Employment law stories in the news – 23.11.2015 to 29.11.2015

redmans-blog-newsIn the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news, we take a look at eight employment law stories that made headlines between 23 November and 29 November 2015

  1. Firearms officer Nadeem Saddique wins discrimination case – A firearms officer who guarded Tony Blair and members of the Royal family was victimised because he is Asian, an employment tribunal has ruled. PC Nadeem Saddique, from Stockton, Teesside, alleged he was forced out of Cleveland Police’s firearms unit and resented by colleagues (BBC)
  2. Chartered Society of Physiotherapy members urged to back maternity rights campaigns – Members of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy are being urged to support campaigns to end pregnancy and maternity discrimination ahead of the publication of recommendations for action to the government and employers (CSP.org.uk)
  3. NHS England cap on agency payments comes into effect – A cap on spending on NHS agency staff comes into force in England on Monday, to save £1bn over the next three years. By April, NHS trusts will not be able to pay agency staff, such as doctors and nurses, more than 55% more for a shift than a permanent member of staff (BBC)
  4. George Osborne to take axe to public sector workers’ annual £4.5billion sick leave bill – Civil servants could lose a right to take off up a year paid continuous sick leave in a new crackdown by Chancellor George Osborne. Plans quietly slipped out alongside this week’s Autumn statement show that the Mr Osborne wants to cut the public sector sick pay bill, which costs the UK £4.5billion a year (The Telegraph)
  5. Liverpool midwife ‘unfairly dismissed’ after swine flu vaccine led to narcolepsy – A Liverpool midwife claims she was unfairly dismissed after a rare side-effect from a swine flu vaccine caused her to develop sleep disorder narcolepsy. Rachael Curran, 38, alleges she was made to feel like an inconvenience by bosses at the Countess of Chester Hospital after developing the illness, which causes sufferers to fall asleep suddenly at inappropriate moments (The Liverpool Echo)
  6. Metal firm fined after worker was killed by a crane – A company who specialise in metal and alloy products has been fined after a worker was killed when he was struck by a load on a moving crane. Sheffield Crown Court heard how an employee of ATI Speciality Materials Limited, Sheffield, was assisting in the moving of a crucible from a re-melt furnace (HSE)
  7. Coventry man accuses council employers of bullying and harassment – A Coventry family man who was awarded an MBE for services to religious organisations and community relations, complained he was bullied and harassed while working for a Midland council. Deepak Naik, aged 44, of Stoke, Coventry made the accusations as he made a legal claim for disability discrimination against Birmingham City Council at Birmingham Employment Tribunal (The Coventry Telegraph)
  8. Teesside firm fined after worker’s fatal fall – A north east port has been fined £400,000 following the death of an agency worker who fell eight metres onto the steel deck of ship’s hold at Hartlepool Dock Robert Harrison, 59, from Middlesbrough, was one of six men who were loading 12m long steel pipes into the hold of a vessel at PD Teesport Ltd, at Hartlepool Dock, in Cleveland Road, Hartlepool, when the incident happened on 9 September 2012 (HSE)