End of employment

New and updated

• Date:

  1 June 2010

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Unfair dismissal: Failure properly to consider explanation of uncharacteristic behaviour during hypoglycaemic episode resulted in unfair dismissal

  In City of Edinburgh Council v Dickson EATS/0038/09, the EAT upheld the employment tribunal's decision that an employee whose employer failed properly to consider his explanation that he had behaved out of character during a hypoglycaemic episode was unfairly dismissed. However, the tribunal's conclusion that the employer's rejection of that explanation amounted to direct and disability-related discrimination was wrong in law and was overturned.

• Type:

  FAQs

  Are there any possible repercussions for an employer that persuades an employee who has resigned and accepted an offer with another employer to stay?

• Date:

  19 May 2010

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Unfair dismissal: Dismissal for gross misconduct fell outside range of reasonable responses

  In Sarkar v West London Mental Health NHS Trust [2010] EWCA Civ 289 CA, the Court of Appeal held that an employment tribunal was entitled to find that the employer had acted outside the range of reasonable responses when it summarily dismissed an employee for gross misconduct after initial agreement that the allegations against him would be dealt with under an informal procedure that was appropriate for relatively minor misconduct and could not lead to dismissal.

• Date:

  19 May 2010

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Age discrimination: Age-related notice periods are discriminatory

  In Kücükdeveci v Swedex GmbH & Co KG [2010] IRLR 346 ECJ, the ECJ held that German law that excludes employment below the age of 25 when calculating minimum statutory notice periods based on length of service amounts to unjustified age discrimination contrary to the Equal Treatment Framework Directive.

• Type:

  FAQs

  If an employee does not return from maternity leave, does the employer have to pay them in lieu of the annual leave that they accrued during maternity leave?

• Date:

  5 May 2010

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Constructive dismissal: Repudiatory breach cannot be "cured" to prevent constructive dismissal claim

  In Buckland v Bournemouth University Higher Education Corporation [2010] EWCA Civ 121 CA, the Court of Appeal held that the "range of reasonable responses" test has no place in a tribunal's determination of whether or not there was a repudiatory breach of contract by the employer and constructive dismissal. It also held that such a breach cannot be "cured", so as to prevent the innocent party accepting the breach.

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Case round-up

  Richard Ryan, associate, Helen Ward, associate, and Tori O'Neil, trainee solicitor, Addleshaw Goddard, detail the latest rulings.

• Date:

  21 April 2010

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster) v Marshall and another

  The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that it will only rarely be unfair for an employer to proceed with a disciplinary hearing prior to holding a related grievance appeal hearing.

• Type:

  FAQs

  Is an employee who qualifies for statutory paternity pay entitled to receive it if they are made redundant before taking paternity leave?

• Date:

  30 March 2010

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Annual leave: Holiday entitlement can be subject to notice requirements

  In Lyons v Mitie Security Ltd EAT/0081/09, the EAT held that, in principle, the ability to take annual leave is not inalienable and can be lost if the worker does not comply with the notice requirements imposed by the Working Time Regulations 1998 and/or the worker's contract. However, the tribunal had erred in failing to analyse properly whether or not the particular notice requirements of the claimant's contract had been complied with, before deciding to dismiss his constructive dismissal and holiday pay claims.