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14 January 2021 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7916 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Employment Law Brief: 15 January 2021

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Ian Smith takes a leap into the new year reporting on two important statements of principle & an adventurous challenge
  • How to identify ‘the employer’ in a complex case.
  • Another ruling against wider rights for agency workers.
  • Does the law on interim relief need to be changed?

Three significant decisions of the EAT (one by the President and two by Mr Justice Cavanagh) were reported in the dying days of last year. The first two contain important statements of principle on fundamental questions which have hitherto had surprisingly little by way of authoritative treatment by the courts, namely (1) how to tell who is ‘the employer’ in a case of complex dealings and (2) how extensive (or otherwise) are the rights given to agency workers by statute? The third case is not a statement of principle, but rather an adventurous challenge to the legality of the absence of any remedy of interim relief in discrimination law; the case is to go before the Court of Appeal to consider

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Partner joins commercial property team in Taunton office

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Londstanding London firm appoints new senior partner

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Commercial team in London welcomes technology specialist as partner

NEWS
What safeguards apply when trust corporations are appointed as deputy by the Court of Protection? 
Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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