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Employment law brief: 9 March 2017

09 March 2017 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7737 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Ian Smith tackles Pimlico Plumbers, the gig economy & the legal horror of a claim too far

  • Application of the “worker” definition to the “gig economy”.
  • Implication of implied terms into contracts of employment.
  • How even a concept as wide as religion or belief discrimination has some boundaries.

February has been a busy month on the legislative front, with the commencement of the new rules on trade union balloting and political funds on 1 March and the new Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/172) coming into force on 6 April. Also on the latter date, the annual Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2017 (SI 2017/175) raises the maximum basic award/statutory redundancy payment to £14,670 and the maximum compensatory award to £80,541, giving a normal maximum for unfair dismissal of £95,211.

On the case law front, of the three chosen for this column two are concerned with important fundamentals of individual employment law, namely the application of the “worker” definition to what is increasingly referred

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gilson Gray—Paul Madden

Gilson Gray—Paul Madden

Partner appointed to head international insolvency and dispute resolution for England

Brachers—Gill Turner Tucker

Brachers—Gill Turner Tucker

Kent firm expands regional footprint through strategic acquisition

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan—William Charles

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan—William Charles

Financial disputes and investigations specialist joins as partner in London

NEWS
Ministers’ proposals to raise funds by seizing interest on lawyers’ client account schemes could ‘cause firms to close’, solicitors have warned
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
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