Ian Smith reflects upon the impact of recent employment law developments
First instance decisions need to be treated with some reserve as authorities, even in employment law, but two this month deserve consideration on grounds of law, not fact. The first shows that it may be possible for employees annoyed by a unilateral change in their contracts to seek a remedy by way of declaratory relief; this has always been possible but rarely used and the first case this month shows it might be useful where the changes do not involve any immediate, quantifiable, loss of wages. The second concerns setting up in competition with the employer and raised three issues of law, one of which (unusually in this context) points out an easily-overlooked trap for an employee when relying on the idea of constructive dismissal in a common law case. Two Court of Appeal decisions are then considered. The first arose from the eternal problem of employment status and was the second time this protracted litigation had been there. The
