Employment law stories in the news – 19.06.2017 to 25.06.2017

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 19 June 2017 and 25 June 2017

  1. Two companies fined after worker struck by scaffolding – Two South West based companies have been fined after a 44-year old woman was struck by scaffolding (HSE)
  2. Porter heatwave dispute: Union ‘will tell staff to wear dresses’ – A union says it will instruct members to wear dresses if a dispute over a hospital porter suspended for rolling up his trousers in hot weather is not resolved. Michael Wood, a porter at Watford General Hospital, said he was facing disciplinary action from his employers Medirest (BBC)
  3. Refuse workers win landmark victory in ‘overtime pay’ case, says Unite – Veolia Environmental Services was accused by Unite, the country’s largest union, of hiding behind Brexit when it failed to incorporate overtime pay into annual holiday pay citing ‘Brexit legal uncertainty’ (Unite The Union)
  4. UK workers are cheated out of at least £1.5bn a year in holiday pay – Employers are cheating British workers out of at least £1.5bn a year in holiday pay to which they are legally entitled, a study has found. One in 20 workers report not being given statutory holiday pay, while one in 12 workers does not receive a payslip as required by law (The Guardian)
  5. Society calls for independent enforcement in ‘gig economy’ workplaces – The Law Society has called for ’independent government inspectors’ to be deployed to probe whether businesses are breaking employment laws or exploiting their staff (The Law Society Gazette)
  6. JP Morgan wins appeal ruling in FX salesman’s dismissal case – A JPMorgan Chase & Co. won a ruling overturning a 2016 employment tribunal decision that found a former currency salesman was improperly fired in the wake of the foreign-exchange manipulation scandal (Bloomberg)
  7. Roofing company fined after worker fell through a roof – A London based roofing company has been fined after a 56-year old worker fell through two storeys onto a concrete floor (HSE)
  8. Cancer specialist ‘hounded for bullying after raising fears over patient safety’ – A cancer doctor was accused of bullying after raising fears over patient safety, a tribunal heard. Dr Pauline Leonard, 54, went to bosses over the use of a prescription drug and the behaviour of a nurse (The Sun)
  9. Woman who worked ’15-hour days, 7 days a week and wasn’t allowed leave house’ awarded €67k – Two Irish-based Pakistani doctors have been ordered to pay just under €67,000 to their former domestic worker, who had alleged she had worked round-the-clock, 7 days a week (The Journal)
  10. Muslim woman suing estate agent ‘after being told black hijab made her look like a terrorist’ – A Muslim woman is suing her former employers after allegedly being ordered to remove her black headscarf because the garment had “terrorist affiliations”. The estate agent, who did not want to be named, had been working for Harvey Dean in Bury for almost a year when she says managers took issue with her hijab (The Independent)