Employment law stories in the news – 08.03.2021 to 14.03.2021

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 made headlines between 8 March 2021 and 14 March 2021

  1. Low Pay Commission to review minimum wage exemption for domestic staff – The government has asked the Low Pay Commission to review a rule exempting live-in domestic workers from minimum wage regulations (The Guardian)
  2. Swansea University ‘catastrophic failure of governance’ claim – There has been a “catastrophic failure of governance” at Swansea University, according to a dismissed academic cleared of criminal wrongdoing. Prof Marc Clement was sacked for gross misconduct, with bribery allegations reported to police (BBC)
  3. Union alleges Yodel underpaid night shift workers – Hundreds of workers at parcel delivery firm Yodel could have been underpaid for their night shifts to the tune of £1,000 each, the GMB Union has claimed (Personnel Today)
  4. Sellafield nuclear site a ‘toxic mix of bullying and harassment’ – A “toxic culture” of bullying and harassment at Sellafield could let serious safety concerns go unreported, whistleblowers have told the BBC. In a leaked letter, the nuclear site’s group for ethnic minority staff described “shocking stories” of racial abuse (BBC)
  5. Human rights commission asked to examine racism in English cricket – The Equality and Human Rights Commission will be asked to conduct an investigation into racism in English cricket following a number of disturbing revelations from black and Asian players and umpires about their experiences in the game, the Guardian can reveal (The Guardian)
  6. Judge Clare Gilham ‘bullied to brink of suicide’ after she raised fears over cuts – A judge who said that she was bullied after complaining about cuts to the justice system has received a payout for harassment and discrimination (The Times)
  7. Employment law specialist wins £168,000 in unfair dismissal case – An employment tribunal remedy hearing last week awarded a university law lecturer £168,000 for constructive unfair dismissal (Personnel Today)
  8. Multiple employment claims shoot up as Covid hits working conditions – Multiple claims in the employment tribunal nearly doubled towards the end of 2020 as the effects of the pandemic took effect (The Law Society Gazette)
  9. York St John lecturer sacked over ‘love’ texts to university student – A married university lecturer was sacked after exchanging thousands of text messages with a student 30 years his junior and recording a love “letter” in which he said: “I want you to be part of my soul.” (The Times)
  10. Citi heading to trial with forex trader – Citigroup is headed to trial over allegations it “framed” a former foreign exchange trader to save itself during a market-manipulation scandal, after failing to have a $112m lawsuit he filed thrown out of court (Financial Times)