Employment law stories in the news – 08.09.2014 to 14.09.2014

redmans-blog-newsIn 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 headlines between 8 September and 14 September 2014.

  1. Buckingham Palace official appears in court charged with accepting £100,000 in bribes for awarding royal contracts – A top Buckingham Palace official appeared court today accused of receiving more than £100,000 in bribes in return for awarding contracts for work at royal palaces. Ron Harper, 62, was deputy property manager at the Royal Household from 1994 until his suspension in 2012 (The Daily Mail)
  2. Brussels warns City over bankers’ allowances to ‘sidestep bonus cap’ – A senior EU official has warned banks that Brussels is ready to challenge the use of cash allowances designed to sidestep the incoming EU bonus cap (The Financial Times)
  3. Labour party considers higher tribunal fees for rich – Wealthy individuals may have to pay more to take a workplace claim to a tribunal under Labour party plans to make the UK system fairer. Chuka Umunna, shadow business secretary, said on Monday his party would ensure affordability was not a barrier to employees seeking redress from their bosses (The Financial Times)
  4. Gay priest plans legal action against Church – A gay Southwell priest who was prevented from taking up a new role at Kings Mill Hospital because he is in a same-sex marriage is taking legal action against the Church (Hucknall Dispatch)
  5. Employment tribunal fees would be cut by Labour – Labour would make it easier for workers to take their bosses to an employment tribunal, the shadow business secretary announced yesterday. Chuka Umunna said that if a Labour government was elected at the general election next year, it would slash employment tribunal fees, which had prevented low-paid workers from seeking redress in the workplace since they were introduced by the coalition government last year (The Times)
  6. Ex-BGC Broker Who Gave Good as He Got Loses Bullying Suit – A London broker who said he was bullied at BGC Partners Inc. (BGCP) lost his lawsuit against the company as a judge ruled he gave at least as good as he got on a trading floor that was rife with insults and abuse (Bloomberg)
  7. ‘Leaving for a new job? Don’t walk off with personal information’, warns ICO – The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is warning employees that walking off with the personal information of their employer when changing jobs is a criminal offence (ICO)
  8. Tribunal fees denying harassed and abused workers access to justice – New employment tribunal statistics published today (Thursday) show that the new system of charging upfront fees is resulting in a major reduction in claims, says the TUC. The statistics are the third quarterly set of figures since the new fees system was introduced and show that women, low-paid workers, disabled people, and black and asian workers are the big losers (TUC)
  9. Thousands priced out of access to employment tribunals – Many people seeking employment tribunals have been priced out of the system after new figures revealed the number tribunals has collapsed by 70% since the Government moved last year to charge employees for bringing cases (The Evening Standard)
  10. Timber firm in court after worker’s finger amputated – A Lincolnshire timber company has been fined after an agency worker lost the top of his finger in an unguarded machine. Grantham Magistrates’ Court heard today (11 September) that the 23-year-old, from Holbeach, was helping to clear a blockage on a woodworking machine at Select Timber Products Ltd’s premises in Mill Lane, Donington, when the incident happened on 15 July 2013 (HSE)