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Employment law brief: 19 January 2024

19 January 2024 / Ian Smith
Issue: 8055 / Categories: Features , Employment
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The end of 2023 brought a blizzard of new legislation & some thorny EAT decisions. Ian Smith sweeps through them with gusto
  • The ACAS Code of Practice uplift.
  • The relevance of delay in constructive dismissal.
  • Employers’ policy in sickness dismissal.

December saw a flurry of employment-related legislation. This was partly to preserve certain EU-derived provisions that may have lapsed on the ending of EU law interpretation at the end of 2023, partly to flesh out the new provisions on minimum service levels during strikes (which are only just starting to prove controversial politically) and partly to transform requesting flexible working into a day-one right (see Harvey, Bulletin 546). In addition, we have seen three Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decisions addressing three common but not always easy areas of law, namely: the statutory uplift of compensation for not following the ACAS Code of Practice; affirmation of contract in constructive dismissal cases; and the relevance of an employer’s policy in a sickness dismissal case. In each, the judgment adds some important

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
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After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
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