Employment law stories in the news – 07.06.2021 to 13.06.2021

In 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 7 June 2021 and 13 June 2021

  1. Maya Forstater: Woman wins tribunal appeal over transgender tweets – A woman who lost her job after saying that people cannot change their biological sex has won an appeal against an employment tribunal (BBC)
  2. Woman wins case over using headphones to listen to music at work – An office worker should have been allowed to listen to music through headphones as it reduced her anxiety, a judge has ruled (The Times)
  3. Dundee councillor awarded £22,000 from Scottish Police Authority for unfair dismissal – A Dundee Labour councillor who was sacked for allegedly submitting false timesheets while on the payroll of Police Scotland says he feels “vindicated” after being awarded more than £22,000 for unfair dismissal (The Courier)
  4. Driver sacked for drinking in club while sick wins tribunal – A driver who was sacked after he was seen drinking in a social club while off work through illness has won his case at an employment tribunal (BBC)
  5. Imam Yahya Barry wins £30,000 payout after whistleblowing on finances at Edinburgh Central Mosque – An Imam who was sacked after blowing the whistle on his mosque over financial irregularities has been awarded almost £30,000 by an employment tribunal (Herald Scotland)
  6. Acas launches guidance to dissuade fire and rehire misuse – Acas has produced further guidance around negotiating changes to staff contracts in response to concerns about ‘fire and rehire’ practices (Personnel Today)
  7. Charity ruling means employers no longer able to ‘pick on’ staff who go on strike, union says – Employers will no longer be able to “pick on” staff who take part in strike action after a case involving a health and social care charity, according to the union Unison (Third Sector)
  8. Workers’ watchdog could ban sweat-shop clothes – The government plans to launch a new workers’ watchdog to take over protecting the rights of UK workers. The new body will be responsible for tackling modern slavery, enforcing the minimum wage and protecting agency workers (BBC)
  9. Tribunal ‘deeply concerned’ by racism among Home Office contractors – An employment tribunal has said that it was “deeply concerned” about Home Office contractors who deport people from the UK having used the racist term “cotton pickers” to describe their black colleagues, but threw out a claim of race and disability discrimination (The Guardian)
  10. Nursery worker wins £40,000 payout after being sacked because she was pregnant – A former nursery manager has won nearly £40,000 after her boss refused to let her attend hospital appointments when she was pregnant and fired her over a series of unfounded allegations (The Metro)