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Employment law brief: 11 March 2022

11 March 2022 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7970 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Remembrance of things past: Ian Smith reflects on echoes from the past & unravels some current employment conundrums
  • Agency workers and the right to be notified of vacancies.
  • Fire and rehire, but could the contract term be changed at all?
  • Rolling forward pay for statutory holidays actually taken.

In the long-lost days of the Wilson government in the 1970s (which was often concerned with seeking pay accords with the unions), employment law was bestrode by the ubiquitous character, Solomon Binding. He, or his application to ‘solemn and binding agreements’ contained in collective bargains, rapidly went out of fashion in the 1980s, but the second case considered here has a curious echo of this—with an employer actually being held to an agreement made with its staff that a new benefit was meant to be binding into the future. Moreover, this was done in a common law action in the High Court, not in employment tribunal proceedings. As Brian Blessed might boom: ‘Solomon’s alive!’

The other two cases are Court of

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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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