Ian Smith reflects upon the impact of recent employment law developments
The first two cases considered this month merit fairly extensive consideration because of their importance in their areas. The first in effect uses a recent Supreme Court case on the common law of dismissal to reopen a hitherto little used avenue for an employer faced with an important employee purporting to leave (to join a competitor) in flagrant breach of a notice requirement, without the expense of paying him or her out under a garden leave clause. The second revisits the question of how to operate the important Polkey reduction in unfair dismissal cases, where the tribunal has to assess future likelihoods. The third case is nothing like so important in principle, but is nevertheless of interest in showing how large a costs order can be in what is always said to be essentially a costs-free jurisdiction.
Stopping unlawful competition
When the Supreme Court decided in Societe Generale v Geys [2013] IRLR 122, [2012] All ER (D) 196 (Dec) that the correct theory to apply to termination of employment
