The High Court has lifted an interim injunction restraining an employee from working at another company. The case involved Peltrade Ltd, a distributor of energy-producing wood pellets. In March 2018 it had employed Mr Dean Scanlan to trade in premium and industrial quality pellets, but he had worked primarily in the premium pellet sector. His
A heating engineer involved in a dispute with his employer over whether he should be paid for time spent travelling to jobs was unfairly dismissed. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal in a case involving Thomas Holloway, who worked for Aura Gas from January 2015 until September 2019. He worked 45 hours per
HM Revenue & Customs has rejected more than 30,000 applications from employers wishing to access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, according to research carried out by The Times. The newspaper says HMRC believes many of the applications may have been attempts to defraud the system, in which the government pays a percentage of the wages
GKN Aerospace has won an appeal over a break clause for a flat it had leased. The issue arose after GKN leased the flat from Duncan Investments Ltd in 2015. The lease contained an option to renew, and a break option entitling GKN to terminate on giving at least two months’ notice. During the second
The number of people working from home could double once the Covid-19 crisis is over, according to new research. A survey carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) says employers expected a dramatic increase as employees get used to the advantages of home working and not having to commute. CIPD surveyed
The Employment Tribunal failed to properly consider the needs of the employer when dealing with a disability discrimination claim. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in a case involving the Department of Work & Pensions and one of its employees, Susan Boyers. Ms Boyers suffered from migraines, stress and panic attacks. She
The Court of Appeal has upheld an injunction preventing a director from revealing confidential information about his former company. The court heard that the company had been owned in equal shares by two directors. Relations between the parties broke down and they entered into a settlement agreement under which one agreed to sell his shares
Two teachers who were made redundant during a school reorganisation programme were unfairly dismissed. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in a case involving Gwynedd Council v Shelley Barratt & Ors (2020). The teachers had been employed by the council to work at a community secondary school (School 1). Under the Staffing
The dismissal of a carpenter for allegedly making homophobic remarks was not unreasonable even though the evidence against him was from an ‘anonymous witness’. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in a case involving the housing association Tai Tarian and one of its employees, Howell Wyn Christie. Mr Christie had worked for
It is very difficult for employees to obtain reliable legal advice on their employment rights without incurring significant costs. Particularly for employees who have recently found themselves unemployed, even a few hundred pounds for advice can be prohibitive. Simran Lalli in our employment team has produced this excellent overview guide to employment rights to help employees understand