Employment law stories in the news – 21.03.2016 to 27.03.2016

In the latest of our series of employment law stories in the news, we take a look at ten employment law stories that have made the news between 21 March 2016 and 27 March 2016

Solar panel specialists in court for roof light fall failings – A solar panel firm has been £153,000 after a worker was seriously injured in a fall through a fragile roof light at a private home in Kent. The worker, from Ashford, fractured his shin and a vertebra in the incident at Elvington Lane in Hawkinge on 30 April 2013 (HSE)
Sacked Co-op chief loses £5.2m dismissal claim – The Co-operative Group has emerged victorious from a bitter legal battle with a former employee who claimed she was sacked because she was about to blow the whistle on a “feral institution where malpractice was rife” (The Times)
6,500 Glasgow City Council workers set for big payouts – Thousands of women are in line for a share of up to £100 million as part of a long-running equal pay dispute. The 6500 Glasgow City Council workers are set to receive substantial payouts after the council continued to pay them less than men under a new wage structure supposed to close the gender gap (The Evening Times)
Gender pay gap has barely improved in four years, say MPs – The government should make all jobs flexible and introduce an industrial strategy for low-paid women’s jobs to act on its pledge to close the gender pay gap, MPs will say. The 19.2% gap between men’s and women’s pay has barely improved in the past four years despite the government’s pledge to eradicate it within a generation, the women and equalities select committee will say in a report published on Tuesday (The Guardian)
Anti-Maternity Discrimination Rife, Study Says – Three-quarters of employed mothers have suffered pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace, a “worrying” new study revealed yesterday. A survey of 3,000 women showed that 77 per cent were kept in the dark about promotion opportunities, harassed by colleagues, denied training, pressured to leave and even threatened with the sack (Morning Star Online)
IPCC to investigate Cleveland Police following racial discrimination tribunal – Cleveland Police is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) after an employment tribunal concluded one of its officers was was subject to racial victimisation and discrimination (The Northern Echo)
Ex-Rangers stars drop legal case against the club – Former Rangers stars who were locked in a landmark legal dispute with the club have dropped their case for unpaid holiday pay. Kyle Hutton, Ian Black, Richard Foster and Steven Simonsen were seeking payouts totalling a five-figure sum from the Ibrox side after their contracts were not renewed when the club failed to gain promotion to the SPFL Premiership (Herald Scotland)
Topshop owner Philip Green worth £4.3bn; store cleaners say their wages don’t cover rent and food – Cleaners working for Britannia Services Group – the company contracted to clean Topshop’s Oxford Street branch – have complained that they have been bullied by managers and that their wages are sufficient to cove rent, childcare, and travel (The Guardian)
Teachers awarded tens of millions of pounds in injury and discrimination payouts – Tens of millions of pounds in compensation was paid out to teachers last year after staff suffered serious and long-term injuries and discrimination in the line of work, new figures show. Six-figure sums were brokered for those on the end of the worst treatment, with a 59-year-old teacher from London receiving £185,000 after she slipped a disc in her back when she was knocked to the ground twice in a week by two unruly pupils (BT)
Automotive company fined after worker loses finger – A Birmingham-based automotive company has been fined after a worker lost his finger. Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard how a welder at Lander Automotives Limited was expected to work on a variety of jobs as required by production. While he was working on a machine the employee’s glove became entangled in the drill bit. He suffered partial amputation to the third finger on his right hand (HSE)