Travelling by plane is an exciting experience for me. I doubt I will ever lose the thrill of take-off and landing. Even though I am technically minded enough to understand how the plane stays in the air, I still feel a bit of childish wonder. My latest journey was brightened by the realisation that we…
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Rather like my recent blog on constructive dismissal, it is always helpful when their judgy-nesses have another look at your bread-and-butter employment law topics  –  in this case, ‘what type of conduct justifies a fair dismissal’? Two cases recently published have looked at this exact point. Two gross misconduct cases The first was Mbubaegbu v…
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You will hopefully have read by now our newsflash on the Supreme Court’s Pimlico Plumbers judgment. I’d like to clear up a couple of myths about that case that have been circulating in the media. First of all, this it is not a gig economy case. Mr Smith was not engaged via an app or…
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Constructive dismissal is a bit like the metaphorical bar of slippery soap. We all think we know what it looks like, but sometimes its concepts can be harder to grasp. From an HR perspective it is fairly easy to spot the actions that might provoke an immediate resignation – a significant change in someone’s duties,…
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Recently I have been asked about two very similar situations in which, in each case, the roles in each company’s HR team were being compared with those in its Finance team. It’s a very common comparison. The problem was that the company’s Job Evaluation scheme (JES) wasn’t giving management the answers the company wanted. It’s…
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I’m sure you will be aware of the ‘market rate’ factor which can justify a pay differential between those of the opposite sex whose roles are (or are claimed to be) comparable under equal pay legislation. It’s usually the obvious defence that employers reach for very often and one that they can develop a very…
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Being a total law nerd, I like nothing more than sitting down with a cup of tea, a Hobnob (other biscuits are acceptable) and a ‘fresh off the press’ Court of Appeal decision. I enjoy nodding sagely when their Lord and Ladyships come up with a decision that I entirely agree with and smugly thinking ‘well…
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This morning I was rushing around pulling together a list of ingredients for dinner tonight – we have friends coming over and I’m cooking Greek (modern, not medieval, for a change). Admittedly yesterday I was busy doing other things, but I could have taken fifteen minutes out last night to check what I need and…
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Once again the world of professional cycling has given me a thought for a blog. This time it is the Chris Froome situation. As an update, on Stage 18 of the Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) in September 2017 he gave an “adverse analytical finding” – essentially his urine test showed double the permitted…
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As I speak to more and more businesses about pay equality, I’m finding that most senior executives still don’t appreciate the hidden risks posed by ‘equal value’ claims for equal pay. And indeed that’s the case with quite a few HR directors too. But what the new Tesco claims remind us is that equal value…
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