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14 April 2021 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7928 / Categories: Features , Employment , Tribunals
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Employment law brief: 16 April 2021

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After a busy month for the Supreme Court, Ian Smith examines the implications for employment law & the impact on other cases in the pipeline
  • Sleep-in carers and the national minimum wage.
  • Common terms of employment in supermarket equal pay case.
  • Pimlico Plumbers claimant loses on time limitation.

We have had, in the last month, two Supreme Court judgments on important employment law topics, for which we have been waiting for some considerable time. The first regularises and simplifies the hitherto-complicated question of whether sleep-in carers can ever claim payment on the national minimum wage (NMW) scales for time asleep (answer: no). The second decides whether supermarket retail assistants in shops (female) can compare their pay with distribution workers in depots (male) for the purposes of an equal value claim (answer: yes). One thing they have in common is that both potentially involved many employers beyond the individual respondents and large amounts of money. The third case considered here was not in the Supreme Court, but followed

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gardner Leader—Charlotte Botham & Belinda Sinnott

Gardner Leader—Charlotte Botham & Belinda Sinnott

Law firm strengthens real estate team with two new partners

DR Solicitors—Sarah Cook

DR Solicitors—Sarah Cook

DR Solicitors strengthens primary care expertise with appointment of legal director

Womble Bond Dickinson—David Varney

Womble Bond Dickinson—David Varney

Womble Bond Dickinson appoints David Varney to strengthen digital practice

NEWS
The Court of Appeal's decision in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP has lifted months of uncertainty for Chartered Legal Executives while prompting a rethink of regulation and supervision
The assisted dying debate returns to Westminster as Lauren Edwards MP reintroduces legislation that stalled in the House of Lords last session despite clearing the Commons
A little-noticed provision of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 has fundamentally expanded corporate criminal liability
Artificial intelligence is transforming legal practice, but careless reliance on it is creating growing professional risks
The law offers cohabiting couples surprisingly greater protection after one partner dies than when they separate during life
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