The courts have performed some important employment work recently, notes Ian Smith
It is sometimes said that senior civil servants should not be allowed near sharp-pointed scissors. It could certainly be argued at the end of July that they should not be let loose near important Regulations that employment lawyers need to know about. After trumpeting that much new law was due to come into force on 29 July, one set of Regulations was not published until the following day and another until even later. Apparently, with the former they had phrased commencement in terms of “the day after it is made” (a modern tendency), which of course meant it had to be “made” on 28 July (even if not published to us plebs); this in turn means that we at the sharp end at least had the satisfaction of knowing that it had ruined some mandarin’s Sunday.
As far as case law is concerned, two important decisions are covered here—one settling a difficult point of TUPE law (only one? Damn) but this time largely in the employer’s interest; and one reappraising the age-old law
