Author Archives: Darren Newman
‘Bosses Free to Spy on Emails’? Well no, not really
Sometimes even a rather routine employment law case can capture the imagination of the press and become a big story. This week the European Court of Human Rights found that there was no breach of Article 8 (respect for private … Continue reading
Junior Doctors and the Trade Union Bill
Barring a dramatic development (such as a legal challenge), tomorrow’s strike of junior doctors is going to go ahead. In fact it cannot be postponed because eight weeks has now passed since the ballot was held and after that period is … Continue reading
USA v Nolan: Why America must be kicking itself
SCENE: INTERIOR USA COMMAND BUNKER Dozens of generals and CIA types sit around a huge table. Uniformed flunkies are busying themselves in the background, carrying messages, whispering in the ears of the great men who have gathered to meet the … Continue reading
The Trade Union Bill 2015 – a step too far
The new Trade Union Bill seeks to fight battles that, in reality, were won 20 years ago. There is a danger that all it will do is stir up anger and resentment in the trade union movement – and perhaps that is … Continue reading
The UK never had an opt-out from the Working Time Directive
We really didn’t. It seems that David Cameron is going to insist on reclaiming the UK’s opt out from employment law as part of his renegotiation of the terms of Britain’s membership. It’s not clear whether the claims are genuine or … Continue reading
Can a cake even BE gay?
UPDATE: 24 October 2016 Today the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland upheld the county court decision I discuss below. You can read the full decision here if you are keen. On a brief scan through, I think I pretty … Continue reading
Dear Jeremy, ever heard of the Equality Act?
Is it OK if an employer asks a job candidate questions about their childcare arrangements? The question has come up because in a ‘Dear Jeremy’ article in the Guardian (a sort of workplace agony uncle column) A reader wrote in … Continue reading
We shouldn’t scrap race discrimination laws
This is all the fault of Daniel Barnett. He rather mischievously pointed me in the direction of this article in Spiked – the online magazine that likes to think of itself as punchy and edgy. It was written by a barrister … Continue reading
Why we should scrap the Equal Pay Act
First of all, apologies for the clickbait title – couldn’t resist it. Also to anyone thinking “Surely the Equal Pay Act was repealed by the Equality Act and replaced by provisions dealing with ‘Equality of Terms’?” you are of course quite … Continue reading
Unfair Dismissal: What’s it worth?
I remember the days when the compensation limits for unfair dismissal were nice round numbers. The compensatory award was set by Government as £8,000 (a while ago), £10,000 or £12,000. Then New Labour increased the limit to £50,000 and provided … Continue reading
