Employment law stories in the news – 09.01.2017 to 15.01.2017

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 the news between 9 January 2017 and 15 January 2017

  1. Teacher wins £380,000 compensation after being sacked for showing Halloween horror slasher film to vulnerable teens – An employment tribunal has awarded more than £380,000 to a senior teacher who was sacked for showing the slasher film Halloween to vulnerable teenagers. Head of English Philip Grosset, 46, showed the 18 rated film to a group of vulnerable 15 and 16 year olds, some of whom had self harmed or talked of suicide (The Mirror)
  2. Law Society calls for employers to prove compliance with employment law – A key committee of MPs were today urged to look at the possibility of putting the onus on bosses to prove their compliance when it comes to employment standards. The proposal is contained in the Law Society’s response to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee’s inquiry into the future of work and the rights of workers (The Law Society)
  3. Tesco announces 1,000 job losses – Tesco says 1,000 people are to be made redundant as part of a shake-up of its distribution network. The company says the changes form part of a wider programme of transformation, which has been taking place over the last two years (BBC)
  4. GMP admits mistakes as it settles case brought by senior cop who claimed she was ‘fitted up’ – A senior police officer has settled her employment tribunal case against Greater Manchester Police after the force admitted part of the investigation into her had been biased (The Manchester Evening News)
  5. Zero-hours workers ‘face £1,000 pay penalty’ – Workers on zero-hours contracts typically earn £1,000 a year less than permanent employees, according to Resolution Foundation research. People on the controversial contracts face a “precarious pay penalty” of 6.6%, or 93p an hour, the think tank has estimated (BBC)
  6. Jeremy Corbyn calls for maximum wage law – Jeremy Corbyn has called for a maximum wage for the highest earners, saying he fears Brexit will see the UK become a “grossly unequal, bargain basement economy”. The Labour leader would not give specific figures, but said radical action was needed to address inequality. “I would like there to be some kind of high earnings cap, quite honestly,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday (The Guardian)
  7. Fifty MPs demand anti-strike laws to stop further misery from transport unions – Fifty Tory MPs are demanding that the Government brings in tougher strikes laws to ensure the “widespread misery” seen on Southern Rail can never be repeated (The Telegraph)
  8. Gig economy needs new employment laws – People working in the ‘gig economy’ should be assumed to have employed status – and enjoy rights such as holidays and minimum pay – unless their employer can demonstrate otherwise, the Law Society has suggested (The Law Society Gazette)
  9. Crisp company fined for safety failings – A Northamptonshire company who manufacture crisps and snacks has been fined after an agency worker lost the tops of three fingers. Northampton Crown Court heard how an agency worker, working at Tayto Group Limited was clearing a blockage of material from a machine on the production line (HSE)
  10. Firefighters Go To Court Over Ageist Pension Scheme – Firefighters took the government to court yesterday over a new pension scheme that discriminates against younger crew members (The People’s Daily Morning Star)