Managing employees/workers
In this case, a security company told workers that their 28-day entitlement to annual leave would be reduced because they were paid double for working bank or public holidays. The Northern Ireland industrial tribunal found this to be a breach of the workers' statutory right to a minimum of 28 days' annual leave.
In Kücük v Land Nordrhein-Westfalen [2012] IRLR 697 ECJ, the ECJ held that an employer's use of 13 successive fixed-term contracts over a period of 11 years was not inherently in breach of the Fixed-term Workers Directive, but that the issue of objective justification had to be assessed by the national court on the particular facts of the case.
This week's case of the week, provided by DLA Piper, covers service provision changes.
A retailer with branches on Oxford Street and Piccadilly forced a Muslim employee who came to work wearing a headscarf to resign because it wanted to retain its "trendy" image, the employment tribunal in this case found.
The Court of Appeal has held that a self-employed GP who provided hair restoration services for a private clinic was a "worker" for the purposes of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that the employment tribunal was entitled to find that an employee was not constructively dismissed when he resigned after his manager unjustly took disciplinary action against him that was dropped after a swift and fair-minded investigation.
The Court of Appeal has held that an NHS worker who was absent for the whole leave year and who did not submit any requests for annual leave during her absence was entitled to holiday pay on the termination of her employment.
Georgina Kyriacou and David Malamatenios are partners and Sandra Martins, Colin Makin and Krishna Santra are associates at Colman Coyle Solicitors. They round up the latest rulings.
The European Court of Justice has confirmed that a worker who is sick during a period of annual leave cannot be precluded from taking the holiday at a time other than that originally scheduled, irrespective of when the incapacity for work first arose.
In Edwards v Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Botham v Ministry of Defence [2012] IRLR 129 SC, the Supreme Court held that the principle in Johnson v Unisys Ltd that the implied term of trust and confidence does not allow recovery of damages for loss arising from the manner of dismissal applies equally to alleged breaches of express contractual terms.
Employment law cases: HR and legal information and guidance relating to managing employees/workers.