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13 November 2008
Issue: 7345 / Categories: Opinion , Employment
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The unbelievable truth

Absurd circumstances are a daily occurrence at the coalface of employment law, says Ian Smith

“A worker (admittedly not an employee) who had been investigated for misconduct following a police investigation claimed that he had been victimised because he had blown the whistle on a third party, but before these matters could come to a head he was made redundant under a procedure operating partly on LIFO. Discuss.”

One of the beauties of lecturing employment law is that you do not have to make up daft examples for illustrations or exam questions; they tend to arise naturally. In the fine tradition of academic exaggeration, the above facts did not occur this month in one case, but in four. However, we must never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Redrow Homes: the continuing tale
Readers will recall that the case of Redrow Homes (Yorkshire) Ltd v Wright [2004] IRLR 720, [2004] 3 All ER 98 was one of those that emphasised that the “worker” definition in the Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833)

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Browne Jacobson—Caroline Barker & Tom Walker

Browne Jacobson—Caroline Barker & Tom Walker

Browne Jacobson recruits regulatory experts Caroline Barker and Tom Walker to bolster health, government and corporates practices

Jackson Lees Group—Paul Harrison, Helen Innes & Sorcha McMullan

Jackson Lees Group—Paul Harrison, Helen Innes & Sorcha McMullan

Partner and paralegals bolster clinical negligence team at Jackson Lees Group

Stone King—Manchester

Stone King—Manchester

Stone King triples Manchester footprint with office move as law firm’s rapid growth journey continues

NEWS
Lawyers have welcomed the Lord Chancellor’s reverse-ferret on jury reforms, but expressed ‘serious concerns’ about the decision to exclude fraud trials
From ‘rats in the robing room’ to ‘overworked’ judges and a shortage of court staff, barristers have aired their concerns about the state of the justice system
The use of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) poses ‘significant risks’ across the justice system, public services and government, and current regulation is ‘poorly suited’ to control it, experts have warned
The solicitors’ regulator has paused controversial plans to exclude owner-managers from compliance officer roles
The government has launched a £16m legal support grant to support 48 frontline legal advice organisations supporting people facing eviction, problem debt, benefit disputes and family breakdown
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