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11 March 2022 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7970 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Employment law brief: 11 March 2022

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Remembrance of things past: Ian Smith reflects on echoes from the past & unravels some current employment conundrums
  • Agency workers and the right to be notified of vacancies.
  • Fire and rehire, but could the contract term be changed at all?
  • Rolling forward pay for statutory holidays actually taken.

In the long-lost days of the Wilson government in the 1970s (which was often concerned with seeking pay accords with the unions), employment law was bestrode by the ubiquitous character, Solomon Binding. He, or his application to ‘solemn and binding agreements’ contained in collective bargains, rapidly went out of fashion in the 1980s, but the second case considered here has a curious echo of this—with an employer actually being held to an agreement made with its staff that a new benefit was meant to be binding into the future. Moreover, this was done in a common law action in the High Court, not in employment tribunal proceedings. As Brian Blessed might boom: ‘Solomon’s alive!’

The other two cases are Court of Appeal decisions which have been awaited with interest, on the

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Partner hire strengthens global infrastructure and energy financing practice

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Legal director bolsters international expertise in dispute resolution team

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Corporate governance and company law specialist joins the team

NEWS

NOTICE UNDER THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925

HERBERT SMITH STAFF PENSION SCHEME (THE “SCHEME”)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND BENEFICIARIES UNDER SECTION 27 OF THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925
Law firm HFW is offering clients lawyers on call for dawn raids, sanctions issues and other regulatory emergencies
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
Non-molestation orders are meant to be the frontline defence against domestic abuse, yet their enforcement often falls short. Writing in NLJ this week, Jeni Kavanagh, Jessica Mortimer and Oliver Kavanagh analyse why the criminalisation of breach has failed to deliver consistent protection
Assisted dying remains one of the most fraught fault lines in English law, where compassion and criminal liability sit uncomfortably close. Writing in NLJ this week, Julie Gowland and Barny Croft of Birketts examine how acts motivated by care—booking travel, completing paperwork, or offering emotional support—can still fall within the wide reach of the Suicide Act 1961
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