Employment law stories in the news – 21.02.2021 to 28.02.2021

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 have made headlines between 21 February 2021 and 28 February 2021

  1. Union’s recognition bid rejected by Court of Appeal – The Court of Appeal has dismissed a case brought by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which had sought to be recognised by the University of London for the purposes of collective bargaining (Personnel Today)
  2. Women bosses told me to man up, claims lab worker – A scientist claims that his female boss told him to “man up” and that the “toxic” working atmosphere at his laboratory involved “extreme discrimination” against men (The Times)
  3. Uber judgment: ‘Sea-change’ for gig economy – Lawyers have predicted a ‘significant class action’ against Uber following a decision by the Supreme Court that its drivers should be classed as workers with access to the minimum wage and paid holidays (The Law Society Gazette)
  4. Uber loses gig workers rights challenge in UK Supreme Court – Uber has lost a long-running employment tribunal challenge in the U.K.’s Supreme Court — with the court dismissing the ride-hailing giant’s appeal and reaffirming earlier rulings that drivers who brought the case are workers, not independent contractors (Yahoo News)
  5. Delivery driver fired for refusing to wear face mask inside lorry – A delivery driver has been sacked for refusing to wear a face mask inside his lorry during the pandemic. Deimantas Kubilius had been making a delivery at Tate and Lyle sugar refinery, in east London, where he was asked to wear a mask inside the cab of his HGV as part of their new Covid rules (Metro)
  6. Pension contributions go missing at collapsed design and build firm – An investigation is set to be launched into missing pension payments at a design and build company which called in administrators just before Christmas (The Business Desk)
  7. Nurse who blew whistle on race-based shift allocation wins £26k compensation – A paediatric nurse who complained about alleged racial discrimination and was banned from booking shifts as a result has been awarded £26,000 in compensation by an employment tribunal (Personnel Today)
  8. Number of FTSE 100 female directors rises by 50% in five years – The number of female directors at FTSE-100 firms has increased by 50% in the last five years, and women now hold more than a third of roles in the boardrooms of Britain’s top 350 companies, according to the final report of a review into female representation at the top of business (The Guardian)
  9. Budget 2021: Rishi Sunak to inject £126m to boost traineeship scheme -Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to announce a £126m boost for traineeships in England in his Budget on Wednesday. The scheme will include a new “flexi-job” apprenticeship that will enable apprentices to work with a number of different employers in one sector (BBC)
  10. Gender pay gap enforcement delayed for another six months – Enforcement of the Gender Pay Gap Reporting Regulations will not resume until October, the government’s equality watchdog has said (Personnel Today)