Employment tribunal rules that disabled woman was ‘constructively unfairly dismissed’

Posted on 17/04/2012 by Employment Law News for Employees

A disabled teacher has been awarded a six-figure sum after an employment tribunal ruled she was constructively unfairly dismissed by Meadowdale Primary School in Market Harborough.

Leigh Lewis, who suffers from polyarthritis, told the tribunal that she became ill after being moved to a classroom that was further away from the staff room and the toilets, and due to the extra walking she had to do, she was unable to continue her job and had to resign.

Registered disabled, Mrs Lewis took Leicestershire Education Authority and the governors of Meadowdale to a tribunal, claiming she was constructively dismissed and discriminated against because of her disability.

The Tribunal chairman, Christopher Goodchild ruled that Mrs Lewis was constructively unfairly dismissed, and that the school governors of Meadowdale failed to make reasonable adjustments in breach of the Equality Act 2010. Her claim of direct disability discrimination was however dismissed.

Mrs Lewis started work at the school in 2002 and was diagnosed with polyarthritis in 2004. The head teacher at that time gave Mrs Lewis a disabled parking space, and allowed her to work part-time from a room near to the staff room and toilets.

However, when a new head took over in 2009, Mrs Lewis was moved to a classroom further from the facilities despite her warning about the possible effect on her health. She became ill and resigned in September 2010.

Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Lewis said: “I think this case highlights how difficult it is for disabled people in the workplace.”

If you have been discriminated against at work or feel you have been the victim of constructive dismissal, please contact Ashley Hunt, Carrie-Ann Randall or Vanessa Crookes at Lawson-West on 0116 212 1000.

CIPD advocates unpaid work placements

Posted on 15/03/2012 by Employment Law News for Employees

The Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development has warned that the recently publicised argument over whether unpaid work experience amounts to “slave labour” or not could deter employers from offering placements, thereby denying young people a route into permanent employment.

The Institute maintains that good-quality work experience is an invaluable route for young people to get into paid employment and build skills. The comments come after an advert posted on the Jobcentre Plus website for a permanent night-shift worker position at Tesco, paying only “jobseeker’s allowance plus expenses” sparked debate.

Tesco stated that the advert had been placed in error, and actually related to a work-experience placement offered through the Government’s Work Programme, under which young jobseekers can take up unpaid work experience for up to eight weeks while claiming jobseeker’s allowance, in order to help them gain employment. However, those that do take up the offer of unpaid work experience can have their jobseeker’s allowance removed if they don’t complete the placement.

Katerina Rüdiger, skills policy adviser at the CIPD, commented: “With youth unemployment in the UK at an all-time high, we should be doing all we can to encourage employers to help young people, not deter them. In the current labour market, experience of the working world is the single most important aspect employers look for when recruiting, so without it young people struggle to get a job.

Work experience is a proven way of giving young people a first step on the employment ladder; it enhances their employability by giving them insight and experience of the workplace.”

The CIPD also said that employers can benefit from offering work experience, gaining new perspectives for specific projects, helping them develop talent and skills for the future and providing management and mentoring opportunities for staff.

Written by Lawson-West Solicitors Limited. Call us on 0116 212 1000 for employment law advice.

Car insurance uplift for the out of work

Posted on 08/02/2012 by Employment Law News for Employees

Research for the BBC has found that insurers are charging unemployed people an average of 30% more for car insurance than those in work. And in some cases, motor premiums were a great deal higher.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said that data demonstrated that unemployment was an additional risk for insurers. The BBC, via the British Insurance Brokers’ Association asked three insurance brokers to cost a car insurance premium in two scenarios – firstly for an office worker in employment and secondly for an office worker who was unemployed.

The best deal found by the first broker involved a 23% higher premium from Aviva for the unemployed worker. The second broker found a 31% increase via RSA while the third broker found a 63% difference between the lowest premiums from two different companies.

The research included multiple examples of jobless people using different postcodes and employment histories to come up with the average increase of 30%. Insurers now face criticism, regardless of so-called additional ‘risk factors’ including seeing the unemployed as less likely to maintain their vehicles and as higher credit risks. At a time when unemployment is at an all-time high, this is at best adding insult to injury and at worse outright discrimination.

LARGEST AWARD IN UK DISCRIMINATION CASE

Posted on 12/01/2012 by Employment Law News for Employees

A doctor who was hounded out of her job after having a baby has received more than £4.5 million in compensation. The hospital trust where she formerly worked, along with three of its senior staff members have been ordered to pay the sum to Dr Eva Michalak, now 53, because she suffered race and sex discrimination at Pontefract General Infirmary. The figure is thought to be the largest award in a UK discrimination case.

The tribunal found that Dr Michalak’s colleagues had run a “concerted campaign” to end her employment beginning at a secret meeting in March 2003 when she was seven months pregnant. Dr Michalak began to receive complaints and criticism, and was also accused of bullying junior doctors, before being suspended in January 2006. Disciplinary proceedings began in May 2007 and concluded with Dr Michalak’s dismissal in July 2008.

The tribunal also said that Dr Michalak’s Polish origin was mentioned in many telephone conversations and meetings between her colleagues, who questioned her competency because she trained in her home country.

Medical experts told the tribunal that Dr Michalak had suffered “chronic and disabling” post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety, resulting in an “enduring personality change”. Dr Michalak’s husband, also a doctor, said he had been so worried about the safety of his wife and his son that he had needed to give up his job to care for them.

In their judgment, the tribunal panel said the disciplinary procedure used by the trust in this case was “bogus” and that Dr Michalak had been dismissed “for no good or justifiable reason”.

It also commented: “As a consequence of that dismissal the claimant has lost her role and status as a hospital consultant, as we will ultimately find, she is never going to return to work as a doctor, a profession which she, in common with both of her parents, cherished together with all the status that that brings with it…..It is right that in this case we are positively outraged at the way this employer has behaved.”

If you have been treated unfairly at work due to pregnancy or race, please contact Lawson-West today on 0116 212 1000.

Prime Minister under pressure on parental leave

Posted on 15/11/2011 by Employment Law News for Employees

Several senior members of the Government have been pressuring David Cameron to water down his pledge to extend maternity and paternity leave and flexible working rights, because of the damage this could do to business.

Those in favour of improving maternity and paternity pay and leave have said the proposals will help more parents back to work. However, others including Chancellor George Osborne and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles have warned that the measures will impede business and harm growth.

The Government has already published proposals allowing new parents more freedom to co-ordinate maternity and paternity leave. The scheme would allow parents to divide nearly all the existing 12 months maternity leave allowance between them, possibly into stretches as short as a few weeks.

A separate proposal would make it easier for all parents to request flexible working hours. The row is expected to get fiercer before any decisions are made.

If you’d like advice on your maternity or paternity rights, or the right to request flexible working please contact Ashley Hunt, Vaishali Thakerar or Carrie-Ann Randall at Lawson-West on 0116 212 1000.

Average award for age discrimination claims rises by £20,000

Posted on 13/10/2011 by Employment Law News for Employees

Statistics from the Tribunal Service have shown that the average award for age discrimination claims rose by nearly £20,000 over the last year, bringing the average to nearly three times that of 2009/10.

In successful age discrimination cases, the average payout for the year ending 31 March 2011 was £30,289. This represents the highest average discrimination award, and is followed by an average payout for disability discrimination of £14,137.

The Tribunal Service also released data earlier this year which demonstrated that the number of age discrimination claims accepted by employment tribunals in 2010/11 had risen by more than 30% to 6,800, and that age discrimination had overtaken race discrimination to become the third most frequent type of discrimination claim.

Disability and sex discrimination cases were the most common types of discrimination claims accepted by employment tribunals.

If you feel you have been discriminated against at work due to your age, please contact Lawson-West on 0116 212 1000 for free, confidential advice.

Three out of five have had pay frozen

Posted on 31/08/2011 by Employment Law News for Employees

Three in five employees have had their pay frozen for 2011, according to new research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. The research also showed that some 6% of employees have suffered pay cuts since January, although 28% received a pay rise.

However, the good news was tempered by the accompanying warning from Charles Cotton of the CIPD: “Even those who are lucky enough to get an increase in their pay will find it below the current cost of living, compounding consumer belt-tightening,” he explained. “Inflation figures later this month will highlight growing pricing pressures, which is likely to continue for some time.”

The CIPD’s research found that the private sector employees who were most likely to have had a pay rise worked in manufacturing (48%) and finance (46%) while those least likely to have had a raise worked in hotels and restaurants (19%) and construction (25%).

Furthermore, 77% of workers in the public sector had their pay frozen, compared to just 13% who received a pay increase.

The CIPD suggested we would see more pay rises in the retail, hotel and catering sectors later this year as the National Minimum Wage increase comes into effect in October.

Class of 2010 figures released

Posted on 20/07/2011 by Employment Law News for Employees

Just under 9% of those who graduated in 2010 were unemployed six months after leaving university, according to figures published last week.

The study showed that nearly 62% of graduates were in work, with a further 7% combining work and further study. 14.5% were in further study only, while just over 3% were not available for employment.

These figures show an improvement on last year when just over 66% were either in work or combining work and study, while the equivalent data for those who graduated in 2006 show that just over 71% were employed or combining work and study after six months.

Survey reveals unapproachable managers

Posted on 22/06/2011 by Employment Law News for Employees

The Chartered Management Institute has released the results of a survey which reveals that 75% of workers regularly make decisions that they don’t feel they are qualified or trained to make, while nearly two-thirds of respondents felt that their managers were unapproachable.

The survey found that some 61% of those asked had wanted to ask their boss for help in making a decision during the past month, but had not been given the chance. Nearly a quarter of those asked, worried on a regular basis about making decisions at work, while 32% had lost respect for their manager. Furthermore 10% of those involved in the survey admitted that they had covered up mistakes they had made.

The survey also revealed the negative impact of a boss’s behaviour on staff with 39% saying that their boss’s behaviour raised stress levels, 34% complaining that their boss adversely affected their enjoyment of their job and 10% saying their boss was responsible for their declining health.

Employees also felt they were not offered enough training to enable them to improve competence levels, with some afraid to ask for training out of concern that they won’t be taken seriously, others embarrassed about asking their boss for help, and still others afraid their boss would think badly of them just for asking.

Ruth Spellman, who is chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute said: “It is key that managers demonstrate both competence and confidence in their role if they are to make certain their teams are engaged and reaching their full potential. However, to engage employees we need managers who are fully committed to supporting their teams to meet their organisation’s objectives.

“It may be that the recession has created a ‘blame culture’ where bosses are scared to make decisions and their charges are scared to ask for help for fear of being seen as incompetent. Managers need to demonstrate they are secure in their ability to make wise, and sometimes brave, decisions if they are to engage their team and encourage them to succeed. An unfulfilled and stressed out workforce, which is lacking motivation and direction from its bosses, will not thrive. Managers need to be accessible, help their employees develop and feel confident in their ability to do their jobs well.”

Agency Workers entitlements

Posted on 26/05/2011 by Employment Law News for Employees

From 1 October, agency workers are to have new entitlements in the workplace. From day one of their assignment, they must be provided access to available facilities such as canteen and childcare facilities, and must also be able to view information on job vacancies in their place of work.

Furthermore, after a 12 week qualifying period, agency workers are entitled to equal treatment relating to pay and other working conditions such as annual leave and overtime. Pregnant agency workers will also be allowed paid time off for ante-natal appointments during an assignment.
For those agency workers already on assignment when the new rules come into force, the 12 week qualifying period will start from 1 October 2011 and cannot be ‘back-dated’.

If you are an agency worker or ‘temp’, you will be entitled to the benefits outlined above and can accumulate the 12 week qualifying period even if you only work a few hours a week.

For more information on any aspect of employment law please contact Ashley Hunt at Lawson-West on 0116 212 1000.