to meet an extended deadline to report their gender pay gap, Britain’s equality watchdog said (BBC)
  4. Sacked Plymouth Age Concern boss loses case for unfair dismissal – The sacked boss of a Plymouth charity rapped for major failings has lost a case for unfair dismissal. Barbara Duffy took Plymouth Age Concern to a tribunal after the former CEO was dismissed for gross misconduct in December 2016 (The Herald)
  5. Firms could be named and shamed over abuse of workers’ rights – Companies whose suppliers fail to pay the minimum wage or curb holiday pay could be named and shamed under a new regime proposed by the government’s workers’ rights tsar (The Guardian)
  6. Ex-Met police poster girl who cried racism loses all 33 claims after tribunal heard she complained of prejudice whenever she was unhappy at work – A former police poster girl has lost a £144,000 race claim after a tribunal heard she had a tendency to complain of prejudice whenever she was unhappy at work (The Daily Mail)
  7. One in nine workers are in insecure jobs, says TUC – One in nine workers are in insecure jobs such as those on zero hours contracts, low paid self employment or temporary posts, according to research from the TUC (The Belfast Newsletter)
  8. Retired officer subjected to racial discrimination as he tried to get promoted within North Yorkshire police – A retired police officer was subjected to racial discrimination as he tried to move up the career ladder within North Yorkshire Police, an employment tribunal has ruled (The Northern Echo)
  9. City council to take staff to Supreme Court in long-running pay row – Nottingham City Council is to take an ongoing dispute with staff members over pay rises to the Supreme Court. Staff members have not received a rise in salary since 2011. But in an email sent to staff this week, the Labour-controlled local authority argued it acted to prevent job cuts when the pay freeze was rolled out (Public Sector Executive)
  10. MoJ backtracks on tribunal fee refund alerts – The government has backtracked on its decision not to directly contact claimants who are due a refund after paying now-outlawed employment tribunal (ET) fees (The Law Society Gazette)