Employment law stories in the news – 17.08.2015 to 23.08.2015

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 17 August and 23 August 2015. This includes:

  1. Government’s trade union proposals not fit for purpose, watchdog says – Government proposals to toughen up trade union laws have been condemned as not fit for purpose. The regulatory policy committee (RPC), which the government appointed in July to scrutinise progress towards cutting £10bn of red tape this parliament, criticised the initial costings of proposed changes to the law, designed to make it harder for workers to strike (The Guardian)
  2. Workers have little comeback against bad bosses, report says – Workers are being exploited and denied their rights with almost no effective comeback, according to consumer advocates. Citizens Advice Scotland advisors have seen a 12 per cent increase in the number of enquiries about employment issues such as women being dismissed when pregnant, workers denied sick pay or paid holidays, or being paid less than the national minimum wage (Herald Scotland)
  3. Tribunal fees ‘allow bad bosses to bully staff’ say unions as North cases plummet – Controversial tribunal fees are ‘allowing bad bosses to bully their staff’, union bosses have warned today. New figures show an alarming 63% drop in the number of North East workers taking their employers to tribunal since steep new costs were introduced in 2013 (Chronicle Live)
  4. Trade Union Bill: TUC fears over social media restrictions – Striking unions could face restrictions on their use of social media, the TUC’s general secretary has told the BBC. A consultation document linked to the proposed Trade Union Bill suggests unions involved in industrial action should give two weeks notice if they plan to campaign via social media (BBC)
  5. Kids Company staff sue for redundancy – More than 40 former employees of Kids Company, who lost their jobs without any redundancy payments when the charity collapsed, have consulted lawyers (The Times)
  6. FA to shed 100 staff as part of major restructure to cut costs – Approximately 100 people are to lose their jobs at the Football Association in a restructuring being carried out under the chairman, Greg Dyke, and new chief executive, Martin Glenn. The job losses are understood to be in all areas at the FA except the technical football department, and at all levels of seniority (The Guardian)
  7. Construction Company fined for insecure site – A construction company has been fined for safety failings which led to a two-year-old boy wandering onto a building site. 360 Property Limited were the principal contractor for a new build housing development at Oak Road, Blaina. An improvement notice was served on the site after site security issues were not addressed, despite a previous visit from a HSE inspector who highlighted concerns (HSE)
  8. Citigroup traders fired after Forex probe to sue for wrongful dismissal – Four traders who were sacked by Citigroup as part of its investigation into the rigging of foreign exchange rates have mounted a fight-back. They will take their employer to court as part of a wrongful dismissal case (This Is Money)
  9. Tory MP urges May to review Met’s investigation into Asian officer – A senior Conservative MP has urged Theresa May to review the case of a retired Asian police officer who was recently cleared of sexual assault against a prisoner. Sir Peter Bottomley has written to the home secretary requesting a meeting to discuss the case, saying malice and incompetence may have played a part in the police investigation (The Guardian)
  10. BBC producer loses discrimination claim over sacking following reluctance to broadcast Prince George birth report – A BBC World Service journalist sacked after he declined to put a report of the birth of Prince George out on a Sri Lankan news service has lost a tribunal claim for race discrimination. Chandana Bandara lost his job on 15 August 2014 and claimed he was unfairly targeted because of his belief that the Tamil people of Sri Lanka have been persecuted by the Sinhala-dominant government (The Press Gazette)