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Employment law brief: 10 January 2019

10 January 2019 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7823 / Categories: Features , Employment
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In his first brief of 2019, Ian Smith (not pictured) revisits the gig economy & reflects on the old days

  • Uber drivers remain ‘workers’; Deliveroo riders, not ‘workers’.
  • Effect of short time working on calculating statutory holiday pay.
  • Applying the justification defence in age discrimination law.

Shortly before the Christmas break, the government announced its intention to adopt most of the recommendations of the Taylor review of modern working practices and published three sets of regulations making a start on this process, though with the important caveat that they are not to come into force until April 2020. Along with specific measures in these regulations it is proposed to seek to bring more clarity to the definitions of ‘employee’, ‘worker’ (or ‘dependent contractor’) and ‘self employed’. What river will be diverted to clean out these particular employment law Augean stables remains to be seen. In the meantime, the first two cases considered here show how advantageous any progress here would be. In the third case, the Court of Justice of the

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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
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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
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
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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