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Employment law brief: 9 May 2025

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Feeling like challenging the rules? Ian Smith saddles up & considers some cautionary tales on less favourable treatment, whistleblowing protection for jobseekers & more
  • Part-time workers: less favourable treatment of part-time workers must be solely because of their part-time status.
  • Express vs implied terms: express terms in employment contracts should be considered and applied before implying any terms.
  • Whistleblowing laws: job applicants are not covered by whistleblowing laws, except for NHS applicants.
  • Disclosure and inspection: employment tribunals can order disclosure of information, not just documents.
  • Costs and vexatious conduct: conduct that impinges on proceedings can justify a costs order.

The most newsworthy event in the last month in employment/discrimination law was, of course, the decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16 on the meaning of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010. This has been considered specifically elsewhere in NLJ (see ‘Equality Act 2010—“man”, “woman” & “sex” defined’, NLJ, 2 May 2025, pp13-14),

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Firm strengthens international funds capability with senior hire

Gilson Gray—Jeremy Davy

Gilson Gray—Jeremy Davy

Partner appointed as head of residential conveyancing for England

DR Solicitors—Paul Edels

DR Solicitors—Paul Edels

Specialist firm enhances corporate healthcare practice with partner appointment

NEWS
In this week's issue, Stephen Gold, NLJ columnist and former district judge, surveys another eclectic fortnight in procedure. With humour and humanity, he reminds readers that beneath the procedural dust, the law still changes lives
Generative AI isn’t the villain of the courtroom—it’s the misunderstanding of it that’s dangerous, argues Dr Alan Ma of Birmingham City University and the Birmingham Law Society in this week's NLJ
James Naylor of Naylor Solicitors dissects the government’s plan to outlaw upward-only rent review (UORR) clauses in new commercial leases under Schedule 31 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, in this week's NLJ. The reform, he explains, marks a seismic shift in landlord-tenant power dynamics: rents will no longer rise inexorably, and tenants gain statutory caps and procedural rights
Writing in NLJ this week, James Harrison and Jenna Coad of Penningtons Manches Cooper chart the Privy Council’s demolition of the long-standing ‘shareholder rule’ in Jardine Strategic v Oasis Investments
Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School and the Frenkel Topping Group—AKA The insider—crowns Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP as his case of 2025 in his latest column for NLJ. The High Court’s decision—that non-authorised employees cannot conduct litigation, even under supervision—has sent shockwaves through the profession. Regan calls it the year’s defining moment for civil practitioners and reproduces a ‘cut-out-and-keep’ summary of key rulings from Mr Justice Sheldon
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