Breach of contract
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 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.
In Lansing Linde Ltd v Kerr the Court of Appeal holds that the High Court was entitled to refuse an employer's application for an interim injunction restraining a former employee from working for a competitor in breach of a restrictive covenant.
The High Court's decision in Micklefield v SAC Technology Ltd illustrates how employees' rights under employee share option schemes can be affected by the termination of their employment.
Where an employee is wrongfully dismissed, any outstanding contractual obligations of the injured employee are extinguished upon the ending of the employment contract, holds the High Court in Briggs v Oates.
In United Bank Ltd v Akhtar, the EAT holds that it was necessary for certain terms to be implied into a contract of employment in order for the employee to be in a position to comply with a relocation clause.
An employee who is not ready and willing to perform all of his duties under his contract of employment is not entitled to be paid at all rules the Court of Appeal in Wiluszynski v London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
In Provident Financial Group plc and Whitegates Estate Agency Ltd v Hayward the Court of Appeal upholds a judge's refusal to grant an injunction to restrain the group's former finance director from joining a competitor before his notice period had expired.
Employment law cases: HR and legal information and guidance relating to breach of contract.