The Court of Appeal confirmed that saving or avoidance of costs, without more, is not sufficient for the justification defence. However an employer’s need to reduce its expenditure in order to balance its books could be a legitimate aim. In Heskett v Secretary of State for Justice, (bailii.org) the government had introduced limits on public... Read more »
Just published! Our new book: Hand-arm vibration syndrome: A guide for occupational health practitioners is now available. Written by Dr Roger Cooke, it examines the best practice in diagnosis and management of conditions related to hand-arm vibration exposure. Expertly written, and widely researched, this book will be an indispensable resource within the field of occupational... Read more »
The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued revised guidance on subject access requests (SARs) under the GDPR. As outlined in the ICO’s blog post (ico.org.uk), some key changes or areas where the guidance (ico.org.uk) has been expanded relate to: stopping the clock to ask for clarification of an individual’s request if genuinely required; when is a... Read more »
New section on face coverings for staff, as regards new rules from 24th September. From 24th September, broadly retail, leisure and hospitality staff are required to wear a face covering when they are in a part of the premises ‘which is open to the public, and comes or likely to come within close contact of... Read more »
The tribunal could make a recommendation that the employer undertake not to have the claimant work with particular colleagues in future, backed up by a severance payment if that was not possible. The claimant was disabled by reactive depression which she said resulted from bullying and harassment at work. After more than a year on... Read more »
Tribunals deciding whether unfavourable treatment was ‘because of’ something arising from disability under s.15 EqA should normally look at the thought processes of the employer. S.15 Equality Act (discrimination arising from disability) may apply if an employer treats a worker unfavourably because of something arising in consequence of the worker’s disability. In Robinson v Department... Read more »
We are continuing to update our Coronavirus (COVID-19) page. The page is at Coronavirus (COVID-19). Examples of updates include: ‘Some recent developments’, such as face covering regulations, more businesses opening, and ‘1 metre plus’; New guidance from 1st August on deciding whether staff should work from home or come into the workplace ; OH consultations... Read more »
It is suggested that consent obtained by OH to disclose a report should not allow it to disclose only to an individual named manager. Some OH practitioners have a questionable practice when reporting to management of naming a particular manager as the authorised recipient rather than a more general reference, eg to the line manager... Read more »
A Court of Appeal decision affirms that views of an OH doctor can be relevant evidence in a tribunal deciding whether there is a disability. An employer’s response to a disability discrimination claim made extensive reference to an occupational health report prepared by an OH doctor. The claimant was unhappy that after an employment judge... Read more »
ACAS has issued new guidance Disciplinary and grievance procedures during the coronavirus pandemic: The guidance is at www.acas.org.uk/disciplinary-grievance-procedures-during-coronavirus . It says for example: The guidance also points up the need to consider whether, if a remote hearing by video is being considered, a disability might affect the person’s ability to use video technology, and any... Read more »
