Employment law stories in the news – 14.03.2016 to 20.03.2016

redmans-blog-newsIn the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news, we take a look at six employment law stories that have made the news between 14 March 2016 and 20 March 2016

  1. Translink awarded legal costs over ‘vexatious’ religious discrimination case – A Translink worker who alleged that religious discrimination forced him out of his job will have to pay legal costs after withdrawing his complaint ahead of a tribunal hearing. Patrick Monaghan, who was supported by the Equality Commission, resigned from his post as a train cleaning supervisor at the York Street depot in November 2014 (Newsletter)
  2. National crane company fined £750,000 for two deaths after collapse – A national crane hire company has been sentenced for failings that led to the death of two men as a crane collapsed in London. Southwark Crown Court heard crane operator Jonathan Cloke, 37, died after falling from the crane as it collapsed. It fell onto Michael Alexa, 23, a member of the public, and also killed him (HSE)
  3. Part-time judges ‘out of time’ to claim pension rights – A group of part-time judges has been refused permission to bring claims for better pensions after a judge ruled they were out of time. The claims were brought after the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that part-time judges are ‘workers for the purpose of the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000’, enabling part-time recorder Dermod O’Brien to win his fight to claim a full pension (The Law Society Gazette)
  4. Care company MiHomecare could face legal action over wages – A major care company could be facing a bill for hundreds of thousands of pounds for non-payment of the minimum wage. MiHomecare could face a group action lawsuit by care workers after it paid £1,250 to a carer in an out of court settlement (BBC)
  5. Thousands of care workers could get payouts after landmark minimum wage case – One of Britain’s biggest care agencies has paid out a settlement to a former employee after she sued them for refusing to reimburse her for travel time between home visits – paving the way for thousands of workers in the sector to make similar claims (The Independent)
  6. Contractor fined after worker injured in cable strike – A Helensburgh-based contracting company has been fined after a worker hit an underground cable and suffered burns to his hands and face whilst working on a primary school refurbishment project (HSE)