Contracts of employment
A lavish and expensive customer connection which has been developed by an employee at his employer's expense is part of the latter's goodwill, and is something which it is entitled to protect, holds the High Court in Euro Brokers Ltd v Rabey.
An industrial tribunal's decision that an employee could reasonably refuse a proposed detrimental variation in contractual terms because it was not based on sound business reasons vital for the company's survival was wrong, holds the EAT in Catamaran Cruisers Ltd v Williams and others.
An employer had no right to withdraw unilaterally its employees' contractual entitlement to enhanced redundancy payments, holds the High Court in Lee and others v GEC Plessey Telecommunications.
There is no general contractual obligation on an employer to act reasonably or fairly, holds the High Court in McClory & others v The Post Office. In relation to an express power to suspend an employee, however, there is an implied term that an employer will not exercise that right on unreasonable grounds.
In some circumstances, an employer is under an implied obligation to notify its employees of any rights which they have under their contracts of employment which are dependent upon them taking some sort of action, rules the House of Lords in Scally and others v Southern Health and Social Services Board and others.
The EAT emphasises in White v Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd that a restriction on an employer's powers under a flexibility clause should be implied only if it is necessary to make the contract workable, not merely because it would be reasonable to imply such a term.
A restrictive covenant preventing former employees of an employment agency in the City of London from dealing with and soliciting custom from all 6,000 clients of their former employer was too wide.
The Court of Appeal holds in O'Laoire v Jackel International Ltd that, unless it can be shown that an employee will recover twice for the same loss, damages for wrongful dismissal should not be reduced by the amount of compensation awarded by a tribunal in respect of unfair dismissal.
In Rutherford v Radio Rentals Ltd, the Court of Session holds that to give effect to an employer's contractual obligation to provide personal accident insurance for its employees, it may be necessary to imply a further term that the employer must make a payment to any employee who qualifies under the terms of the insurance policy referred to in the contract. The employer cannot discharge its obligations merely by relying on a refusal by the insurance company to honour the policy.
In Robb v London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham [1991] IRLR 72 HC, the High Court granted an interlocutory injunction restraining the council from giving effect to the purported summary dismissal of its director of finance on disciplinary grounds - and requiring it to treat him as suspended on full pay - unless and until it had properly complied with the disciplinary procedure incorporated into his contract of employment.
Employment law cases: HR and legal information and guidance relating to contracts of employment.