The recent case of Dafiaghor-Olomu v Community Integrated Care [2022] EAT 84 is a good demonstration of the rough justice that is occasionally dispensed by the Employment Tribunal system.

It is well known that the amount of compensation that an employer can be ordered to pay for a straightforward unfair dismissal claim is subject to a statutory maximum amount of 52 weeks’ pay (commonly referred to as the “statutory cap”).  In Dafiaghor-Olomu v Community Integrated Care, Mrs Dafiaghor-Olomu won her unfair dismissal claim against her employer. At the remedies hearing, the tribunal awarded her £46,153.55 in compensation and the employer paid this amount in full. The claimant successfully appealed the outcome of the remedies hearing and her award was subsequently increased to £128,961.59 following a second remedies hearing. The claimant appealed again to the EAT in respect of the remedy.

The key question for the EAT to determine was how the statutory cap should be applied in this unusual scenario in light of the earlier payment of £46,153.55. In particular, the EAT had to decide whether:

  1. The employer should be given credit for the earlier payment of £46,153.55 before the statutory cap was applied leaving the employer with an outstanding balance to pay of £74,200 (the statutory cap at the time of dismissal); or
  2. The statutory cap should be applied to the total award first, and then the employer given credit for the earlier payment of £46,153.55, leaving the employer with an outstanding balance to pay of £28,046.45.

Continue Reading Unfair Dismissal Compensatory Awards – The Cost of Compliance

The outcome of Swiss Re Corporate Solutions v Sommer [2022] EAT 78, (which we reported in this month’s newsletter) provides an interesting illustration of the scope of the ‘without prejudice’ privilege rules in the context of settling an employment tribunal claim.

The ‘without prejudice’ rule (the “Rule”) allows parties to have a full and frank exchange of views about a dispute or litigation, and even to make concessions about weaknesses in their own case, when discussing settlement. The parties can do this safe in the knowledge that anything said or done will be “without prejudice” and therefore cannot be relied on and would not be disclosable if settlement is not achieved and the matter goes to court/tribunal. The courts recognise that without prejudice privilege is important for the efficient operation of the legal system, as it facilitates parties to resolving disputes outside of court/tribunal.

There are only a small number of narrow exceptions to this Rule and the Sommer case is a good illustration of that. One exception is that the Rule cannot be abused or weaponised as a disguise or excuse for “perjury, blackmail or other unambiguous impropriety”. Case law has established that this ‘unambiguous impropriety’ exception should be construed narrowly – it should only be applied in the clearest cases of abuse. In 2021 the Court of Appeal ruled it would only be lost in “truly exceptional” circumstances.Continue Reading Sailing close to the wind: ‘without prejudice’ and the thresholds of ‘unambiguous impropriety’

Welcome to our monthly newsletter, with a summary of the latest news and developments in UK employment law. A PDF version of this newsletter can be accessed here.

This issue will provide recent case law updates, law reform and legislative developments, COVID-19 updates and any other news over recent weeks.

Case law updates

Collective redundancy consultation: The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled on the reference period and threshold numbers required for the Collective Redundancies Directive, and has concluded that where the threshold number of dismissals is met at any point across the relevant reference period, then dismissals occurring both before and after that point are subject to collective consultation rules. This raises questions as to whether section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA), which applies the Directive in the UK (and which excludes the need to count employees whose proposed dismissal consultation has started) is compatible with the Directive. In the absence of amendments to TULRCA to clarify the situation, employers planning redundancies will need to have this case in mind, with an understanding of past redundancies as well as anticipated ones, when assessing whether the relevant thresholds for collective consultation are met. [UQ v. Marclean Technologies – NB: no English transcript is currently available]

Discrimination: The Court of Appeal has upheld the ‘cost plus’ basis for seeking to justify indirect discrimination, i.e., cost savings alone cannot be a legitimate aim and will rarely succeed as a defence, although it may be a factor where there is ‘something else’ (including where an employer is subject to financial constraints and is required to reduce its costs). Although not changing established principles, this case acts as a reminder that cost in itself should not be relied upon to rationalise potentially discriminatory practices. Incidentally the court also said that the phrase ‘cost plus’ should be avoided as inelegant. [Heskett v. Secretary of State for Justice]

Health and safety detriments: Following a judicial review, the High Court has held that the UK failed to properly implement the EU Health and Safety Framework Directive in the Employment Rights Act 1996 when only providing protection against detriment on health and safety grounds to employees and not also to workers. The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain, which initiated the proceedings, is calling for the government to urgently amend UK legislation to reflect this decision, which would significantly expand the scope of protection at a time when health and safety is particularly pertinent. [HC: IWUGB v. DWP]

Settlement agreement – COT3: Where arguments are being made to set aside a COT3 settlement due to misrepresentation, it is permissible for the tribunal to consider without prejudice communications. [Cole v. Elders Voice]

Summary termination: A firm was entitled to rely on a self-employed stockbroker’s repudiatory breach of contract to summarily terminate their relationship, notwithstanding the firm also having committed a repudiatory breach. [HC: Palmeri v. Charles Stanley & Co]

Tribunal hearings: An appeal against a decision to hold a merits hearing in person rather than remotely during the pandemic has been dismissed, reiterating the strong case management discretion held by judges. [Omooba v. Michael Garrett Associates]

Tribunal procedure – applications to amend pleadings: The Employment Appeals Tribunal has provided detailed guidance on the procedure to be followed when considering applications to amend, including how arguments in support of such an application should be approached, the matters to consider before such an application is made, and the importance of showing the consequences of the amendment being refused. This also reminds us that the tribunal has wide case management powers, and the appellant courts will seldom interfere. [Vaughan v. Modality Partnership]

Whistleblowing: The Court of Appeal has upheld the principle that multiple separate communications taken together could amount to a protected disclosure even if none of them, taken separately, would do so. Whether it is appropriate to take this approach is a matter of common sense and fact dependent, and it is not necessarily an error for the tribunal to fail to consider the composite approach. In the present case, the claimant failed to clarify which of his 37 communications should be grouped together, and the specific protected disclosure which arose from that combination. [Simpson v. Cantor Fitzgerald Europe]Continue Reading UK Employment Law update – December 2020

In Newbound v Thames Water Utilities Ltd, the Court of Appeal has restored an Employment Tribunal’s decision that the Claimant was unfairly dismissed for a breach of his employer’s health and safety procedures.

The case is a reminder that, although an employer’s decision to dismiss must only be within a band of reasonable responses to be fair, that band is limited. In particular, dismissals for misconduct are likely to be outside the band of reasonable responses where there is a disparity in treatment between employees and where the rules relied upon have not been sufficiently well publicised.

The facts of the case

Mr. Newbound had been employed in sewer maintenance by Thames Water for 34 years. In summer 2011, Mr. Newbound was assigned to an annual inspection of a sewer in East London. He discussed the work with his manager beforehand and it was agreed that the work would be conducted with the benefit of breathing apparatus feeding air from above ground. They then went through the safe system of work form, SHE4, which applies to more complex tasks. The SHE4 was a new document and stipulated that breathing apparatus must be used. Mr. Newbound was to work alongside Mr. King (a contractor) and Mr. Andrews, “the competent person in charge”, responsible for health, safety and entry.

Whilst on site, Mr. Newbound, Mr. King and Mr. Andrews discussed whether they in fact needed the breathing apparatus. Following a gas test, they took the view that they did not. This subsequently came to Mr. Newbound’s manager’s attention.

Continue Reading Just how wide is the band of reasonable responses for misconduct dismissals?

This post was written by David Ashmore and Amy Treppass.

In Metroline Travel v Stoute, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) decided that employees with type 2 diabetes controlled by diet (rather than medication) are not automatically protected by disability discrimination legislation.

The Facts

Mr Stoute was employed by Metroline and worked for them as

In Donelien v Liberata, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has held that an employer did not have constructive knowledge of an employee’s disability, even though further steps could have been taken to investigate her condition.

Background

Under the Equality Act 2010, employers are obliged to make reasonable adjustments to help disabled employees overcome disadvantages

As part of the government’s aim to reduce employment litigation, a mandatory Tribunal pre-claim conciliation process is about to be introduced.

This early conciliation process was introduced on a voluntary basis on the 6th April 2014, and will be mandatory for most Employment Tribunal claims from the 6th May 2014.

What is early conciliation?

Early conciliation requires employees to submit an early conciliation form (EC form) to ACAS before bringing a claim. The EC form sets out the employee’s details and the details of their employer; however no information is required about the nature of their claim.

Once the EC form has been submitted and the prospective claimant has confirmed that they wish to undertake early conciliation (the employee does not have to participate any further in the process), ACAS will appoint a conciliator to the case. The conciliator will contact the employer, and ascertain whether they wish to participate in early conciliation (participation on the employer’s part is not mandatory either). Where both parties consent to undertake early conciliation, the conciliator will have one month to promote a settlement between the parties. If the conciliator thinks there is a reasonable prospect of achieving settlement ACAS can, with the consent of both sides, extend discussions for a further 14 days beyond the end of this one month period.Continue Reading Early Conciliation

Costs awards in Employment Tribunals do not ‘follow the event’: a losing party will not automatically find themselves having to pay the other party’s costs of the litigation. However, the Tribunal has discretion to order costs where a party, or their representative, has acted “vexatiously, abusively, disruptively, or otherwise unreasonably” in the bringing or conducting of the proceedings, or the claim had “no reasonable prospect of success” (Rule 77 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013).

We take a look at some recent cases on this issue – some will reassure employers, but some may make them wonder if pursuing costs against an unreasonable Claimant is worth it…Continue Reading Costs in Tribunals – what employers should know

Employers are required to collectively consult when proposing to dismiss 20 or more employees at one establishment as redundant within a period of 90 days or less (section 188 Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (“TULRCA”).Defining what is meant by “at one establishment” for this purpose has always been tricky, and has led to significant debate. The issue is of particular importance to employers with multiple sites, such as retailers.

But now it seems that such debate has been rendered obsolete, with the Employment Appeal Tribunal (the “EAT”) holding that the words “at one establishment” should be deleted from section 188. Although this makes the law easier to apply, employers should be aware that the price of such clarity is that they are now more likely to be subject to collective consultation obligations when making widespread redundancies.Continue Reading Rewriting the law – UK collective redundancy consultation obligations change dramatically