Employment law stories in the news – 18.01.2015 to 24.01.2015

redmans-blog-newsIn 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 18 January and 24 January 2015

  1. Construction firms sentenced after culvert collapse – Two building companies have been fined after a man was seriously injured when a structure that allows water to flow under roads collapsed on him. Maidstone Crown Court heard that Kent County Council appointed Enterprise to replace an old, damaged, brick culvert under Tudely Lane Tonbridge. Enterprise in turn appointed Topbond to do the majority of the work (HSE)
  2. Labour’s McDonnell considers giving workers right to buy firms – A Labour government could give employees the right to take over their companies if they are sold, dissolved or floated on the stock market. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell says the party does not want to return to an era of widespread state ownership (BBC)
  3. Workers face stricter rules on strike action – Junior doctors and Tube staff – currently threatening further strike action this winter – are among workers facing new rules on ballots for industrial action. The Government has announced that the legislation will apply to industrial action in fire, health, education, transport, border security and nuclear decommissioning (Sky)
  4. Government fails to disclose identities of hundreds of companies who fail to pay minimum wage – The Government has still not disclosed the identities of hundreds of companies which have broken the law by not paying the national minimum wage, despite repeatedly promising to “name and shame” rogue employers (The Independent)
  5. Fife MP asks minister to intervene in case of sacked Cupar postie David Mitchell – A Fife MP has taken a former Cupar postman’s fight to be reinstated all the way to Westminster. Stephen Gethins, SNP MP for North East Fife, has called on UK business and enterprise secretary Anna Soubry to intervene in David Mitchell’s case after dozens of posties staged a 24-hour strike earlier this week – the second such action in the space of a month (The Courier)
  6. 48-hour junior doctors’ strike called off – The 48-hour junior doctors’ strike due to start next Tuesday in England has been called off by the British Medical Association
    The decision comes as talks continue this week between the doctors’ union and the government about the disputed junior doctor contract in England (BBC)
  7. Employee fairly dismissed after taking bribe contrary to Bribery Act 2010 – The dismissal of an immigration officer for taking a bribe was held to be fair by the employment tribunal. The employer was entitled to conclude that the honesty and integrity of the employee, who performed an important public function, was in doubt because she did not immediately report the bribe (XpertHR)
  8. Balfour Beatty pays £137k to whistleblower – Construction contractor Balfour Beatty has paid out a six-figure sum to a whistleblower who accused the firm of ripping off taxpayers. Nigel McArthur, from Devon, claimed he was hounded out by his bosses after he made a protected disclosure about an £18.5m office building project in Cardiff (BBC)
  9. Theresa May set to charge firms employing skilled migrants £1,000 levy – A new £1,000-a-year immigration skills levy is expected to be introduced on all firms for each skilled migrant they recruit from outside Europe, under a new crackdown ordered by the home secretary, Theresa May (The Guardian)
  10. Doctor ‘threatened to refer Trusts to regulator unless he received money’ – A doctor made threats to refer various NHS Trusts to the Care Quality Commission regulator unless “a decent six-figure sum” was made to him, a disciplinary panel has heard (Lancashire Evening Post)