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28 June 2024
Issue: 8077 / Categories: Legal News , Employment , Tribunals
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NLJ this week: Old laws, new employment issues

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Whistleblowing, alternative employment in a medical incapability case, and the liability of employees in a discrimination case: this is the trio of topics covered in this week’s ‘Employment law brief’

Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at the Norwich Law School, UEA, highlights the background and salient points in each one.

Smith writes that, while the next government may usher in reforms post-2024 general election, ‘it is sobering to be reminded that the existing law can still throw up novel issues of interpretation’.

The first case, on whistleblowing, ‘concerns the question of how an organisation can fall foul of the law against imposing detriments (other than dismissal) on an employee. Some of this hinges on a legislative change made 11 years ago but only now coming to the fore. It is in fact the second such case in the past two months on the issue—one potentially restricting the legal protection and the other potentially widening it.’

Issue: 8077 / Categories: Legal News , Employment , Tribunals
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—Nathan Evans

Birketts—Nathan Evans

Commercial and technology team in Cambridge strengthened by partner hire

Andrew & Andrew Solicitors—Shikha Datta

Andrew & Andrew Solicitors—Shikha Datta

Hampshire firm appoints head of new family department

Latham & Watkins—Sarah Lightdale

Latham & Watkins—Sarah Lightdale

Firm strengthens securities practice with partner return

NEWS

From blockbuster judgments to procedural shake-ups, the courts are busy reshaping litigation practice. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School hails the Court of Appeal's 'exquisite judgment’ in Mazur restoring the role of supervised non-qualified staff, and highlights a ‘mammoth’ damages ruling likened to War and Peace, alongside guidance on medical reporting fees, where a pragmatic 25% uplift was imposed

Momentum is building behind proposals to restrict children’s access to social media—but the legal and practical challenges are formidable. In NLJ this week, Nick Smallwood of Mills & Reeve examines global moves, including Australia’s under-16 ban and the UK's consultation
Reforms designed to rebalance landlord-tenant relations may instead penalise leaseholders themselves. In this week's NLJ, Mike Somekh of The Freehold Collective warns that the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 risks creating an ‘underclass’ of resident-controlled freehold companies
Timing is everything—and the Court of Appeal has delivered clarity on when proceedings are ‘brought’. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ, Stephen Gold explains that a claim is issued for limitation purposes when the claim form is delivered to the court, even if fees are underpaid
The traditional ‘single, intensive day’ of financial dispute resolution (FDR) may be due for a rethink. Writing in NLJ this week, Rachel Frost-Smith and Lauren Guiler of Birketts propose a ‘split FDR’ model, separating judicial evaluation from negotiation
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