Case Studies - Page 13 of 24

Employee-favourable 2010

If your employer really believes you were dishonest, they have to say so to your face.

You can only be fairly dismissed for dishonesty if your employer actually accuses you of it, in plain words, before the decision is made.

Disciplinary procedure

Mixed 2010

If you’re made redundant on maternity leave, your employer must actually offer you a suitable role, not just a chance to apply for one.

If you're made redundant during maternity leave and a suitable role exists, your employer must offer it to you outright, not just invite you to apply.

Discrimination Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination

Employer-favourable 2010

Genuine settlement talks stay protected, even in a discrimination claim.

What you or your employer say during genuine settlement negotiations is protected from later use in a tribunal, even in a discrimination claim, unless it amounts to something as serious as fraud or blackmail.

Discrimination Settlement Without Prejudice

Employee-favourable 2009

A missed adjustment has a deadline, even if your employer never says so.

If your employer has failed to make a reasonable adjustment you asked for, the three month time limit for a claim can start running from when they should have acted, not from whenever the problem finally comes to a head.

Disability Discrimination Employment Tribunal Reasonable Adjustments Time Limits

Employer-favourable 2009

To be protected, a whistleblowing disclosure has to convey facts, not just state a position.

A concern is protected when it conveys facts, so state what happened rather than just that you object.

Qualifying Disclosure

Employee-favourable 2009

When your career itself is on the line, you may have the right to a lawyer at your internal disciplinary.

When a disciplinary outcome could effectively end your career in your profession, you may have a right to legal representation that goes beyond the usual internal rules.

Right to Representation

Employer-favourable 2009

If your employer did not know about your disability, they may not be required to make adjustments. But what counts as knowledge is not always straightforward.

Your employer cannot avoid the duty to make reasonable adjustments simply by claiming ignorance, if the information was available to them or they should have made enquiries.

Disability Discrimination Disclosure Equality Act Reasonable Adjustments

Employee-favourable 2009

Tips paid through a genuine tronc do not count towards your minimum wage.

Tips distributed through a genuine, independent tronc are legally separate from your wages. Your basic pay alone must meet the minimum wage, whatever your tips add on top.

Employer duties Employment rights HMRC and Tax Pay

Employee-favourable 2008

Offering counselling is not enough if the thing causing you harm is still there.

An employer cannot discharge its duty of care for work-related stress simply by offering counselling or an employee assistance programme. It has to address the root cause.

duty-of-care Employer duties Occupational Health work-related-stress

Employer-favourable 2007

You cannot win a discrimination claim just by showing you were treated differently.

You need more than a protected characteristic and a bad outcome to shift the burden onto your employer.

Discrimination Equality Act

Employee-favourable 2007

Being suspended is not a neutral act, and the law recognises the harm it can do.

Suspension is not a neutral act; the courts accept it changes your position and casts a shadow over your competence, so your employer needs a proper basis for it.

Suspension

Employee-favourable 2007

Warning of job cuts to pressure you off a discrimination claim can be unlawful.

You do not have to show your employer acted dishonestly for their conduct to count as victimisation.

Discrimination