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19 April 2013 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7556 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Piece by piece

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Although piecemeal, recent cases have made important contributions to employment law, reports Ian Smith

The cases covered this month are in a sense fairly eclectic and specific to individual points, rather than involving wider principles. However, what unites them is that they all make important contributions to their areas of employment law, albeit in a completely piecemeal manner. Thus, these five cases establish that: (i) the old control test for employment status is now not to be construed as requiring day-to-day control; (ii) there cannot in law be “industrial action” by just one person; (iii) if a tribunal wants to put an employee back into employment but on altered duties it cannot do so by an order for reinstatement; (iv) due to a drafting glitch in the Equality Act 2010 an action for victimisation cannot now be established on the basis of post-termination events; and (v) costs can be awarded to a successful claimant in respect of expenses incurred by his or her backing organisation (eg a law centre).

Control need not be day-to-day

Cases

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NEWS
Contract damages are usually assessed at the date of breach—but not always. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Gascoigne, knowledge lawyer at LexisNexis, examines the growing body of cases where courts have allowed later events to reshape compensation
The Supreme Court has restored ‘doctrinal coherence’ to unfair prejudice litigation, writes Natalie Quinlivan, partner at Fieldfisher LLP, in this week' NLJ
The High Court’s refusal to recognise a prolific sperm donor as a child’s legal parent has highlighted the risks of informal conception arrangements, according to Liam Hurren, associate at Kingsley Napley, in NLJ this week
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Mazur may have settled questions around litigation supervision, but the profession should not simply ‘move on’, argues Jennifer Coupland, CEO of CILEX, in this week's NLJ
A simple phrase like ‘subject to references’ may not protect employers as much as they think. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, analyses recent employment cases showing how conditional job offers can still create binding contracts
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