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Employment law brief: 5 July 2018

05 July 2018 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7800 / Categories: Features , Employment
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​Ian Smith explains the importance of facts & keeping schtum

  • Immigration cases and the need still for fair procedure.
  • Dealing with outstanding disciplinary matters in references
  • Deductions from wages: what is properly payable in zero-hours contracts?

The most newsworthy development in the last month was, of course, the decision of the Supreme Court in Pimlico Plumbers Ltd v Smith [2018] UKSC 29, [2018] All ER (D) 65 (Jun). It was greeted with delight by the ex-plumber, and incandescence by the owner of Pimlico Plumbers; however, it is likely to have been greeted by most employment lawyers with a vague sense of disappointment. Some of the extensive media coverage of it supposed that it was an important case on the ‘gig economy’, but it is not (for that we await the decision of the Court of Appeal in the Uber case); it is primarily a case on the good old casual worker issue—self-employed or not? The twist here has been that the alternative to self-employment has been worker status, not

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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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