End of employment

New and updated

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Case round-up

  Judith Harris, legal director, James Buckley, associate, Dinu Suntook, associate, at Addleshaw Goddard detail the latest rulings.

• Date:

  1 March 2011

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Collective redundancy consultation: University failed to consult on expiry of fixed-term contracts

  In Lancaster University v University and College Union [2011] IRLR 4 EAT, the EAT held that the university failed to comply with its statutory obligations to consult collectively on the expiry of fixed-term contracts. The tribunal was also entitled to make a protective award of 60 days' pay.

• Date:

  28 February 2011

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Employer that dishonestly poached staff could not rely on future contracts

  The Court of Appeal has held that an employer in the financial sector that poached staff from a rival could not enforce dishonestly obtained forward contracts with employees who later decided not to move. 

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Reinstatement of one employee rendered another's dismissal unfair

  Where two employees are dismissed fairly for the same misconduct, can the reinstatement of one render the other's dismissal unfair?

• Date:

  22 February 2011

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  TUPE applies as normal to transfers from administration

  The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that the exemption from automatic employee transfer under reg.8(7) of TUPE cannot apply to a transfer from an administration. 

• Date:

  21 February 2011

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Tribunal's literal interpretation of long-term disability scheme was correct

  The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that, on its true construction, a company's long-term disability scheme applied to employees who were permanently incapable of employment in any capacity, rather than merely incapable of working for the company. 

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Employees unfairly dismissed for asserting statutory rights

  Employees with less than one year's service can still claim unfair dismissal in certain circumstances, as the employer in this case found to its cost.

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Forced resignation was unfair dismissal

  Forcing an employee to resign can easily result in a successful tribunal claim, as this case shows.

• Type:

  FAQs

  Where an employer is consulting with a recognised union on redundancies, must it also consult with representatives of employees who are not members of that union?

• Date:

  15 February 2011

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Continuous service: Continuity of employment preserved across college summer vacation

  In Hussain v Acorn Independent College Ltd EAT/0199/10, the EAT held that a teacher had the requisite one-year period of continuous employment to bring a complaint of unfair dismissal. Continuity was preserved over the college summer vacation between his first temporary contract and a subsequent contract because his absence was on account of a "temporary cessation of work".