Employment law stories in the news – 28.11.2016 to 04.12.2016

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 stories that have made the news between 28 November and 4 December 2016

  1. Pregnancy discrimination report suggests ‘half of women’ affected – Half of women questioned by the Equality Commission in Northern Ireland believe their career opportunities were negatively affected by having a baby. About a third reported unfair treatment by employers upon returning to work (BBC)
  2. Executive pay: Companies told to justify rates – The government has outlined its plans to make companies justify high levels of executive pay. Among the measures under consideration are pay ratios, which would show the gap in earnings between the chief executive and an average employee (BBC)
  3. Barclays Top Lawyer Dragged Into Boath Battle Over SFO Interview – Barclays Plc General Counsel Bob Hoyt improperly used a copy of an interview given by Richard Boath in a criminal investigation to fire the executive, Boath’s lawyer told a London employment tribunal Friday (Bloomberg)
  4. Worker suffers facial injury from crowbar – A construction company from Northallerton has been fined after a worker suffered facial injury from a crowbar. Durham Crown Court heard how Walter Thompson (Contractors) Limited (WTL) was Principal Contractor for the 47 bedroom extension of the Ramside Hall Hotel, Durham (HSE)
  5. Tony Pulis loses £3.7m Crystal Palace court battle – West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis has lost a £3.7m High Court battle with former club Crystal Palace. A Premier League Managers’ Arbitration Tribunal ruled earlier this year Pulis should pay £3.7m damages to the club in a dispute about the way he left at the start of the 2014-15 season (BBC)
  6. National Living Wage ‘has not hit employment’ – The National Living Wage has not affected employment, says the body that monitors low pay for the government. The Low Pay Commission said it had found “no clear evidence” of changes in employment or hours since the higher minimum wage was introduced in April (BBC)
  7. Company fined after teenage work experience person injured – A supplier of industrial equipment based in Newcastle has been fined after a work experience person on their first was injured. Stafford Crown Court heard how during the unloading of a heavy electrical panel from the back of a lorry at Radwell International Limited, the injured teenager was asked to steady the panel which had been placed onto a wooden pallet on the floor (HSE)
  8. Former NHS director sues Jeremy Hunt for religious discrimination – A former director of an NHS trust is suing Jeremy Hunt for religious discrimination after he was effectively barred from applying for positions following his public opposition to gay adoption (The Guardian)
  9. Banker who claimed his boss called him a terrorist after he started taking flying lessons loses employment tribunal – A banker who claimed his boss called him a terrorist and and referred to Arabic clients as ‘camel f***ers’ has lost his employment tribunal. Maurice Marco, who worked for Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London, claimed that when he started taking flying lessons his boss compared him to the 9/11 al Qaeda terrorists (The Mail Online)
  10. Government starts review of ‘gig’ economy – A team of four experts is preparing to tour the UK to explore how the “gig” economy is affecting workers’ rights. Mathew Taylor, chief executive of the Royal Society for the Arts, was appointed last month to lead the review into the impact of “disruptive” businesses such as Uber and Deliveroo (BBC)