No laughing matter: in this month’s brief, Ian Smith sets out guidance on damages awarded for hurt feelings & considers the scope of the Blacklisting Regulations
- The impact of contributory action by the employee on the question of re-employment.
- Guidance on making awards for injury to feelings.
- Blacklists: do the activities of a trade union include industrial action?
The last month saw the coming into force of the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024 (SI 2024/1155) on 6 January and the commencement of the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 on 17 January. One difference between them is that the new rules are complete in themselves (with no transitional provisions), whereas the Act is almost entirely of a regulation-making nature, with the actual schemes to be set out in secondary legislation. The word is that the government intends this to be done by April, so watch this space.
It’s a funny old thing, legislative intent. The government are getting heavily into the idea of deregulation, in particular in relation to removing blockages to infrastructure development (see
