Employment Law E-Bulletin

Aug 2008

QUICK LINK

Read this month's cases in full

*************

A NEW CLAIM OF ASSOCIATIVE DISCRIMINATION?

Many of you will have seen the recent press coverage of the European Court of Justice (‘the ECJ’) judgment in favour of Ms Coleman, carer of her disabled son.  You may recall that we reported on this case back in February after the Advocate General gave her opinion. However, the ECJ has now given its official decision which has major implications for anti-discrimination law in the UK.

Read full article

*************

CASES

Handling a Grievance

The recent decision of Claridge v Daler Rowney Ltd, heard before the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), clarifies exactly what an employer needs to have done when dealing with a grievance in order to show that the procedure that was followed is within the “range of reasonable responses” available to the employer when dealing with the complaint; and thus whether the employer’s response justifies the finding of constructive unfair dismissal.

Reasonable Adjustments

If an employer does not make ‘reasonable adjustment’ in order to overcome the disadvantages faced by disabled employees in his or her employment, an employer runs the risk of being found liable under Section 3A of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. However, the case of Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police v Weaver confirms that the “operational objectives” of the employer are just as valid a consideration as the expectations of the disabled employee when considering whether a requested adjustment is reasonable.

Victimless Discriminisation

The case of Centrum voor Gelijkheid van Kansen en voor Racismebestrijiding v Firma Feryn is one which we have covered previously but the ECJ has now given its ruling and the decision will prove to have important implications on the domestic law concerning direct discrimination.

Read this month's cases in full

*************

LEGISLATION

Changes in Europe

Last month saw agreements reached at EU level on two major issues, which could have significant impact on English legislation if they are approved by the European Parliament and make it into EU law.

The first concerns the EU’s attempt to remove the ability to ‘Opt Out’ of the 48 hour maximum working week.  The recent compromise will see this right to opt out remain but employees would not be able to sign up to it in the first four weeks of employment and would be subject, in future, to an absolute maximum of 60 hours per week.

The second big shift concerns the treatment of agency staff.  After campaigns by various trade unions, the UK Government recently agreed to implement, in the next parliament, legislation giving agency staff the same rights as permanent staff after 12 weeks.  The EU wants to go one step further and recent negotiations saw EU agreements which would give agency staff the same rights from day one.  However, the EU proposal does allow for a national derogation (or opt out) which the English Government will presumably seek to utilise, at least for the time being.

In both cases our advice is to ‘watch this space’ to see what the final EU verdict will be.

**************

If you need advice regarding disability discrimination laws, or any other employment issue, please contact the employment team at Burnetts on 01228 552222.

Aug '08