In Cornwall County Council v Prater [2006] EWCA Civ 102 CA, the Court of Appeal holds that a lack of mutuality of obligation during "gaps" between successive teaching assignments over a period of 10 years did not, of itself, prevent each separate assignment from constituting an individual contract of employment.
In CMC Group plc v Zhang [2006] All ER (D) 197 (Mar) CA, the Court of Appeal has held that a clause in a compromise agreement allowing an employer to reclaim the full amount paid if the other party broke any of its terms was not valid.
The Court of Appeal has handed down an important decision emphasising the wide discretion that an employment tribunal has to make a 'Polkey reduction' - a ruling that dismissal would have occurred, or would probably have occurred even if a fair procedure or proper investigation had been followed - in an unfair dismissal case.
In Sweetin v Coral Racing, the EAT holds that awards of compensation for a failure to inform and consult about staff transfers under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations should be penal and not compensatory.
In Hilton UK Hotels Ltd v McNaughton, the EAT holds that the employment tribunal was correct to find that a compromise agreement did not prevent an employee who was excluded from the employer's pension scheme during a period of part-time employment from advancing an equal pay claim.