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End of employment

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  • Date:
    18 February 1986
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    Dismissal: Contract for a specific purpose

    In Brown and others v Knowsley Borough Council the EAT upholds an industrial tribunal's ruling that a temporary teacher employed by a local authority on an MSC funded course was engaged under a contract for a specific purpose (ie a contract to last only for so long as was necessary to fulfil its purpose).

  • Date:
    1 October 1985
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    Transport & General Workers' Union v Ledbury Preserves (1928) Ltd

    In Transport & General Workers' Union v Ledbury Preserves (1928) Ltd [1985] IRLR 412 EAT, the EAT held that in a potential redundancy situation there must be "sufficient meaningful" consultation before notices of dismissal are sent out.

  • Date:
    4 June 1985
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    Transfer of undertakings: Changes in the workforce

    In Delabole Slate Ltd v Berriman the Court of Appeal upholds the EAT's decision that a dismissal which occurs as a consequence of a change in terms of employment following the transfer of an undertaking is not a dismissal for "an economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce", and so is automatically unfair under reg.8(1) of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981.

  • Date:
    19 March 1985
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    Dismissal: Termination by mutual agreement

    In Birch and Humber v University of Liverpool the Court of Appeal upholds a tribunal's finding that the termination of employment which resulted from the employees' offer to retire early and the employer's acceptance of that offer was not a dismissal but a termination by mutual agreement; so, there having been no dismissal, the employees were not entitled to a redundancy payment.

  • Date:
    21 August 1984
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    Unfair dismissal: Grounds for appeal

    The EAT can overturn industrial tribunal decisions on the ground either that there has been an error of law, or that the decision was perverse. In Dobie v Burns International Security Services (UK) Ltd, the Court of Appeal holds that these are alternative not cumulative reasons for allowing an appeal.

  • Date:
    8 February 1983
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    Dismissal: Words of dismissal viewed in context

    The Court of Appeal has established that if words of dismissal or resignation are unambiguous, they cannot be overridden by appeals to what a reasonable employee or employer might have taken them to mean. J & J Stern v Simpson the EAT holds that that does not mean that the words must initially be viewed in isolation, but that the surrounding circumstances are relevant to whether the words used are ambiguous.

  • Date:
    8 February 1983
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    Dismissal: Retracting summary dismissal

    Whether or not words of dismissal uttered in the heat of the moment can be retracted quickly has in the past been left undecided by the Court of Appeal and the EAT. In Martin v Yeomen Aggregates Ltd the EAT, in a rather unsatisfactory judgment, appears to hold that immediate retraction of a summary dismissal is possible in law.

  • Date:
    19 October 1982
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    Reasonableness: EAT reviews the test of reasonableness

    In Iceland Frozen Foods v Jones the EAT has reviewed the decisions on the test of reasonableness as required by s.57(3) of the EP(C)A. They stress the importance of considering the range of reasonable responses and warn against the test which states that a dismissal is unfair only if no sensible or reasonable employer could have arrived at that decision, as this approach could result in a misunderstanding of the law.

  • Date:
    1 July 1982
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    Tayside Regional Council v McIntosh

    In Tayside Regional Council v McIntosh [1982] IRLR 272 EAT, the EAT held that a requirement for "qualifications" need not be expressly stated in a contract of employment, as it may be inferred from the job advertisement or from the nature of the job.

  • Date:
    1 April 1982
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    Evans v Elemeta Holdings Ltd

    In Evans v Elemeta Holdings Ltd [1982] IRLR 143 EAT, the EAT emphasises that whether it is reasonable to dismiss an employee for refusing to accept a change in contractual terms depends upon whether it was reasonable for the employee to decline the terms. If it was reasonable for the employee to decline those terms, then it is unreasonable for the employer to dismiss the employee for such refusal.