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Employment law brief: 16 April 2021

14 April 2021 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7928 / Categories: Features , Employment , Tribunals
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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 on

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
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