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							Employment Headaches

     28th September 2010


                                  Presented by

                                  Harry Sherrard
                                   Dan Soanes

The Ramada Hotel, Ealing Common
Switch mobiles off please!
Question 1

   Jasper is being disciplined for insubordination to his
    manager, George, and rudeness to customers. He has
    been suspended. The disciplinary will be heard by Marcus,
    the regional manager. The day before the disciplinary is
    due to take place, Jasper sends in a grievance letter,
    alleging that George has been bullying him.

   What do you do?

   Is your answer different if Jasper alleges that the reason
    that George bullied him is that Jasper is gay and George is
    homophobic?
Question 2

   Can we dismiss staff for criticising the Company on
    Facebook?
Question 3

   We have a mixed race workforce. Can we insist on
    English being spoken in the workplace, as English
    speaking employees have complained of exclusion?
Question 4

   Bill and Ben, employees at the same company are both
    approaching 65. Bill has always been a model
    employee, Ben a problem. You decide to keep Bill on
    and retire Ben. Ben is furious, and threatens to go to
    Tribunal due to this “blatant favouritism”.


   Can he?
Question 5

   We run an outdoor pursuit company, and our
    employees are required to be extremely fit to undertake
    activities such as abseiling, kayaking, hiking with
    heavy equipment and so on. Patrick has now reached
    60 and has noticeably slowed down over the last
    couple of years…
Question 5 continued

   …Members of staff and customers have made
    observations to him about being a bit old for this kind
    of activity, which he has taken badly. He seems to have
    no intention to retire.


   How do we handle this?
Question 6

 You are about to fail an employee on probation when
  you discover that she is pregnant. The reason for the
  failure was partly based on absence.


 Is it safe to go ahead and dismiss?
Question 7

   We were just about to tell an employee that she is in a
    pool of people at risk of redundancy when she told us
    that she is pregnant.       There may be alternative
    vacancies.


   Should we proceed, and if so, how?
Question 8

   One of your employees, Mike, was photographed by
    another employee, Paul, whilst he was allegedly asleep
    on duty. Mike claims he was on a rest break and was
    therefore entitled to sleep if he wished. Neither of the
    employees are well known for being truthful.


   You want to dismiss – is it safe to do so?
Question 9

   An employee gets a poor appraisal and reacts badly.
    The following day she calls her line manager to say she
    is not well enough to come to work. You later get a
    doctor’s certificate signing her off with “work-related
    stress”.


   Is there anything you can do?
Question 10

   David, who has been off work for six months, has
    exhausted his right to receive contractual sick-pay.
    You have written to him telling him this but he has
    written back saying: “I believe it would be reasonable
    for you to adjust your sick-pay scheme so that I
    continue to be paid”


   What do you do?
Question 11

   In dealing with a long-term sick employee, the
    employee’s own specialist disagrees with the report
    given by our occupational health advisor.


   Can we rely on our own medical evidence?
Question 12

   An employee with a heavy manual job has been off sick
    for a long time, but the employer is convinced that he is
    capable of light work.


   Can the employer insist on this?
Question 13

   We have recruited a new manager, who is paid more
    than similar managers. They have complained that
    under Equal Pay, they should all be paid the same.


    Is this correct?
Question 14

   An employee who works shifts has come into the
    Company whilst not on duty, smelling strongly of
    alcohol and was clearly inebriated. Our contracts
    state that being under the influence of alcohol whilst
    at work is gross misconduct, but is it gross
    misconduct if the employee attended work outside of
    his normal working hours?
Question 15

   An employee brought a sex discrimination claim
    against the Company which was settled. As part of
    that settlement she left. Two years later she has re-
    applied for a vacancy which we have advertised. She
    is qualified for the role.


   Are there any dangers if we decline to interview her or
    progress the application?
Question 16

   We have made an offer of employment to a senior
    employee, who has resigned from his existing
    position to take up our offer. He has to relocate and
    has exchanged contracts on the sale of his house.
    Due to the sudden and unexpected loss of a major
    customer, we no longer have this vacancy and want to
    withdraw the offer.


   What are the implications?
Question 17

 We have lost a contract to one of our competitors and
  are convinced that TUPE applies, but the other
  company is refusing to accept this.


 What do we do with our employees?
Question 18

   Rory joined us recently. We sent a reference request
    to his previous employer which came back with the
    following wording:

    “At the time of termination, Rory was under
    investigation for theft, but left before our enquiries
    were completed”…
Question 18 continued

    …In the circumstances we have decided not to
    confirm Rory’s appointment and have terminated his
    employment. Rory then produced some evidence to
    us which clearly demonstrated that the allegation of
    theft against him could not be sustained, and that he
    would not have been dismissed.

   If we refuse to continue his employment, does Rory
    have any come back against us?
Question 19

An employee is dismissed with a termination date of 30th
  September.
   What is the last day on which this employee can bring
    an Employment Tribunal claim for sex discrimination?
   Is the answer different if the employee raises a
    grievance?
Question 20

   A secretary has been working part-time for some years,
    but the requirements have increased and it is now a
    full-time job. She has refused to go onto full-time
    hours.

    How does the employer handle this?
Question 21

   A male employee makes a flexible working application,
    saying that he needs to work at home on Fridays to
    look after an elderly relative as he has no carer
    available that day.


   How does the employer handle this?
Question 22

   Jim, a photocopier repair engineer with 15 years’
    unblemished service with your company, has made two
    or three silly mistakes over the last few months – such
    as spilling toner all over the carpet at one client’s
    offices and causing a three-hour power-cut at another
    client’s offices...
Question 22 continued

   ... by forgetting to unplug a machine he was working
    on. Those two clients make up 90% of the work in the
    region Jim covers and both have said they no longer
    want Jim to do their work.


    Can you dismiss Jim for misconduct/capability or
     anything else?
Question 23

   One of our Directors was given a new contract of
    employment two years ago, with restrictive covenants.
    He did not sign it, but has worked under it since then.
    He is now leaving and claims that the restrictive
    covenants do not apply as he did not sign the contract.
   Is he correct?
Question 24

   One of your employees has been arrested and charged
    with being drunk on an aircraft, hitting a fellow
    passenger and assaulting a member of the cabin crew.
    He is due to stand trial next month and is planning to
    plead guilty. A prison sentence is inevitable.
   His solicitor has written to you asking you to provide a
    character reference to be used in mitigation at his
    trial...
Question 24 continued

   You are appalled by this employee’s behaviour. You
    are also worried that, as yours is a fairly high profile
    company and “air-rage” is a favourite topic of the
    press, this case may bring some adverse publicity for
    your company.      Far from providing a character
    reference, you would rather sack him.


   What can you do?
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Upcoming dates for your diary

Employment Law Latest         Employment Headaches

28th October 2010 – Sussex    25th November 2010 - Sussex

3rd November 2010 – London    30th November 2010 - London

11th November 2010 - Surrey   2nd December 2010 - Surrey


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and Conclusion