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09 August 2024 / Ian Smith
Issue: 8083 / Categories: Features , Employment , Tribunals
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Employment law brief: 9 August 2024

185054
As he signs off for the summer, Ian Smith reflects on complex matters of interpretation, prohibited conduct & part-time status
  • National minimum wage: whether wage deductions were for a company’s own use and benefit (Commissioners for Revenue and Customs v Lees of Scotland Ltd [2024] EAT 120).
  • Prohibited conduct: instructing, causing or inducing discrimination (Bailey v Stonewall Equality Ltd [2024] EAT 119).
  • Part-time workers: whether the less favourable treatment must be ‘solely’ due to that status (Augustine v Data Cars Ltd [2024] EAT 117).

Fiat justitia et ruat coelum, as they always say in the pubs here in East Suffolk. This ancient injunction (let justice be done though the heavens fall) is usually invoked in major cases on high policy, but it could equally be relevant in the case of Commissioners for Revenue and Customs v Lees of Scotland Ltd [2024] EAT 120 applying a stringent approach to payment of the national minimum wage (NMW) which, it was accepted, hit an employer with no evil intent and resulted

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Laytons ETL—Maximilian Kraitt

Laytons ETL—Maximilian Kraitt

Commercial firm strengthens real estate disputes team with associate hire

Switalskis—three appointments

Switalskis—three appointments

Firm appoints three directors to board

Browne Jacobson—seven promotions

Browne Jacobson—seven promotions

Six promoted to partner and one to legal director across UK and Ireland offices

NEWS

From blockbuster judgments to procedural shake-ups, the courts are busy reshaping litigation practice. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School hails the Court of Appeal's 'exquisite judgment’ in Mazur restoring the role of supervised non-qualified staff, and highlights a ‘mammoth’ damages ruling likened to War and Peace, alongside guidance on medical reporting fees, where a pragmatic 25% uplift was imposed

Momentum is building behind proposals to restrict children’s access to social media—but the legal and practical challenges are formidable. In NLJ this week, Nick Smallwood of Mills & Reeve examines global moves, including Australia’s under-16 ban and the UK's consultation
Reforms designed to rebalance landlord-tenant relations may instead penalise leaseholders themselves. In this week's NLJ, Mike Somekh of The Freehold Collective warns that the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 risks creating an ‘underclass’ of resident-controlled freehold companies
Timing is everything—and the Court of Appeal has delivered clarity on when proceedings are ‘brought’. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ, Stephen Gold explains that a claim is issued for limitation purposes when the claim form is delivered to the court, even if fees are underpaid
The traditional ‘single, intensive day’ of financial dispute resolution (FDR) may be due for a rethink. Writing in NLJ this week, Rachel Frost-Smith and Lauren Guiler of Birketts propose a ‘split FDR’ model, separating judicial evaluation from negotiation
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