Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced increases to the minimum wage rates. During his Budget speech, Mr Hammond said the National Living Wage will rise by 4.9%, from £7.83 to £8.21 from next April. This amounts to a £690 annual pay increase for a full-time worker. These are the increases recommended by the Low Pay Commission
The dismissal of a tanker driver for spilling fuel on a Tesco forecourt was unfair despite him being blameworthy. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal, which reinstated him and awarded him £23,000 compensation. The case involved Mr D Nolan who had worked for XPO Bulk UK Ltd since 2010. In December 2015, he
Two repairmen were unfairly dismissed even though they had broken the terms of their employment contracts by using company vans for personal journeys. Mr M Genus and Mr M Kelly had worked for more than 20 years for Fortem Solutions Ltd, which provides repair and maintenance services for Birmingham City Council. Fortem received an anonymous
There has been a 39% rise in claims before the Employment Tribunal since the Supreme Court ruled last year that the fees charged to bring claims were unlawful. The fees were introduced in 2013, with employees having to pay up to £1,200 to bring a claim. Following a challenge by the union Unison, the Supreme
A director has been banned for seven years after repeatedly failing to pay his workers the minimum wage. Shakil Ahmed was a director at Euro Contracts Services Limited (ECS), which supplied labourers to farms. The farms paid a fee to ECS, which was then responsible for paying the labourers. An investigation by HMRC in 2009
A recruitment agency has been granted an injunction to prevent a former employee working for rival companies while on garden leave and to ensure its confidential information isn’t misused. The case involved Coyle Personnel, which supplied nurses to NHS trusts and private hospitals. It employed a senior recruitment consultant, Mr Hackett, for four years. During
An employment tribunal has ruled that drivers with Hermes are workers, not self-employed contractors and so are entitled to employment rights. The ruling follows a similar decision by the Supreme Court, which held that a plumber with Pimlico Plumbers should also be classified as a worker rather than self-employed. The Hermes case involved 65 drivers.
The Court of Appeal has provided useful guidance on when an employee can claim constructive unfair dismissal based on a “final straw” event following a series of related grievances. The issue arose in the case of Harpreet Kaur who worked for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. There was an altercation between Ms Kaur and another
A cycle courier with a taxi firm was a ‘worker’ rather than a self-employed contractor and so was entitled to holiday pay. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in a case involving Addison Lee Ltd and one of its riders, Mr C Gascoigne. Addison provided a taxi and courier service. Mr Gascoigne’s
HMRC is continuing to clamp down on firms that fail to pay the National Minimum Wage and is urging underpaid workers to come forward and complain. The latest figures show that the number of workers getting the money they’re owed has doubled over the last year. In 2017 to 2018, HMRC investigators identified £15.6m in