Relationships matter, says Ian Smith. And nowhere more so than in modern employment law which grapples with some of the more painful aspects of working life
- The relationship between mutual agreement and taking a redundancy offer.
- The relationship between the last straw doctrine and use of an internal grievance procedure.
- The relationship between the duty to make reasonable adjustments and unfair dismissal.
- The relationship between subjective belief and reasonableness in harassment law.
There is a theme to the four cases considered this month, which is relationships. For once (at the moment) this is not about various fumblings (with persons or tractors) after extended drinks in Parliamentary bars, but within particular areas of modern employment law, namely mutual agreement/ redundancy offers, the last straw doctrine/use of grievance procedures, the duty to make reasonable adjustments/unfair dismissal and subjective belief/reasonableness in harassment cases.
Mutual agreement & redundancy
The question whether an employment has been terminated by agreement (hence no dismissal and no action for unfair dismissal) has raised several important issues (such as forced resignations) but one point that has been reasonably
