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Employment law brief: 18 October 2024

18 October 2024 / Ian Smith
Issue: 8090 / Categories: Features , Employment , Tribunals , Terms&conditions , Discrimination
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Ian Smith gets the flags out for the Supreme Court in Tesco Stores, & addresses the age-old issue of unfair dismissal
  • Case one: fire and rehire, plus the meaning of a ‘permanent’ change.
  • Case two: unfair dismissal, with an overlap between incapability and misconduct.
  • Case three: restrictions on expression of religion or belief.
  • Case four: the question of whether a belief is worthy of respect, plus Grainger (v).

Supreme Court decisions are not common in employment law, and so the big news this month has been the decision in the Tesco Stores case, holding that when an employer negotiated a valuable benefit for employees on the basis that it would be ‘permanent’, it actually meant it. In so holding, the judgment serves a useful function in approving the ‘PHI [permanent health insurance] cases’ (as we know and love them, holding that if extensive sickness cover is promised, the employer cannot later try to wriggle out of it) and confirming that the basic principle behind them can

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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