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09 February 2017 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7733 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Employment law brief: 9 February 2017

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Ian Smith provides a round-up of the latest notable employment law developments

  • The workings of the Agency Worker Regulations 2010 (given added complication by elements of fraud and insolvency).
  • When gross misconduct (meriting summary dismissal) can arise from gross negligence.
  • How the exercise of a contractual mobility clause fits into redundancy law.

As a matter of strict precedent, employment lawyers tend to be wary of placing too much emphasis on decisions at employment tribunal level, but there are occasions where such decisions can start to show the way the judicial wind is blowing, especially where they are newsworthy. Three months ago we saw the tribunal decision in the Uber taxi case, holding two Uber drivers to be “workers” for the purpose of minimum wage and working time rights. The companion case of Dewhurst v City Sprint (UK) Ltd Case no 2202512/2016 (5 January 2017) concerning a cycle courier working in London has now also been heard at first instance, again establishing “worker” status and hence entitlement to statutory holidays. The

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Cripps—Radius Law

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Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

Switalskis—Grimsby

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Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

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Property team boosted by two solicitor appointments

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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