Court of Appeal rules that a one-off payment paid in recognition of changes to a pension scheme is subject to income tax and NICs (Revenue and Customs Commissioners v E.On UK plc)

The Court of Appeal allowed HMRC’s appeal against a decision of the Upper Tribunal (UT) that a ‘facilitation payment’ made as part of a package of incentives offered by the respondent to its employees who were members of its defined benefit pension scheme in recognition of proposed changes to the scheme was not ‘from an… >>

Unfair dismissal—written grievances, Acas uplift and contractual terms limiting loss ((1) SPI Spirits (2) Shefler v Zabelin)

A grievance must be in writing for the Acas Code on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures to apply but, once that has occurred, if new grievances arise they do not each have to be put in writing for the Code to be engaged, unless there is a ‘material change’ in the nature or scope of the… >>

Employment tribunal and EAT quarterly statistics for the period July to September 2023

The number of single claimant cases received by, disposed of by and remaining outstanding in, employment tribunals all decreased, by 1%, 3% and 17% respectively in Q2 2023–24, compared to the same period a year ago, and in Q2 2023–24 the number of multiple claimant cases received by, disposed of by and remaining outstanding in,… >>

Court of Justice potentially allows workplace headscarf ban

The Court of Justice ruled on 28 November 2023 that a ban imposed by a Belgian municipality on Islamic headscarves in the workplace might not indirectly discriminate against a Muslim office manager, even if a prohibition on religious signage affected her more than others. Pro Employment LawFormed in 2017, following significant legislative changes designed to… >>

Tribunal’s failure to allege dishonesty amounted to a serious procedural irregularity

In Stuart Harris Associates Ltd v Gobudhun [2023] EAT 145 the EAT dismissed the respondent employer’s appeal against the decision of the employment tribunal that held that: first, the claimant employee had been constructively dismissed; and second, the respondent had been either dishonest or incompetent when they engaged in the expenses practice that had led… >>

Individual providing services through genuine partnership cannot be an employee (Anglian Windows v Webb)

If there is an agreement between a genuine partnership and an employer for the partnership to provide certain services, then, providing that the arrangement is not a sham, there cannot also be an employment relationship between the individual partner providing those services and the employer, and, accordingly that partner cannot bring a claim of unfair… >>

ET hearings to be recorded under new Presidential Practice Direction and Guidance

The President of the Employment Tribunals in England and Wales, Barry Clarke, and the President of the Employment Tribunals in Scotland, Susan Walker, have published a joint Practice Direction, and joint Presidential Guidance, on the recording of employment tribunal hearings and the transcription of such recordings. The two documents take effect from Monday 20 November… >>