Disciplinary&grievance procedures

Employment law is shifting at the margins. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ this week, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School examines a Court of Appeal ruling confirming that volunteers are not a special legal species and may qualify as ‘workers’

Volunteer workers, capability dismissals, & costs decisions with a sting in the tail: Ian Smith combs through the latest employment headlines

Comparators remain the fault line of discrimination law. In this week's NLJ, Anjali Malik, partner at Bellevue Law, and Mukhtiar Singh, barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, review a bumper year of appellate guidance clarifying how tribunals should approach ‘actual’ and ‘evidential’ comparators. A new six-stage framework stresses a simple starting point: identify the treatment first

Anjali Malik & Mukhtiar Singh consider the comparator question in discrimination claims

An Osborne Clarke partner has won his appeal against a £50,000 fine from regulators for alleged misuse of ‘without prejudice’ correspondence while representing his client, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi

From gender-critical speech to notice periods and incapability dismissals, employment law continues to turn on fine distinctions. In his latest employment law brief for NLJ, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School reviews a cluster of recent decisions, led by Bailey v Stonewall, where the Court of Appeal clarified the limits of third-party liability under the Equality Act

In the month of self-improvement, Ian Smith tackles capability dismissals, notice period extensions, the meaning of ‘employer’ & a novus actus

The government’s landmark Employment Rights Act 2025 met its pre-Christmas deadline, ushering in sweeping changes to the law

MPs will vote next week on an amendment to fast-track the change to the unfair dismissal qualifying period, as the government’s flagship Employment Rights Bill returns to the Commons

Robert Hargreaves & Lily Johnston report on the demise of the two-year rule & what this means for employers & advisers