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11 April 2025 / Ian Smith
Issue: 8112 / Categories: Features , Employment , Tribunals , Disciplinary&grievance procedures , Litigants in person
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Employment law brief: 11 April 2025

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In this month’s brief, Ian Smith pays tribute to a titan of industrial relations & applauds the brevity of judgments in days gone by
  • Summary dismissal where the offence is not specified in the contract.
  • Use of lists of issues: the role of the employment tribunal.
  • Worker: the basic requirement of a contract, but with whom?

In the 21 March issue of NLJ there was an article about this year’s LexisNexis Legal Awards, which included the news that a lifetime contribution award had been presented to Michael Rubenstein, the editor of the Industrial Relations Law Reports. I am sure that readers of this monthly column/epistle/rant would like to join me in congratulating him on this richly deserved honour. His has truly been a monumental contribution to the development of employment law since the 1970s.

As I sit here in my freezing garret, typing through fingerless mittens yet more Harvey, I have the consolation of looking at shelves worth of box files containing

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

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Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

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Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

NEWS
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NLJ this week: Divorce ‘nuclear weapon’ freezes assets but entangles outsiders
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
NLJ this week: Clarity on whistleblowing, settlements and tribunal limits
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
NLJ this week: Family law urged to ditch adversarial instincts
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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