Employment status
UK: period of continuous employment – start date may be changed by activities prior to official start date
Employers should take care when asking a new recruit to attend meetings or events prior to the start date of employment specified in the contract. The date on which continuous employment began could be brought forward (so that unfair dismissal … Continue reading
Filed under Employment status, Jurisdiction: UK
UK: employment law reforms enacted
The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill finished its passage through Parliament and received Royal Assent on 25 April 2013. BIS has also published commencement dates for various parts of the Act. The most significant employment law provisions are as follows: … Continue reading
UK: Employment law reforms: revised timetable
The Government has published revised timings for some of the employment law changes in the pipeline, available here. It appears that restricting changes to the April/October schedule has been abandoned for the time being.
UK government to press ahead with “employee shareholder” status
The UK government has published its response to a consultation paper on the Chancellor’s proposal for a new employment status, previously ”employee owner” but to be renamed “employee shareholder”. To obtain this status, individuals would give up some employment rights in … Continue reading
UK BIS reforms: consultations on employee owner status
The government has now published its consultation document on implementing its proposal to introduce a new employment status “employee owners” (see our blog post). Under this proposal, companies would be allowed to offer shares exempt from capital gains tax worth between £2,000 … Continue reading
Partners: LLP members are not “workers” protected from whistleblowing detriment
The Court of Appeal has ruled that LLP members are not “workers” able to claim for detriment for whistleblowing, overturning an EAT decision reported here. The Court decided that s4(4) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act should be interpreted as … Continue reading
Filed under Employment status, Jurisdiction: UK, Whistleblowing
Partners: LLP equity member may be “worker”; Lawson v Serco test on territorial jurisdiction applied to discrimination and whistleblowing claims
The EAT has ruled that a (junior) equity partner of a law firm, who was entitled to a profit-related element of remuneration and a guaranteed level of remuneration, was a “worker” of the firm and therefore eligible to claim whistleblowing … Continue reading
Employment status: university sponsorship contract not employment
A contract under which a company sponsored a student’s university course and provided paid ‘industrial training’ during holidays did not amount to an employment contract because the primary purpose of the arrangement was training and not employment. (GE Caledonian Ltd … Continue reading
Filed under Employment status, Jurisdiction: UK
Employment status: reality of relationship trumps contractual terms; arbitrators not employees under discrimination law
The Supreme Court has confirmed that the employment status of an individual will be determined by the reality of their relationship with the employer. Contractual clauses indicating self-employment, such as allowing substitution or the refusal of work offered, will be … Continue reading
Filed under Discrimination and equal pay, Employment status