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
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)