Employment law stories in the news – 07.11.2016 to 13.11.2016

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 made headlines between 7 November and 13 November 2016

  1. Cordia catering staff to protest in row over jobs – Dozens of staff afraid of losing their jobs just before Christmas are to protest outside a city university. Around 70 staff employed by Cordia, an arms length Glasgow City Council firm, will gather outside Glasgow Caledonian University next week (The Glasgow Evening Times)
  2. Southern rail faces legal action over holiday strike pay – Southern railway is facing legal action over its decision to withhold holiday pay from workers involved in the conductors’ strike. The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said lawyers had advised there was a case to challenge Southern (BBC)
  3. Apache lose appeal against HSE notice after North Sea vessel incident – A notice from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to North Sea operator Apache has been upheld by an Employment Tribunal after the firm tried to appeal the decision. The move comes after an employment tribunal was held earlier this year (Energy Voice)
  4. Chemical company fined £3mil after the release of toxic vapour cloud on two separate occasions – A chemical company was sentenced today after a worker was killed and one left with life changing injuries when they were overcome by a toxic vapour cloud. A little over sixteen months later there was another incident involving the same toxic chemical (HSE)
  5. Government refuses to guarantee workers’ rights after Brexit – The Government has cast yet more uncertainty over whether workers will lose key employment rights after Brexit – including rules that protect employees during the takeover of British firms by foreign companies (The Independent)
  6. ‘One-fifth of cancer patients face work discrimination’ – Almost one-fifth of people (18%) diagnosed with cancer face discrimination from employers or colleagues on return to work, research by the charity Macmillan suggests. The survey of 1,009 patients, all in work when diagnosed, indicated that 15% returned to work before feeling ready (BBC)
  7. MoJ unmoved by MPs’ damning verdict on court fee hikes – The Ministry of Justice shows no sign of backing down over court fee hikes, despite a damning verdict from an influential group of MPs. The Commons justice committee called in June for an overhaul of employment tribunal fees and the scrapping of this year’s increase in the divorce petition fee. The government initially stood firm on the necessity of the fees – and a full response to the committee now suggests that position has not changed (The Law Society Gazette)
  8. Employee dies after collapse of waste material covers him – A Kent-based waste and recycling company has been fined after an employee died when wasted material collapsed on top of him. Maidstone Crown Court heard how Neville Watson, aged 39 and a father of two, was working close to the pile of waste material after connecting a shredder to the loading shovel he was driving (HSE)
  9. Doubts cast on Theresa May’s pledge to protect workers’ rights post-Brexit – Theresa May’s commitment to protect workers’ rights after Brexit has come into question before a House of Commons debate on the impact leaving the EU will have on employment laws (The Guardian)
  10. Deliveroo riders seek to unionise and gain workers’ rights – A group of food takeaway couriers working for Deliveroo are taking legal steps in the UK to gain union recognition and workers’ rights. It comes after two drivers for Uber won a tribunal case in which they argued they were workers not contractors (BBC)