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08 December 2023 / Ian Smith
Issue: 8052 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Employment law brief: 8 December 2023

150651
Ian Smith (not pictured) sees out the year with some employment bangers
  • Casual workers—Art 11 relevant?
  • Partners are not employees of a business engaging the partnership.
  • Does use of employer’s internal procedures constitute affirmation of contract?

The key development last month was the awaited decision of the Supreme Court in the Deliveroo case. The decision of the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) that the riders were not workers in domestic law was not being challenged by this stage, reliance being placed instead on Art 11 of the European Convention. However, the result shows that, as in the past, arguments about the application of that article to the specific context of trade union rights can be one step forward and two steps back. The other two cases considered here concern two well-worn employment law conundrums (conundra?)—the legal position of partners and whether use of an employer’s internal procedures by a departing employee can ever be thrown back at them by the respondent employer as constituting affirmation of contract. The former is interesting in arising in a rather unusual context and the

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

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Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Firm appoints head of intellectual property to drive northern growth

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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