The Supreme Court has held that a bus company failed to make sufficient reasonable adjustments when a non-wheelchair user refused to vacate the wheelchair space on a bus. This was a case on the reasonable adjustment duty for service providers, rather than employers. In Paulley v First Group www.bailii.org, the Supreme Court held the bus... Read more »
The EAT held that a long-term refusal to return to work due to the stress of unresolved issues there was not necessarily a disability within the Equality Act. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in J v DLA Piper had held that a disability requires there to be an ‘impairment’, a mental condition rather than simply... Read more »
Diana Kloss looks at the Supreme Court decision in Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board. In this case, which has attracted a great deal of attention from health professionals and lawyers, the Supreme Court changed the common law of consent to medical treatment. The Supreme Court’s decision is leading to changes in professional guidance for surgeons... Read more »
The EU Court of Justice (ECJ) has upheld a maximum recruitment age of 35 for the Basque police. There was evidence that an officer aged 55 or more could no longer safely perform the required duties in the Basque force. The ECJ distinguished the case from its 2014 decision in Vital Pérez, which had held... Read more »
The EAT held it will normally be a question of whether individual steps under the procedure are justified, rather than the procedure as a whole. A police officer had been off work for 8 months and the police instigated the ‘Unsatisfactory Performance Procedure’, derived from police regulations. In Buchanan v Commissioner of Police of the... Read more »
The EAT has held that employers should proactively ensure working arrangements allow for workers to take breaks under the Working Time Regulations, The duty is not just to allow a break if a worker requests one. In Grange v Abellio London, EAT www.bailii.org the claimant argued he had been ‘refused’ a 20 minute break when... Read more »
We have added a new ‘Good practice guide’ to the site. Good practice guides are meant as general guidance for practitioners to help them comply with the law and good practice, rather than explaining the law itself which is covered elsewhere on this site. The new guide is on dismissal of an employee after long-term... Read more »
Diana Kloss considers a recent EAT decision on reasonable adjustments to pay. Previous decisions have held that the reasonable adjustment duty does not in most cases extend to giving disabled employees more sick pay than others. However the Employment Appeal Tribunal in G4S Cash Solutions v Powell has now upheld a tribunal decision that it... Read more »
Though not a binding decision, the tribunal upheld the ‘bare below the elbow’ policy of a hospital trust for a Muslim worker. Also communication issues and infection control justified its decision not to allow her to wear a niqab. In Khatoon v Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, the claimant had two part-time jobs with an... Read more »
The BMA’s occupational medicine committee has released updated guidance on the role of medical professionals in addressing alcohol and drug misuse in the workplace. It says the workplace is an ideal place to offer health education on alcohol and drugs and provides opportunities to identify and support problem users. The 2016 guide includes a new... Read more »