header-logo header-logo

27 March 2008 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7314 / Categories: Features , Tribunals , Employment
printer mail-detail

Employment Law Brief: 28 March 2008

Lapsed warning, redundancy, EU Industrial action

The last month has seen two Court of Appeal decisions on very basic issues of employment law that have been eagerly awaited. The first concerns the hot topic of the employment status (or, more appropriately, lack thereof) of a long-serving agency-supplied worker and the second concerns the status of an expired warning—can it be used for any purpose at all? Ironically, the third case considered here also addresses a nose-to-the grindstone issue for practical employment, but one on which there has been almost no reported case law, namely the legality of the common technique of effecting redundancies by sacking all the relevant staff and making them reapply for the jobs that are left.

Finally (possibly taking our cue from Oscar Wilde’s remark that we are all in the gutter but some of us look up at the stars) we raise our gaze from the squalor of domestic detail to the wonders and sunny uplands of EC Law and see a recent European Court of

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Nikki Bowker, Devonshires

NLJ Career Profile: Nikki Bowker, Devonshires

Nikki Bowker, head of litigation and dispute resolution at Devonshires, on career resilience, diversity in law and channelling Elle Woods when the pressure is on

Ellisons—Sarah Osborne

Ellisons—Sarah Osborne

Leasehold enfranchisement specialist joins residential property team

DWF—Chris Air

DWF—Chris Air

Firm strengthens commercial team in Manchester with partner appointment

NEWS
Contract damages are usually assessed at the date of breach—but not always. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Gascoigne, knowledge lawyer at LexisNexis, examines the growing body of cases where courts have allowed later events to reshape compensation
The Supreme Court has restored ‘doctrinal coherence’ to unfair prejudice litigation, writes Natalie Quinlivan, partner at Fieldfisher LLP, in this week' NLJ
The High Court’s refusal to recognise a prolific sperm donor as a child’s legal parent has highlighted the risks of informal conception arrangements, according to Liam Hurren, associate at Kingsley Napley, in NLJ this week
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Mazur may have settled questions around litigation supervision, but the profession should not simply ‘move on’, argues Jennifer Coupland, CEO of CILEX, in this week's NLJ
A simple phrase like ‘subject to references’ may not protect employers as much as they think. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, analyses recent employment cases showing how conditional job offers can still create binding contracts
back-to-top-scroll