Author Archives: Darren Newman

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About Darren Newman

Employment law consultant, trainer, writer and anorak

Probation Periods and Unfair Dismissal

The Financial Times reported last night that  Companies will be able to keep new hires on probation for up to six months under a compromise Labour plan despite an election pledge to give employees “day one rights” It seems there … Continue reading

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Labour’s new right to a four-day week

So a story seems to have exploded over the the course of the day that the Government is going to give workers the right to work a compressed four-day week. They aren’t. But they might be about to strengthen a … Continue reading

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The New Duty to Prevent Sexual Harassment

I have a problem with the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023. It’s a rubbish name for a statute to begin with. But I also think it does something fundamentally undesirable. Bear with me, though, because it … Continue reading

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Should the BBC have sacked Huw Edwards before he resigned?

Was the BBC wrong to keep Huw Edwards employed despite knowing that he had been arrested on such serious charges? Looking at the timeline I think it’s difficult to criticise their approach. Most large public sector organisations would have done … Continue reading

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Abolishing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal

I love a State Opening! I am an absolute sucker for a man in tights carrying a stick with a Cap of Maintenance on the end even though no-one seems very sure why he is doing that. I also like … Continue reading

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The Future of Agency Workers

Labour’s manifesto promised that the new Government  will introduce legislation on employment law within 100 days. I’m not sure if the clock is ticking yet. Did they mean 100 days from the election or 100 days from the King’s Speech on … Continue reading

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Labour’s Plans for Employment Law – Other Stuff

I’ve now written three posts setting out Labour’s plans for employment law set out in its document “Labour’s Plans to Make Work Pay”. I’ve looked at trade union law, individual employment rights and equality and family-related issues. Ahead of the … Continue reading

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Labour’s Plans for Equality Law

Labour’s policy document published at the beginning of the election campaign – “Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay” –  has so much detail in it that I have already written about it in two posts. The first looked at trade union … Continue reading

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Labour’s Plans for Employment Rights

In my last post I looked at the new measures Labour is proposing in the field of trade union law. In this post I am going to look at individual employment rights, with proposals on discrimination and family-based rights coming … Continue reading

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Labour’s Plans for Trade Union Law

I refuse to believe that Sharon Graham, General Secretary of the Unite the union is genuinely unhappy about Labour’s plans for employment law. An updated plan was published by the Labour party on Friday and she was reported as saying … Continue reading

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