Employment Appeal Tribunal judgments, 2010

An appellate court will rarely interfere with an Employment Tribunal’s discretionary costs decision. Intervention requires an error of legal principle, failure…

An appeal from an Employment Tribunal is not an opportunity to reargue the facts or invite the Employment Appeal Tribunal to substitute its assessment of the…

In a constructive dismissal claim, the implied term of mutual trust and confidence is breached only where the employer’s conduct, without reasonable and proper…

An appellate tribunal may intervene only for an error of law and must not substitute its assessment of facts or evaluative judgments for that of the employment…

An Employment Tribunal judgment may use a narrative structure, but it must contain both formal and substantial compliance with rule 30(6) of the Employment…

In mass equal-pay litigation, tribunals should be ready to permit correction of accidental job-title misdescriptions, subject to real prejudice, jurisdictional…

It is not correct to refuse correction of innocuous job‑title errors in mass equal pay litigation on purely procedural grounds; tribunals should permit…

In mass equal-pay litigation, tribunals should readily permit correction of accidental job-title misdescriptions, subject to real prejudice, jurisdictional…

In mass equal-pay litigation, tribunals should readily permit correction of accidental job-title misdescriptions unless the amendment creates real prejudice…

In assessing compensation under section 123 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an Employment Tribunal may apportion loss where dismissal competes with other…

Victimisation cannot be inferred merely from a respondent’s unsatisfactory answers to a statutory questionnaire. The tribunal must assess, in the circumstances…

In a capability dismissal, the tribunal must ask whether the employer genuinely believed in the stated reason, conducted a reasonable investigation and had…

An Employment Tribunal assessing compensation after an unfair dismissal must base any Polkey reduction on evidence and adequate reasoning. A percentage…

In a Polkey assessment, the tribunal must assess the chance that a fair procedure would have produced dismissal. The exercise is probabilistic, not a…

A contract is an apprenticeship according to its substantial character and purpose, rather than the labels used in the documents. The central question is…

An extension of time for an Employment Appeal Tribunal appeal requires an exceptional explanation for non-compliance with the 42-day limit. The tribunal…

A contractual attendance criterion framed as a commitment to achieving high levels of attendance is not necessarily satisfied or defeated solely by whether an…

An employer seeking a Polkey reduction must raise the issue and identify the evidential basis for it before the Employment Tribunal. The EAT will rarely permit…

The Employment Appeal Tribunal held that an employment tribunal must give clear, Meek-compliant reasons so parties can understand why credibility findings and…

In a conduct dismissal, an employment tribunal must assess whether the employer’s distinction between the present case and an earlier disciplinary case was…

An Employment Appeal Tribunal should refuse to interfere with an Employment Tribunal’s discretionary decision unless an error of law is shown. In deciding…

For a term-time employee paid under an annual contract, statutory redundancy pay is calculated by reference to the weeks for which the employee is paid…

Future loss in discrimination and unfair dismissal cases is a predictive assessment. The tribunal must make the best overall estimate it can of the claimant’s…

In a conduct dismissal case, an Employment Tribunal must review the employer’s decision rather than substitute its own view of the facts or sanction. The…

An Employment Appeal Tribunal appeal must be lodged within the prescribed time and accompanied by properly particularised grounds and supporting documents. The…

It is insufficient for a wasted costs order to state a conclusion without specifying the improper, unreasonable or negligent acts relied on. Instead the judge…

Where Employment Tribunal and High Court proceedings cover substantially the same factual and legal territory, concurrent proceedings are generally…

For a disclosure to an employer to be protected, it must be made in good faith. The statutory question is not whether the worker had mixed motives or whether…

An Employment Tribunal must record and give reasons for an important procedural decision, particularly where a written application for postponement has been…

For statutory employment time limits, the effective date of termination is governed by the relevant statute. The employee must be informed of the dismissal, or…

An unfair dismissal claim must be determined by a three-person Employment Tribunal. A decision on that claim by a judge sitting alone is made without…

New points of law are rarely permitted on appeal where they require further findings of fact. The restriction is especially strong where the point was not…

An Employment Tribunal may limit compensation for unfair dismissal by reference to the period for which the employee would probably have remained employed. The…

Under section 111(2)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an employee must establish both that it was not reasonably practicable to present the complaint…

In a misconduct dismissal, the tribunal must assess whether the employer genuinely believed in the employee’s guilt, had reasonable grounds for that belief…

In a misconduct dismissal, the Employment Tribunal must assess whether the employer had a genuine belief in the misconduct, reasonable grounds for that belief…

An Employment Tribunal may grant a claimant leave to amend an ET1, but it has no power to draft and impose an amendment of its own choosing. The proposed…

A dismissal to impose new employment terms may be for some other substantial reason under section 98(1)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 where the employer…

On an appeal concerning commission payable after termination, the appellate tribunal must apply the contractual construction determined below unless that…

An ordained Methodist minister’s entitlement to complain of unfair dismissal depends on whether she entered or worked under a contract of employment within…

A finding of automatic unfair dismissal does not prevent a Polkey reduction in compensation. The tribunal must assess whether, and when, dismissal would…

An Employment Tribunal determining unfair dismissal must apply a neutral burden of proof when assessing the employer’s reasonableness and the adequacy of its…

Pay protection provisions must be construed according to the rate of remuneration protected, rather than merely the amount previously received. A part-time…

Where an employer withholds voluntary overtime from a worker who declines to waive protection against working more than 48 hours, the tribunal must consider…

In a TUPE appeal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal will not interfere with an Employment Tribunal’s factual conclusion unless the high threshold for perversity…

The 42-day time limit for lodging a properly constituted appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal is prescriptive. Litigants in person receive appropriate…

An Employment Tribunal may strike out a claim where the available material shows that it cannot be tried fairly or where the claimant has failed to comply with…

An employee’s agreement to a stated salary does not, without more, amount to consent to an unauthorised deduction that was unknown to the employee. Contractual…

The 42-day time limit for instituting an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal is prescriptive. An appellant must lodge a properly constituted Notice of…

A person may be a partner without holding a substantial share of profits, making a substantial capital contribution, or enjoying extensive management rights.…

An Employment Tribunal may proceed with a hearing in the absence of a party who has chosen not to attend, provided the tribunal fairly manages the case and…

Under the Polkey approach, compensation for unfair dismissal is limited when the employment would have ended, by fair dismissal or resignation, for reasons…

A strike-out power under rule 18(7) of the Employment Tribunal (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2004 is a stringent remedy. A claim may be…

Where statutory dismissal procedures are not followed, a finding of automatic unfair dismissal under section 98A(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 cannot be…

The EAT has a broader discretion to extend time for lodging a Respondent’s Answer than for instituting an appeal. The relevant considerations include the…

For the purposes of a reasonable-adjustment duty, an employer may be required to alter normal appointment or recruitment processes where that is reasonable in…

In a misconduct dismissal, the tribunal must apply the objective band of reasonable responses test and must not substitute its own assessment of the evidence…

Victimisation requires less favourable treatment because the claimant carried out a protected act. The statutory protection does not apply where the relevant…

For mental impairment, disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 does not require proof of a clinically well-recognised condition. The question…

An oral employment tribunal judgment may constitute an award even though some figures remain to be calculated from an agreed formula and are later included in…

Age discrimination cannot be established by comparing the pension consequences of hypothetical retirement with the position of an employee who remains in…

An employer’s duty to make reasonable adjustments requires an active investigation of suitable alternative employment and possible modifications to available…

At the first stage of the misconduct test, the tribunal must decide whether the employer genuinely believed that the employee was guilty. It must not assess…

An Employment Appeal Tribunal may interfere with an Employment Tribunal’s decision only for an error of law. A perversity challenge faces a high hurdle and…

A tribunal considering whether to strike out proceedings because of a compromise agreement must first determine whether the agreement is valid and enforceable.…

An employer proposing 20 or more redundancy dismissals must itself undertake timely, meaningful collective consultation with the appropriate representatives.…

An employment tribunal may refuse to extend the time for seeking a review where the application is substantially late and the delay reflects a party’s failure…

Where an employee alleges dismissal for making a protected disclosure but the employer advances misconduct as the reason, the tribunal must first determine the…

Personal service is an essential element of both a contract of employment and a limb (b) worker relationship. Where an individual has an unfettered right to…

In a redundancy dismissal, an employer has substantial discretion when defining the selection pool. That discretion requires genuine consideration of the…

Where a discrimination claim alleges a series of connected incidents, a continuing act need not be pleaded in formal or technical words. The question is…

An Employment Tribunal must give intelligible and adequate reasons showing why each party won or lost. Its judgment should identify the issues, the parties’…

For direct race discrimination, the employer’s belief that misconduct occurred may explain the dismissal under Employment Rights Act 1996, section 98, while…

A capability dismissal may remain fair under Employment Rights Act 1996, section 98(4), despite a procedural breach, where the employment tribunal finds that…

An application to join an additional respondent after the limitation period has expired is not automatically barred. The expiry of time is a factor in the…

In a post-employment victimisation claim, the tribunal must determine whether the alleged discriminator acted because of the protected act. The question is the…

Direct discrimination on grounds of religion or belief requires treatment because of the protected belief itself. A distinction may be drawn between the belief…

A Step 1 grievance may incorporate detailed allegations by reference to an earlier ET1, provided that, read fairly and in context, the employer could be…

Statutory fairness under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 is distinct from the contractual question whether conduct amounts to gross misconduct.…

A person who has not applied for a job may have difficulty establishing that discriminatory recruitment arrangements affected them. Even if discriminatory job…

The burden under Race Relations Act 1976 s54A shifts to a respondent only where the claimant proves facts from which a tribunal could properly conclude, on the…

An ET1 may contain only minimal detail, but it must still identify the nature of the claim. It must either make a specific allegation of a claim within the…

For an unfair-dismissal claim presented outside the primary three-month limit, the tribunal must first decide whether it was reasonably practicable to present…

Loss caused by a prospective employer’s unlawful response to a damaging discriminatory reference is not necessarily too remote from the reference-giver’s…

An employment award must be made against the legal entity that employed the claimant. A director is not personally liable for the company’s employment…

Constructive dismissal requires a significant breach of contract going to its root, resignation in response to that breach, and timely acceptance of it. The…

An Employment Appeal Tribunal hearing under rule 3(10) is a fresh consideration of whether the appeal discloses a reasonable ground, rather than an appeal…

An employment tribunal determining a reasonable-adjustments claim must identify the provision, criterion or practice, any relevant physical feature, the…

In a misconduct dismissal, fairness is assessed by the reasonable-employer standard under Employment Rights Act 1996, section 98(4). The employer must show a…

Compliance with the statutory grievance procedure is determined by substance, not by the document’s heading or form. A document may serve a dual purpose: it…

Employment Tribunal claims are not required by statute or formal practice direction to remain in the regional office associated with the claimant’s workplace.…

For continuity of employment, the reason for terminating the first contract is the relevant inquiry when deciding whether an interval between contracts…

In determining whether a dismissal is unfair, the tribunal must ask whether the employer’s decision fell within the range of reasonable responses open to a…

An adjournment will ordinarily be required where a litigant whose presence is necessary for a fair trial cannot attend through no fault of their own and…

The Employment Appeal Tribunal confirmed that a statutory comparator remains necessary when deciding whether treatment is "less favourable" under the…

In a constructive dismissal case based on non-payment of contractual wages, the tribunal must determine every wage complaint relied on and assess whether the…

In an age-discrimination claim, a tribunal may find that the burden of proof has shifted where a recruitment specification expressly seeks a “younger”…

An application to strike out an unfair dismissal claim should ordinarily be determined as a preliminary issue where the issue is short and, if resolved for the…

An employment tribunal must assess whether dismissal falls within the range of reasonable responses open to a reasonable employer. It must not substitute its…

Under the former statutory dismissal procedure, an employee must be told at Step 1 that dismissal is contemplated or is a possible outcome. The warning may be…

Where an employment contract distinguishes normal hours from additional or overtime hours and provides that holiday entitlement is based on the employee’s…

When deciding whether it is just and equitable to extend the time limit for a discrimination claim, a tribunal must consider all the circumstances. A…

To qualify as a worker under section 230(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an individual must undertake to perform work or services personally. An…

A statutory grievance must identify the complaint later pursued in sufficiently clear terms. Technical precision is unnecessary, but a general allegation of…

An Employment Tribunal is entitled to resolve conflicting evidence and make findings of fact, including findings based on documentary material and recorded…

Under regulation 15(2) of the 2004 Dispute Resolution Regulations, the relevant question is whether the claimant actually held, and had reasonable grounds for…

Compensation for injury to feelings must reflect the seriousness of the discriminatory conduct by reference to the established bands. Serious conduct does not…

An employer’s failure to control pregnancy-related gossip may constitute unwanted conduct amounting to harassment and sex or pregnancy discrimination. A…

In a conduct dismissal, the question is whether dismissal fell within the range of reasonable responses open to a reasonable employer. The tribunal must assess…

For a redundancy dismissal subject to the statutory procedure, the employee must receive sufficient information before the Step 2 meeting to enable a…

In a redundancy dismissal, an employer within a group of companies must consider whether assistance or alternative work may be available elsewhere in the…

An individual affected employee may bring a complaint concerning an employer’s failure to comply with the information and consultation duties under the…

An Employment Judge may exercise the wide case-management power under rule 10 of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations…

An employer must identify the true reason for dismissal by reference to the decision-maker’s evidence. Where the decision-maker reasonably believes that an…

An employment tribunal must give parties a fair opportunity to address any issue on which it proposes to rely. It cannot treat an unpleaded and unargued breach…

Indirect discrimination requires proof that the claimant personally suffered a disadvantage from the provision, criterion or practice, as well as proof of…

An employee is not dismissed merely because the employer stops salary payments or accepts the employee’s repudiatory breach. Dismissal depends on termination…

Where section 98A(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 applies, an employer can avoid a finding of unfair dismissal by proving, on the balance of…

For the purposes of determining whether an impairment is likely to last at least 12 months, “likely” means that it may well, or could well, happen. It does not…

Under the Education (Modification of Enactments Relating to Employment) (England) Order 2003, the governing body of a school with a delegated budget is treated…

An Employment Tribunal must consider the utility of a proposed reasonable adjustment in a disability discrimination claim. A finding that the adjustment was…

When assessing compensation for unfair dismissal under Employment Rights Act 1996, section 123, the principal consideration is the claimant’s loss attributable…

Compensation for discriminatory dismissal must reflect the loss actually caused by the dismissal. A tribunal should not apply overlapping discounts where one…

An appellate tribunal should interfere with a case-management decision only where the discretion was exercised on an improper basis, relevant matters were…

In a redundancy selection exercise, an employment tribunal must assess both whether the selection criteria are fair and whether the employer applied them…

A Step 1 disciplinary letter complies with the Employment Act 2002 where it clearly indicates that dismissal is contemplated and gives sufficient factual…

Where employment is terminated by notice, the effective date of termination is ordinarily the date on which the notice expires under the Employment Rights Act…

An Employment Tribunal’s decision on review will stand where it has correctly identified the review gateways, conducted a fair hearing and concluded that the…

A term in a collective agreement is not incorporated into an employee’s contract merely because the relevant handbook was available, a later employer referred…

An employment tribunal’s reasons must be assessed for substance rather than style. A judgment is not unlawful merely because it omits express references to…

An appeal against refusal to register an out-of-time Employment Appeal Tribunal notice is a fresh hearing. The judge may reconsider the exercise of discretion…

On a review of a default judgment for late service of a response, the absence of a good reason for delay is not determinative. The Employment Tribunal must…

An employment tribunal has a broad discretion under section 31 of the Employment Act 2002 to determine the appropriate uplift for failure to complete statutory…

For the purposes of Equal Pay Act 1970, whether employees at different establishments are in the same employment depends on a broad, common-sense comparison of…

A tribunal member should recuse themselves where they have already given a formal and apparently definitive decision on issues which a newly constituted…

An employee must take reasonable steps to mitigate loss caused by dismissal, but the standard expected is not demanding because the employer is the wrongdoer.…

Section 3A of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 does not protect a man from less favourable treatment because of another woman’s pregnancy. Pregnancy…

For discrimination arising from maternity leave, the question is why the claimant received the treatment complained of. Where the treatment is not inherently…

A claimant bringing a whistleblowing claim must identify the protected disclosure relied on with sufficient clarity for the respondent to understand the case…

Non-payment of wages or holiday pay does not invariably amount to a repudiatory breach of an employment contract. The question is whether the breach, assessed…

A qualifying disclosure requires a disclosure of information which the worker reasonably believes tends to show a statutory matter, such as danger to health…

Whether an employee has been dismissed or has resigned is determined by identifying who really terminated the contract. An Employment Tribunal is entitled to…

An Employment Tribunal has a discretion to permit an amendment adding a new comparator to an equal pay claim, even where the claim would have been out of time…

Under Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2004, success in an unfair dismissal claim does not prevent a finding that the…

In a redundancy dismissal, the tribunal must decide whether the employer acted reasonably under Employment Rights Act 1996, section 98(4). It must not…

Direct discrimination under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 requires treatment for a reason relating to, or on the ground of, the claimant’s actual…

When determining disability under section 1 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, an Employment Tribunal must address four sequential questions…

An Employment Tribunal should usually adjourn where a litigant whose presence is needed for a fair hearing is genuinely unable to attend or conduct the case…

An employee’s entitlement to sick pay does not create an absolute rule that remunerative work during sickness absence can never justify dismissal. Where the…

In an unfair dismissal case, the employer bears the burden of showing the potentially fair reason for dismissal. The burden is neutral on whether the employer…

Under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, the duty to inform employee representatives is distinct from the duty to…

Under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, the duty to inform employee representatives is distinct from the duty to…

An Employment Tribunal must give intelligible reasons for each material element of a compensation award. This includes the basis and period of any future loss…

Claims under the Fixed-Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 require a staged analysis. The tribunal must first determine…

For the statutory grievance regime, the relevant grievance is identified by its substantial subject-matter. It may embrace both the complained-of act or…

Direct race discrimination requires less favourable treatment on racial grounds. A policy which reduces overtime opportunities across racial groups does not…

Constructive dismissal requires a serious, repudiatory breach of the employment contract. For breach of the implied term of trust and confidence, the…

In an indirect discrimination claim concerning refusal of flexible working, the comparison pool should comprise employees who wanted the benefit in question.…

An appeal is not properly constituted where an Employment Tribunal has issued judgment in separate tranches and the appellant fails to lodge the written record…

Established fairness principles must be applied within the factual context. Although summary dismissal without the employee’s participation will ordinarily be…

For the statutory dismissal procedure, an employer must provide sufficient information to enable an employee to make an informed response to a proposed…

In a conduct dismissal, once the employer has shown a genuine belief in misconduct, reasonable grounds and a reasonable investigation, the tribunal must…

Step 1 of the statutory dismissal procedure requires written notice of the circumstances leading the employer to contemplate dismissal and an invitation to…

The statutory dismissal procedures required no advance notice of matters an employer intended to raise at an appeal meeting. The appeal stage differed from the…

Under section 111(2)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the question whether it was reasonably practicable to present an unfair-dismissal complaint within…

The without prejudice rule broadly excludes communications made in genuine negotiations to settle litigation or a legal dispute. Its exceptions remain narrow.…

Tribunals must test fairness of a misconduct dismissal by asking whether the employer carried out a reasonable investigation and genuinely believed on…

Under section 111(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the further period allowed after expiry of the primary limitation period must itself be reasonable. The…

An Employment Tribunal may find a conduct dismissal unfair where the employer’s investigation was not reasonable. An appellate tribunal should not interfere…

In assessing pension loss after unfair dismissal, an Employment Tribunal must first identify the loss and then determine a just and equitable compensatory…

An Employment Tribunal does not err by finding that an employer’s investigation of a grievance, raised in the context of anticipated disciplinary proceedings…

For the purposes of regulation 9(1)(a) of the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004, a collective grievance is written to the employer when…

An application to amend a claim by adding substantially new, out-of-time discrimination complaints may be refused where the proposed claims were not…

Disclosure in employment proceedings is governed by necessity, not relevance alone. Documents created from the point when litigation became the dominant…

An Employment Tribunal has a broad discretion to refuse a late amendment introducing a new discrimination claim. Relevant considerations include whether the…

An appeal against refusal to revoke an unless order may be competent where the refusal itself is an order. However, an appeal will be dismissed as academic…

In a direct race discrimination claim, unreasonable or differential treatment does not itself justify an inference of discrimination. The tribunal must…

A settlement of employment tribunal proceedings is concluded when a sufficiently definite offer covering the essential terms is objectively accepted. A later…

An Employment Tribunal’s erroneous view that illegality deprived it of jurisdiction does not require an appeal to succeed where its alternative findings…

An Employment Tribunal has a broad case-management discretion when deciding whether to adjourn a hearing on health grounds. An adjournment is not automatically…

An employer may bring a counterclaim under Article 4 of the Employment Tribunals (Extension of Jurisdiction) England and Wales Order 1994 where the employee…

On an appeal concerning refusal to review a decision rejecting a late response, the Employment Appeal Tribunal must consider more than the explanation for…

A warning that dismissal may occur after a future period does not itself terminate employment. Actual dismissal requires communication of termination and a…

For the purposes of Regulation 15(2) of the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004, the substance of the tribunal complaint means the…

The duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is assessed objectively and according to the particular circumstances. The…

An Employment Tribunal does not err in law merely because its conclusions are brief, provided its findings disclose the essential reasoning and the decision is…

Article 6 does not entitle a claimant in civil discrimination proceedings to confront or cross-examine a particular witness for a corporate respondent. Article…

For limitation purposes, the relevant date is the date fixed by the applicable statutory provision: the effective date of termination for unfair dismissal and…

A penalty under the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 is mandatory following a declaration by the Central Arbitration Committee and an…

Under section 31(3) of the Employment Act 2002, a 10 per cent uplift is mandatory where the statutory procedure was not completed because of the employer’s…

An employment tribunal deciding whether an employer has made reasonable adjustments may evaluate management evidence for itself. It is not required to accept…

An application under rule 3(10) to extend time is governed by an open discretion. The tribunal may consider the explanation for delay, the applicant’s ability…

For a claim under section 4A of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, an Employment Tribunal must identify the relevant provision, criterion or practice, the…

In misconduct dismissals, an employment tribunal must review whether the employer acted reasonably. It must not substitute its own assessment of the evidence…

An appellate tribunal will not revisit an issue recorded by the Employment Tribunal as having been withdrawn, particularly where no application was made to…

Appeals against interim case-management decisions are exceptional, but intervention is justified where the decision is wrong in principle. The overriding…

An Employment Appeal Tribunal appeal based on fresh evidence will usually be more appropriately pursued by applying to the original Employment Tribunal for a…

In a misconduct dismissal, an Employment Tribunal must decide whether dismissal fell within the range of reasonable responses open to the employer. It must not…

An employment tribunal may reformulate the juridical basis of a complaint where the factual basis remains unchanged and the opposing party suffers no…

Constructive dismissal requires a repudiatory breach of contract, not merely unreasonable conduct. The statutory inquiry has two stages: whether the employee…

When reviewing a dismissal for misconduct, an Employment Tribunal must assess whether the employer’s investigation, disciplinary process and sanction fell…

An amendment adding an associative disability discrimination claim cannot be refused on the assumption that a statutory grievance was required for every form…

An unfair dismissal claim must be presented within three months of the effective date of termination. Where the evidence supports a finding that termination…

In a misconduct dismissal, an employer may proceed under disciplinary procedures where it reasonably suspects dishonesty, even if an absence-management…

For a claim under section 146 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, the tribunal must determine on the evidence whether the…

A contractual redundancy policy expressed in mandatory terms may confer an entitlement even where the benefit is subject to a stated cap. The words “not more…

A protected disclosure requires information which, in the worker’s reasonable belief, tends to show a breach of a legal obligation. An expression of…

An Employment Tribunal must address the central facts and legal issues on which its discrimination findings depend. In claims of direct discrimination, less…

A claim form should be accepted where it contains the required information and is sufficiently legible to be read in the original. Partial difficulty in…

An appeal rendered redundant by subsequent events may be dismissed on withdrawal. The Employment Appeal Tribunal may encourage conciliation, but should not…

For equal-pay purposes, an establishment is not necessarily confined to a single workplace. The proper question is whether it is fair and reasonable to treat…

In an unfair-dismissal case involving alleged professional misconduct, the reasonableness of the employer’s investigation and sanction must be assessed in…

An appellate tribunal may intervene for error of law where the reasoning of an Employment Tribunal falls outside the range of reasonable responses, or where no…

The effective date of termination is a statutory construct. It depends on what passed between the parties, rather than on the date they seek to agree or…

In an unfair-dismissal compensation assessment, a tribunal must distinguish reasonable mitigation from a voluntary career change. Where an employee retrains…

Employment status must be assessed from the contract and the parties’ conduct throughout the relationship. A tribunal should not treat post-termination…

Rule 3(9) does not prevent an Employment Judge, at a later pre-hearing review, from reconsidering whether a claim was validly presented merely because an…

Under Employment Rights Act 1996, an employer will only rarely act outside the range of reasonable responses by beginning disciplinary proceedings before…

Claims for holiday pay under regulations 14 and 16 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 may be brought as unauthorised deduction from wages claims under…

In a constructive dismissal claim, the question is whether the employer’s conduct breached the implied Malik term of mutual trust and confidence. The tribunal…

Where an unfair dismissal claim is presented outside the statutory time limit, the claimant must show that it was not reasonably practicable to present it in…

For a service provision change under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, the relevant activities are identified as a…

Where disciplinary allegations are also investigated by the police, the employer’s decision-maker has a wide discretion whether to continue or postpone the…

An Employment Tribunal determining a constructive dismissal claim must identify and decide whether the employer committed the alleged fundamental breach…

An individual may be a worker’s employer even where the worker remains technically employed by a company. The question is determined from the factual…

Compensation for unfair dismissal is assessed on a just and equitable basis by reference to loss caused by the dismissal. Where there is a firm finding that…

In disability discrimination claims, the tribunal must identify the relevant comparator or comparators and assess the claimant’s circumstances against those of…

Employment tribunals may use case-management powers to require detailed particulars and evidence in complex discrimination and protected-disclosure claims.…

In an unfair dismissal claim, the employer’s reason and investigation must be assessed by reference to the standards in Burchell and the band of reasonable…

For a transfer under regulation 3(1)(a) of TUPE 2006, an economic entity may retain its identity despite a temporary cessation of operations at the putative…

An Employment Tribunal gives adequate reasons where its fact-finding method is rational and sufficiently explains why particular allegations are accepted or…

When an amendment introduces a fresh claim which would have been time-barred if presented independently, the statutory time limit is not an absolute bar to…

When assessing compensation for unfair dismissal, a tribunal must estimate the loss flowing from the dismissal, including employment benefits the claimant…

An Employment Appeal Tribunal may interfere with factual conclusions only where an overwhelming case shows that no reasonable tribunal, properly applying the…

A discrimination claim may allege a continuing act where later grievance proceedings are said to continue the discriminatory treatment complained of. At a…

A written grievance must be read in its factual and procedural context. Where an employee makes a protected disclosure by grievance and later alleges detriment…

A tribunal reducing compensation for unfair dismissal because of contributory conduct must identify conduct that is culpable or blameworthy. For a compensatory…

An employment tribunal has a broad discretion to exclude evidence obtained through covert recording of private deliberations in disciplinary or capability…

The doctrine of lis pendens has no separate application in Employment Tribunals. Its underlying purpose is addressed through the statutory procedural rules…

An employer’s mistaken interpretation of statutory deadlines does not, without more, constitute a reasonable excuse for failing to implement default…

A claim should be struck out for having no reasonable prospect of success only in exceptional circumstances where central facts are disputed. Whistle-blowing…

Victimisation requires less favourable treatment because the claimant carried out a protected act. The tribunal must identify the treatment, ask whether it was…

An employment tribunal assessing compensation for unfair dismissal must evaluate any realistic chance that the employee would have been dismissed following a…

Apparent bias is assessed by asking whether the fair-minded and informed observer, having considered all relevant circumstances, would conclude that there was…

A child who performs work is not necessarily employed under a contract of service. The question remains whether the ordinary requirements of employment are…

Under section 188(7) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, the tribunal must ask whether special circumstances existed, whether…

In a racial harassment claim, unreasonable or unfair treatment does not, without more, shift the burden of proof. The claimant must establish facts from which…

A tribunal must give the parties a fair opportunity to address a material point on which it proposes to decide the case, particularly where that point…

An employment tribunal deciding whether an employer failed to make reasonable adjustments must identify the relevant provision, criterion or practice, any…

At a preliminary hearing, discrimination complaints should not be treated as out of time where the pleaded facts are capable of amounting to an act extending…

Allegations of apparent bias and procedural irregularity must be assessed on the facts found by the appellate tribunal, applying the fair-minded and informed…

Liability for discrimination by an agency worker cannot be imposed on the end-user merely because the worker was treated like an employee in day-to-day…

A contested review of an automatic strike-out under rule 36(1) of the Employment Tribunal Rules 2004 should ordinarily be determined at a hearing. The paper…

Interim relief under Employment Rights Act 1996 ss.128–129 is not limited to disputes of a "clear and simple" factual nature. A tribunal must decide the…

An employment contract may reserve an employer a unilateral power to vary contractual terms, including pay and working arrangements, but the language must…

A dismissal is automatically unfair where the employer has decided to dismiss before completing the statutory capability procedure. The tribunal’s finding on…

A valid written grievance under the statutory grievance procedure need not use technical language or identify itself as a grievance. It must, however, identify…

An office-holder is not an employee merely because the office carries remuneration or other benefits. An office-holder may also be an employee, but only where…

Failure to comply with step 2 of the Standard Procedure under the Employment Act 2002 makes a dismissal automatically unfair. An employee must be told not only…

An employment tribunal does not impose a legal burden of proof merely because it expects an employer to answer strong evidence suggesting that a dismissal…

In a discrimination appeal, an Employment Tribunal need not treat the hypothetical-comparator question as confined to the initial stage of the burden-of-proof…

An originating application must be read as a whole to decide whether it contains a particular discrimination complaint. Particulars may explain a claim, but…

Employment Tribunal claim forms must be considered judicially, not by mechanical checklist. Where the material identifying a claimant and pleading the claim…

An employment tribunal must identify the issues, make relevant findings of fact, state the applicable law and explain how that law was applied. Reasons must…

Where an employer takes over a going-concern business and communicates total continuity of employment, including protection of wages and accrued holiday, that…

An Employment Tribunal’s findings of persistent unwanted sexual harassment and constructive unfair dismissal will not be disturbed on perversity grounds where…

An employer may, subject to safeguards, rely on an official police disclosure that an employee presents a risk to children, even where the information is…

The Employment Appeal Tribunal dismissed the appeal. A finding by the Certification Officer on whether a union branch existed was essentially factual and could…

An Employment Tribunal must give adequate reasons identifying the factual findings and statutory route by which a disability discrimination claim succeeds.…

In an indirect sex discrimination claim, an employer must objectively justify a requirement for full-time work by balancing its business reasons against the…

In a direct race-discrimination claim, an employer may rely on a mistake as the reason for adverse treatment. The reason need not be morally or objectively…

An employee’s appeal under the statutory disciplinary procedure must be assessed by reference to the statutory requirements, rather than the employer’s…

A collective agreement may supply enforceable terms of an individual employment contract even though the agreement itself is presumed not to be legally…

For statutory grievance purposes, each equal-pay comparison gives rise to a distinct claim. A failure to correlate one comparator does not bar claims based on…

A contract of employment is not tainted by illegality merely because immigration-related conditions may have been breached. Illegality depends on the…

Constructive dismissal requires an objective assessment of whether the employer, without reasonable and proper cause, seriously damaged the relationship of…

Where an Employment Tribunal fails to consider material evidence capable of affecting its conclusions on the fairness of a dismissal, its decision cannot…

In an unfair dismissal case, the reasonable range of responses test applies to the disciplinary process as a whole, including the investigation and the…

An Employment Tribunal’s assessment of whether conduct breaches the implied term of trust and confidence must be made objectively and in context. Conduct that…

Employment has a sufficient connection with Great Britain where the employee performs work there that is more than de minimis. The statutory gateway for work…

Under Rule 3(8) of the Employment Appeal Tribunal Rules 1993, an appellant may lodge one fresh Notice of Appeal after a Rule 3(7) rejection. The fresh notice…

Whether an implied agreement exists under Regulation 24 of the School Staffing (England) Regulations 2003 is determined by ordinary contractual principles. The…

For the statutory grievance procedure to confer jurisdiction, the grievance must remain extant when the tribunal claim is presented. A grievance which has been…

For an unfair dismissal claim, time may be extended only where it was not reasonably practicable to present the claim within the statutory period. For…

For the purpose of calculating time for an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, a judgment is “sent” when it is handed to the Post Office, rather than…

An employment tribunal may find disability-related discrimination where the employer’s reasons for dismissal include disability-related assumptions…

An employment tribunal must give adequate reasons for preferring one witness’s evidence over another on a crucial disputed issue. A bare preference is…

An Employment Tribunal must give sufficient reasons for a costs award and for a substantial assessment of future loss. Where serious issues arise about the…

An employment tribunal’s territorial jurisdiction depends on whether the employer resides or carries on business in England and Wales, rather than simply where…

For disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the question whether an impairment is likely to last at least twelve months requires the statutory…

An application for adjournment based on religious observance is a case-management matter to be decided by balancing competing rights. Tribunals retain a wide…

Relief from an unless order is determined by a broad assessment of the interests of justice and the overriding objective. Relevant considerations generally…

An Employment Tribunal must determine the issues presented by the parties. Where a pre-hearing review identifies the issues, the Tribunal may ordinarily…

A perversity appeal is not a rehearing on the facts. The appellate tribunal must respect findings made by the Employment Tribunal, which heard the evidence…

Constructive dismissal requires a repudiatory breach of contract. Unreasonable employer conduct, without more, is insufficient. In a claim based on trust and…

An Employment Appeal Tribunal will interfere with an employment tribunal’s factual decision on perversity grounds only where an overwhelming case shows that no…

An Employment Appeal Tribunal should assess an employment tribunal’s reasons as a whole and should not subject them to unrealistically detailed scrutiny.…

When deciding whether to extend time for an employment claim, the tribunal must apply the statutory test and consider all the circumstances. It need not…

Pregnancy discrimination law does not create a general regime of positive discrimination or require employers to abandon disciplinary or other management…

An unless order takes effect on the date specified if the required act is not completed. An application to vary, revoke or extend time does not itself amount…

An employment tribunal has a wide discretion to regulate its procedure and to determine the weight given to hearsay evidence. A written witness statement is…

Under section 98A(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the employer bears the burden of proving, on the balance of probabilities, that the employee would have…