Employment law stories in the news – 14.08.2017 to 20.08.2017

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 headlines between 14 August 2017 and 20 August 2017

  1. McDonald’s employees vote to strike over pay and zero-hours concerns – McDonald’s could face its first strike on British soil after workers at two of the fast-food chain’s outlets backed a call for industrial action. Staff at restaurants in Cambridge and in Crayford, south-east London, have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike amid concerns over working conditions and the use of zero-hour contracts (The Guardian)
  2. FCA proposes extension of senior managers regime – The FCA is proposing an extension of the current senior managers regime to include insurers, consumer credit companies, and all regulated firms (CIPD)
  3. Campaigners hail Glasgow City Council equal pay ruling – Lawyers representing low-paid women workers at Glasgow City Council have won a long-running equal pay case. The Court of Session decided a re-grading scheme introduced in 2007 may have provided less favourable treatment for women workers (BBC)
  4. High Court rules that employers may be liable for sexual assaults committed in the course of employment – The High Court has ruled that employees who sexually harass third parties in the course of their employment may be vicariously liable for those acts (CIPD)
  5. Paper coating company fined after worker suffered burns – A paper coating company has been fined after a worker suffered burns following a fire on a coating machine (HSE)
  6. No announcement on tribunal fee refunds until September – Whitehall is still working on ‘detailed arrangements’ to refund employment tribunal fees and there will be no further announcement until next month. This follows July’s landmark decision by the Supreme Court that the fees were unlawful (The Law Society Gazette)
  7. National Minimum Wage: Workers win £2m compensation – Workers whose bosses failed to pay the National Minimum Wage are to be refunded a record £2m, the government has revealed. In its latest “name and shame” campaign, it lists 230 employers which have not complied with the law (BBC)
  8. Two companies fined after workers death – Two Hampshire based companies have been fined after the death of a 42-year old man. Bournemouth Crown Court heard that on 20 July 2012 the sub-contractor working for Quality 1st Building Services Ltd was undertaking remedial work to a roof at a domestic property in Ringwood, Hampshire when he fell seven metres from the roof to the ground and later died of head injuries (HSE)
  9. Employment ‘first’: time limit extended after fees ruled unlawful – One of the first employment tribunal cases to be affected by the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that fees are unlawful has been reported by barristers chambers Ely Place (The Law Society Gazette)
  10. Solicitor slapped with costs order after withdrawing claim against former employer – A solicitor has been ordered to pay £500 in costs after withdrawing a series of claims against her former firm. Margaret Lewer had been employed as a private client solicitor by McMillan Williams, one of the largest law firms in the South of England, with branches in London and Bath (The Solicitors’ Journal)