Author Archives: Darren Newman

About Darren Newman

Employment law consultant, trainer, writer and anorak

Of course vegans are protected by the Equality Act!

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Darren Newman

A vegan is claiming discrimination after being sacked from his job at the League Against Cruel Sports. The emphasis of the BBC story is on whether or not Mr Casamitjana’s beliefs will be protected under the Equality Act as a philosophical … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality Act, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Supreme Court finds no discrimination in ‘gay cake’ case

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Darren Newman

Well I think the Supreme Court got it right – probably. In Lee v Ashers Baking Company Ltd they hold that there was no discrimination when a bakery refused to bake a cake for a customer bearing the slogan ‘support … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality Act, Fair Employment, Sexual Orientation | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

My Pimlico Plumbers Prediction (updated)

Posted on June 12, 2018 by Darren Newman

UPDATE: so the decision is out and it seems to be mainly Option 1 (see below). Lord Wilson’s decision does, I think, move the law on a bit when it comes to the right to send a substitute. When looking … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment status, Taylor Report, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

‘Last Chance Saloon’ for gender pay gap reporting?

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Darren Newman

With just days to go before the deadline for large employers to submit their gender pay gap information (30 March for the public sector, 4 April for the private and third sectors) the press is full of concern that many … Continue reading →

Posted in gender pay gap, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Government responds to the Taylor Review

Posted on February 7, 2018 by Darren Newman

I imagine that Matthew Taylor is pleased with the response the Government has given to his “Good Work’ review of Modern Employment Practices. A (mainly) positive response to all but one of his recommendations (the Government seem determined not to … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment status, Taylor Report | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Iceland, equal pay and enforcing the gender pay gap regulations

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Darren Newman

So the internet informs me that Iceland has become the first country in the world to make it illegal to pay men more than women. Iceland has not, of course, passed a law saying that it is illegal for an … Continue reading →

Posted in Equal pay, Equality Act, gender pay gap, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The Classic Employment Law Songbook

Posted on December 15, 2017 by Darren Newman

Over the past year I’ve been recording a series of podcasts looking at classic employment law cases and seeing what relevance they have today. I try to put each into its historical and legal perspective and one part of that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

What is the point of Unfair Dismissal?

Posted on November 7, 2017 by Darren Newman

On Monday I read a story that utterly depressed me. The BBC reported the case of Rachel Burns who was dismissed by Surrey County Council from her job in a care home for posting pictures on Facebook that included a … Continue reading →

Posted in Unfair Dismissal | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

How Uber could win in the Employment Appeal Tribunal

Posted on September 28, 2017 by Darren Newman

I spent yesterday sitting in the public gallery of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (if you can call five rows of seats the back of a big room a ‘gallery’) listening to Dinah Rose QC argue that the Employment Tribunal was … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment status, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

How much does it cost to defend an ET claim?

Posted on August 31, 2017 by Darren Newman

Mark Littlewood is the Director General of the Institute of Economic Affairs and yesterday he wrote an article in the Times attacking the HR profession for creating a ‘risk-averse, unimaginative and insipid working environment’. I’ll leave it to others to defend … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment Tribunals, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments