Employment law stories in the news – 08.05.2017 to 14.05.2017

In the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news we take a look at ten employment law-related stories that have made headlines between 8 May and 14 May 2017

  1. John Lewis takes £36m hit for minimum wage error – John Lewis has taken a £36m hit to profits to cover potential back payments to staff after breaching National Minimum Wage rules. The retailer said the issue related to the use of pay averaging, which spreads workers’ pay evenly over the year (BBC)
  2. Mother wins disability discrimination case – A woman who lost her job at a Belfast advice centre has been awarded £18,886 in damages, after being discriminated against. A tribunal found Maria McKeith’s dismissal from the Ardoyne Association was linked to her role as primary carer for her disabled daughter (BBC)
  3. Lib Dems and Labour pledge to double length of paid paternity leave – Men should be entitled to at least a month’s paid paternity leave to encourage greater sharing of parental responsibilities, both the Liberal Democrats and Labour will pledge in their manifestos (The Guardian)
  4. Avoid future BHS-style pension scandals with new controls on private firms, says IoD – The BHS pensions scandal highlights the need for big private companies such as the failed retailer to adhere to governance rules similar to listed companies, according to the Institute of Directors (The Telegraph)
  5. Deliveroo: Law Society condemns ‘no tribunal’ clauses – The Law Society of England and Wales has stepped into the row over unfair contract terms in the ‘gig economy’ by welcoming reports that delivery business Deliveroo has removed a controversial clause from contracts with delivery riders (The Law Society Gazette)
  6. Court of Appeal backs greater protection for whistleblowing junior doctors – Three judges sitting in the Court of Appeal have called for the law to be interpreted to maximise protection for junior doctors after hearing an appeal against two employment tribunal rulings (Lexology)
  7. Royal Mail subsidiary admits gig economy worker is entitled to holiday pay – The row between gig economy workers companies took a turn today when a firm admitted for the first time that it had wrongly classified staff and deprived them of holiday pay (The Guardian)
  8. Former Bradford Bulls players and staff launch legal proceedings against league – Almost 50 former players and staff employed by Bradford Bulls before the club’s liquidation in January have launched legal proceedings against three different parties including the sport’s governing body, the Rugby Football League (The Guardian)
  9. Regulator names and shames employers failing to auto-enrol – For the first time employers taken to court for failing to pay fines for failure to meet their auto-enrolment responsibilities are being named by The Pensions Regulator (The FT Adviser)
  10. Minimum wage ruling creates uncertainty over care worker pay – An employment appeal tribunal has decided that care workers required to sleep in at a service user’s home are entitled to be paid the national minimum wage (NMW) for all hours worked, including the hours spent asleep (The Guardian)