Employment law stories in the news – 04.04.2016 to 10.04.2016

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 headlines between 4 April 2016 and 10 April 2016

  1. Junior doctors make legal challenge to Jeremy Hunt’s ‘misconceived’ contract – Jeremy Hunt is facing high court legal action over claims he broke the law and acted “irrationally” by imposing a new contract on NHS junior doctors when he had no power to do so (The Guardian)
  2. Christian loses appeal over ‘harassment’ of Muslim colleague – A born-again Christian who was disciplined by the NHS for “grooming” a Muslim colleague has lost a legal battle over the employer’s actions. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) dismissed an appeal by Victoria Wasteney against an earlier ruling that rejected her claims of religious discrimination by the East London NHS Foundation Trust (CIPD)
  3. Caffe Nero staff lose free lunch after National Living Wage introduced – Caffe Nero will no longer give its staff a free lunch when they are on shift, as part of a “pay review” introduced in response to the new National Living Wage (BBC)
  4. Prime Minister urged to intervene in case of sacked Fife postie David Mitchell – The Prime Minister has been urged to intervene in the case of sacked Fife postman David Mitchell. David Cameron has been informed of Royal Mail’s refusal to reinstate Mr Mitchell as ordered by an employment tribunal judge (The Courier)
  5. Worker suffers chemical burns at electropolishing company – An electropolishing company based in Hampshire has been fined after a worker suffered chemical burns. Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court heard how Keith Brown, a 51-year-old worker at Poligrat (UK) Limited was told by his manager to dispose of some waste cleaning chemicals at their Aldershot site (HSE)
  6. £1.4m Derby NHS sex scandal claims another official as case reaches Westminster – A £1.4 million Derby sex scandal has now reached Westminster as another senior officer tainted by the affair has resigned. Mick Martin has quit his post as number two at the Government organisation that rules on NHS complaints. He took up the job there after leaving the Kingsway-based trust that runs mental health services in Derbyshire (The Derby Telegraph)
  7. Steel crisis: Unions to urge ministers to support plan – Unions are to urge ministers to agree a plan aimed at saving thousands of steel jobs after a day of emergency meetings.
    The proposals were drawn up after talks with Tata Steel, which plans to sell its UK plants (BBC)
  8. Sex discrimination in the office on the rise as complaints jump 14pc – Acas, the conciliation service, says it received 7,175 helpline calls related to sex discrimination in the year to the end of March, a 14pc increase on the year before, when it recorded 6,273 calls. More than 90pc of these were from employees, and eight in 10 employee calls were from women (The Telegraph)
  9. Police psychological sick leave up 35% in five years – Cases of UK police officers and staff taking long-term sick leave for psychological reasons have risen by 35% over the last five years, statistics obtained by BBC Radio 5 live suggest (BBC)
  10. Company fined for safety failings – A metalwork casting and machining company has been fined for unsafe work practices after an employee almost fell through a fragile roof. Canterbury Crown Court heard how an employee of M J Allen Holdings Limited of Kent was working on the roof of the company workshop when he slipped and almost fell through the fragile roof (HSE)