Employment Appeal Tribunal judgments, 2014

A contractual entitlement to gratuities may be removed by a later written contract which fixes a revised basic wage and omits the former gratuity provision.…

A pre-implementation benchmark job evaluation may remain effective under a collective pay agreement where the parties have agreed that it will stand. It may…

For a service provision change under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, the existence of an organised grouping and an…

Under Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure, Rule 44, a witness statement is available for public inspection if it stands as evidence in chief. Inspection is…

An employer’s statutory duty to make reasonable adjustments does not arise where it neither knew, nor could reasonably have been expected to know, the facts…

An employer may reserve a contractual power to vary employment terms unilaterally, but the reservation must be expressed in clear and unambiguous language. A…

An Employment Tribunal must decide whether dismissal falls within the range of reasonable responses. It must not substitute its own assessment of the…

A respondent may raise a statutory grievance-procedure jurisdictional objection without formally amending its response, provided the objection is raised before…

The duty to make reasonable adjustments requires an employer to take steps which it is reasonable to take to avoid the disabled employee’s substantial…

Under Employment Rights Act 1996, the reason for dismissal is the set of facts or beliefs which the employer actually held when it dismissed the employee. It…

Assessment of future loss of earnings necessarily involves informed speculation. An appellate tribunal must not substitute its own assessment where the…

An Employment Tribunal must determine whether an impairment has a substantial adverse effect by applying the statutory test to the evidence it accepts.…

A procedural defect in a disciplinary process is a relevant factor under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, but it does not of itself make a…

For the purposes of Equality Act 2010, workplace activities may be normal day-to-day activities where they include communicating with colleagues, attending the…

Where an Employment Tribunal has found a potentially fair reason for dismissal, it must determine fairness under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act…

In a constructive-dismissal claim, a failure to follow a grievance procedure may amount to a fundamental breach of the implied term of trust and confidence…

An employee who works remotely abroad solely for an employer’s British operation may remain within the territorial scope of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The…

In direct discrimination and victimisation claims, the protected characteristic or protected act need not be the sole cause of the treatment. It is sufficient…

Entitlement to paid annual leave under the Working Time Regulations 1998 does not generally permit payment for leave never taken in earlier leave years. A…

A finding of serious misconduct supporting a Polkey deduction, a reduction for contributory conduct, or summary dismissal must rest on cogent reasoning and…

Where unlawful victimisation deprives an applicant of the opportunity to be considered for employment, compensation may properly reflect the lost chance of…

An Employment Tribunal may limit compensation under section 123(1) where it finds that, but for the constructive dismissal, the employee would later have been…

A stable employment relationship under Equal Pay Act 1970 section 2ZA has an autonomous meaning. It is not determined by statutory continuity of employment…

On the proper construction of a contractual promotion and transfer rule, an employee entitled after six weeks to the pay and conditions of a new post is…

In a conduct-dismissal case, an Employment Tribunal must assess the employer’s actual belief, the grounds on which that belief was held, and the investigation…

An Employment Tribunal is ordinarily required to determine the issues and arguments clearly presented by the parties. It does not err by failing to decide a…

On a complaint of detriment for making a protected disclosure, the employer bears the burden under section 48(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 to show the…

Under section 47B of the Employment Rights Act 1996, a claimant must establish that the act or deliberate failure complained of was on the ground of a…

An appellate tribunal may exceptionally permit a party to amend its answer to raise a new point of European Union or Convention law. The point must be…

An employer does not satisfy the reasonable-adjustments duty merely by intending that adjustments be made at management level. The adjustments must be…

Where dismissal is said to be for gross misconduct, an Employment Tribunal must determine whether the employer had reasonable grounds to believe not only that…

The test for apparent bias is whether a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts, would conclude that there was a real possibility of…

A compromise agreement does not prevent an employer from making safeguarding disclosures required by law. A contractual term which purported to prohibit such…

Where a disabled employee is certified unfit for any work and gives no indication that they could return if adjustments were made, the duty to make reasonable…

For a mobile employee with no single fixed workplace, the place where the employee is employed for redundancy purposes under section 139 of the Employment…

Under Employment Rights Act 1996, section 98 requires the tribunal to assess the employer’s actual reason for dismissal: the facts or beliefs operating on its…

For the exception in regulation 33(a) of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999, an “other event” must have a relationship to conduct for which the worker…

An Employment Appeal Tribunal will ordinarily refuse a new appellate point where it was not advanced below and would require further factual inquiry. A…

For constructive dismissal, the employer's repudiatory breach must be assessed objectively. However, whether the employee resigned in response to that breach…

Relief from an automatic strike-out for breach of an unless order may properly be refused where a party deliberately persists in non-compliance after being…

An Employment Tribunal may refuse relief from the automatic strike-out consequence of an unless order where a party has deliberately failed to exchange witness…

A transferee may be liable under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 for pre-transfer harassment for which the transferor was…

An Employment Tribunal may exceptionally reach a factual conclusion which neither party has advanced. Where that possibility concerns a significant and…

A finding that a mental impairment has a long-term adverse effect requires a structured assessment of the statutory elements. Where there are distinct periods…

In an unfair-dismissal claim, the tribunal must assess the employer’s conduct under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act. It must consider whether the…

A later claim is not an abuse of process merely because it could have been advanced in earlier proceedings. The tribunal must make a broad, merits-based…

For the long-term limb of disability discrimination, the likelihood that an impairment’s effects will last 12 months or recur is assessed prospectively at the…

In a conduct dismissal, the tribunal must apply the range of reasonable responses test to the sanction under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.…

An agreed list of issues is a case-management tool, not a formal pleading or contract. It will ordinarily identify and limit the issues for hearing, but an…

For detriment under the whistleblowing provisions, a protected disclosure need only have a material, and more than trivial, influence on the treatment. An…

An Employment Tribunal must determine the live allegations identified in the agreed issues. Where a claimant alleges detrimental differential treatment, a…

Where oral reasons have been given, a party seeking written reasons after the prescribed period must apply for an extension and provide a proper explanation…

Worker status under limb (b) requires application of the statutory language to the facts. There is no single decisive test. Integration and subordination may…

In assessing fairness under section 98(4), a tribunal must address material procedural irregularities in the disciplinary process. It is insufficient to…

An employment judge may properly question witnesses to clarify evidence and manage proceedings. However, interventions must not make the judge appear to have…

When assessing compensation for an unfair dismissal caused by procedural unfairness, a tribunal must consider both the likely duration of a fair procedure and…

An appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal is confined to points of law. Save in exceptional circumstances, a party may not advance a fresh basis for its…

A restriction of proceedings order may be made where the statutory conditions of habitual and persistent institution of vexatious proceedings or applications…

An Employment Tribunal must not initiate an unrequested amendment for an unrepresented claimant. It may explain issues and ask whether an amendment is sought…

A COT3 must be construed objectively as a whole and against the relevant background. A settlement of equal pay claims up to the payment date does not…

For constructive dismissal based on the implied term of trust and confidence, the employer’s conduct must be assessed objectively. The relevant question is…

In a misconduct dismissal case, the tribunal must assess the employer’s decision under Employment Rights Act 1996, section 98. It must not decide for itself…

In a misconduct unfair-dismissal claim, the tribunal must assess the employer’s decision under section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It must not decide…

An employee’s continued work may amount to acceptance of varied contractual terms where the employer offers employment under an entirely new contractual…

Joint and several liability between two employing entities cannot be founded merely on their connection or on associated-employer continuity for an unfair…

Section 121(2) of the Equality Act 2010 must be construed purposively so as to preserve a serving member of the armed forces’ right of access to an independent…

A review application does not permit the Employment Appeal Tribunal to revisit conclusions properly challengeable only by appeal. In assessing apparent bias…

The effective date of termination under Employment Rights Act 1996 is a statutory construct. It depends on what actually happened between the parties, rather…

An employer which reduces wages payable for a current pay period in order to recover an overpayment made for an earlier period makes a deduction for the…

An Employment Tribunal must give adequate reasons for a substantial discount to pension loss. It must explain how its findings and the relevant contingencies…

An Employment Tribunal must determine only issues properly raised by the pleadings and case-management process. It is not required to decide a potentially…

An employee relying on time off for dependants must comply with the notification condition in section 57A of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Whether notice was…

An Employment Tribunal may strike out a discrimination claim only where it has no reasonable prospect of success. It must exercise particular caution where…

For employment under a contract personally to do work within section 83(2)(a) of the Equality Act 2010, the absence of mutual obligations between separate…

For the extended discrimination definition of employment, a person engaged under a contract personally to do work need not establish mutual obligations between…

An Employment Judge conducting a Case Management Discussion under the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2004 could not determine a party’s civil rights or…

In deciding whether a conduct dismissal was fair under section 98(4), an Employment Tribunal must review the employer’s investigation, fact-finding, process…

For a reasonable-adjustments claim under section 20(3) of the Equality Act 2010, the tribunal must identify the relevant PCP, the non-disabled comparators, the…

An agreed list of issues will generally define the issues for determination at an Employment Tribunal hearing. It is not immutable, but a tribunal must not…

The territorial reach of the unfair-dismissal and discrimination legislation depends on statutory construction and an assessment of all the circumstances. The…

In an equal value claim, separate findings for different parts of the claim period are required only where a party contends that the material facts changed…

Where a tribunal invites an evidently unwell disabled litigant in person to make an oral application to review a decision, it must properly exercise its…

An Employment Tribunal deciding whether a claimant is disabled must give sufficient reasons to identify the impairment and the symptoms or functional effects…

In a misconduct dismissal, the tribunal must assess whether the employer held a genuine belief in misconduct, based on reasonable grounds following a…

An Employment Tribunal considering amendment must apply the Selkent balancing exercise to all relevant circumstances. It must distinguish genuinely new factual…

An Employment Tribunal should ordinarily reconsider its judgment where it has wholly failed to determine an issue which was before it. That failure makes…

In an age-discrimination claim, an Employment Tribunal must give adequate reasons for its conclusion where material evidence suggests that the timing of…

An appellate challenge for perversity fails where there was credible evidence capable of supporting the Employment Tribunal’s findings. The threshold for…

An Employment Tribunal may reject both redundancy and some other substantial reason as the employer’s reason for dismissal where its factual findings show that…

An Employment Tribunal has discretion to decide a costs application on written submissions and need not hold an oral hearing merely because one is requested.…

The duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is objective. An employer does not breach it merely because it failed…

The duty to make reasonable adjustments is assessed objectively. An employer does not breach it merely because it failed actively to consider the duty, if it…

The duty to make reasonable adjustments is assessed objectively. An employer does not breach the duty merely because it failed actively to consider it.…

When deciding whether it is just and equitable to extend the time for a discrimination claim, an Employment Tribunal must evaluate the actual prejudice to each…

In redundancy selection, an Employment Tribunal must decide whether the employer adopted and fairly applied a system within the range open to a reasonable…

Under section 123 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, compensatory loss must be sustained in consequence of the dismissal. In a constructive-dismissal case, the…

An Employment Tribunal must assess the fairness of a misconduct dismissal by reference to the employer’s actual belief, the grounds for that belief, and the…

On a striking-out application concerning an alleged protected disclosure, the question is whether the claim has no reasonable prospect of success. The tribunal…

A claim based on an alleged protected disclosure should not be struck out unless it has no reasonable prospect of success. Information may concern omissions as…

On a strike-out application concerning protected disclosures, the question is whether the claim has no reasonable prospect of success. A communication may…

For claims under sections 146 and 152 of TULRCA 1992, the tribunal must identify the particular protected trade-union activities and determine the relevant…

An Employment Tribunal considering an amendment application must apply the Selkent principles by considering all relevant circumstances and balancing the…

An Employment Tribunal deciding whether a costs claim was misconceived must decide whether the claim had no reasonable, meaning realistic, prospect of success…

An Employment Tribunal considering a remitted costs application must treat prior liability findings as binding, but must independently decide whether the claim…

An Employment Tribunal may strike out a claim for unreasonable conduct or non-compliance with orders only after considering whether a fair hearing remains…

Under section 123(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, a Polkey assessment is a predictive assessment of the loss caused by an unfair dismissal. It is not all…

An award for injury to feelings in discrimination proceedings is compensatory, not punitive. The Employment Tribunal must assess the particular injury proved…

For harassment based on the effect of unwanted conduct, an Employment Tribunal must decide whether the conduct actually violated dignity or created the…

Once the threshold for an Employment Tribunal costs order has been met, the decision whether to award costs remains discretionary. An appellate court may…

For constructive dismissal under Employment Rights Act 1996, an employee must terminate the contract in response to the employer’s repudiatory breach. The…

An appellate tribunal will not interfere merely because tribunal reasons are economical. Reasons are sufficient if they tell the parties, viewed in the context…

An appellate tribunal should ordinarily respect an Employment Judge’s preliminary decisions in a complex case. Intervention is warranted where there is a…

Under Employment Rights Act 1996, section 44(1)(d) and (e), the tribunal must determine each employee’s actual belief, whether it amounted to a belief in…

Where unlawful discrimination has made a material contribution to psychiatric illness with divisible causes, compensation may be apportioned so that the…

An employer may be required under Equality Act 2010 to modify a redeployment selection process where its practice of requiring a formal interview puts a…

An Employment Tribunal considering whether to review a strike-out following an unless order must make a broad, fact-sensitive assessment of the interests of…

When considering whether a discrimination arising from disability claim has little reasonable prospect of success, a tribunal must address the employer’s…

A Polkey deduction forms only one part of the assessment of compensation for unfair dismissal. It concerns the chance that the employer would fairly have…

An Employment Tribunal must make sufficient findings about what an employee said before deciding whether alleged verbal statements were qualifying disclosures…

In determining fairness under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an Employment Tribunal must review the dismissal, including its sanction, while…

A person engaged for casual work may acquire unfair-dismissal rights either under an umbrella contract or through a succession of individual contracts of…

Redundancy under Employment Rights Act 1996 section 139 depends on whether the employer’s requirement for employees to perform work of a particular kind has…

Under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, a service-provision-change analysis requires separate findings on the relevant…

For indirect discrimination under Equality Act 2010, proof of group disadvantage does not depend on statistics. Evidence from the claimant or others sharing…

For a claim under regulation 3(1)(b) of the Fixed-Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002, the tribunal must identify, in a…

For a detriment claim under section 146(1)(b) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, the employer must have acted or deliberately…

For direct discrimination under Equality Act 2010 section 18, the tribunal must determine the reason why the woman received unfavourable treatment. A failure…

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

An Employment Tribunal should reject a review application under Rule 35(3) only where it has no reasonable prospect that the earlier decision will be varied or…

Under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the adequacy of a misconduct investigation and disciplinary process is assessed within the range of…

A person may be a limb (b) worker during individual assignments even though neither party is obliged to offer or accept work between them. The absence of an…

Under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, identifying an organised grouping of employees and deciding whether an…

A constructive dismissal based on breach of the implied term of trust and confidence requires conduct which, assessed objectively, clearly shows an intention…

Where an Employment Tribunal has found that employment would in any event have ended shortly after an unfair constructive dismissal, it may assess pension loss…

An employer relying on a contractual authorisation for a wage deduction must satisfy the written requirements in section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.…

An appeal on a question of law does not permit the Employment Appeal Tribunal to rehear disputed evidence. An Employment Tribunal may resolve a material…

A discrimination claim may properly be struck out where, even assuming the claimant’s pleaded facts, they do not support an inference of unlawful…

Where the real reason for dismissal is disputed, a claim should only exceptionally be struck out without evidence. The tribunal must not determine an…

An appeal is not properly instituted within the 42-day period unless it complies with the required Rules and Practice Direction. Where written reasons are…

An Employment Tribunal may not uphold a detriment complaint on the basis of an act which the claimant did not plead or advance at the hearing. In a…

An Employment Tribunal must give adequate reasons when deciding whether the insolvency exception in regulation 8(7) of Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of…

An Employment Tribunal determining contributory conduct must make its own clear findings of fact about the employee’s conduct. A finding that the employer…

In assessing unfair-dismissal compensation, an Employment Tribunal must distinguish loss caused by dismissal from a claimant’s duty to mitigate. A finding that…

Under Employment Rights Act 1996, section 123 requires a tribunal to quantify loss, determine whether it is attributable to the dismissal, and then make the…

An appeal tribunal will not determine grounds which are absent from the Notice of Appeal. A skeleton argument does not substitute for a formal amended notice…

Where an impairment’s substantial effects have ceased, a tribunal must address whether they are likely to recur. That is a forward-looking inquiry. In this…

An issue estoppel prevents re-litigation only of an issue that was a necessary ingredient of an earlier decision between the parties. It does not prevent a…

An Employment Tribunal must give reasons sufficient to enable the parties and an appellate tribunal to understand why it decided every issue material to the…

An amendment from a pleaded claim of actual unfair dismissal to one of constructive dismissal is not a mere re-labelling where it depends on later facts and…

An employer may justify preventing a disabled employee from performing a role where this is a proportionate means of protecting patients. The justification may…

An Employment Tribunal must itself determine whether a dismissal was fair in all the circumstances under Employment Rights Act 1996 section 98(4). A claimant’s…

An interim appeal against case-management decisions may properly be dismissed where the underlying employment claim has subsequently been struck out. There is…

In assessing justification for discrimination arising from disability, an Employment Tribunal must make its own objective proportionality assessment. It must…

Where a respondent is added to employment proceedings after the ordinary limitation period, the tribunal must decide joinder as an exercise of discretion. The…

In a discrimination claim involving many allegations, a tribunal must determine the individual complaints but must also stand back and assess the themes and…

A contractual annual salary-progression review may entitle an employee to have progression considered, without conferring an entitlement to an increment. Clear…

A tribunal must first determine whether a binding contract exists before implying a term as to remuneration or deciding whether the contract is one of…

Where an employer genuinely, though mistakenly, believes that an employee has resigned, an Employment Tribunal must include that belief in the whole factual…

An Employment Tribunal must give intelligible reasons for deciding whether a redeployment policy entitled a redundant employee to a trial period. Where the…

For constructive dismissal, a tribunal must determine whether the employee resigned in response to the repudiatory breach found. An employee who appeals an…

Under rule 40 of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution & Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2004, an Employment Tribunal should assess the whole conduct of…

For unfair-dismissal liability, the tribunal must assess the reason actually relied on by the employer. A possible lesser act of misconduct which was not that…

For regulation 4(9) of the TUPE Regulations 2006, the question whether a transfer involves a substantial change in working conditions is an evaluative question…

An Employment Tribunal considering an amendment must apply the Selkent balancing exercise. It must assess the nature of the amendment, limitation issues, and…

For a transfer under regulation 3 of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations, the undertaking must not be one carried on for an…

For a service provision change under regulation 3(1)(b) of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, the services must be…

In a direct race-discrimination claim, the selection of a comparator must serve the statutory inquiry. A tribunal cannot treat as a material difference the…

An Employment Appeal Tribunal will not re-determine facts or substitute its own view for that of an Employment Tribunal under the guise of a perversity…

When deciding fairness under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an employer’s responsibility for an employee’s incapacity may be a relevant…

For indirect discrimination under section 19 of the Equality Act 2010, a claimant need not prove the reason why an apparently neutral provision, criterion or…

An award for injury to feelings in discrimination proceedings is compensatory. It must reflect the actual hurt caused by the unlawful discriminatory acts…

An employer’s duty under section 20(3) of the Equality Act 2010 arises only where the application of a provision, criterion or practice puts the particular…

An Employment Tribunal must determine the case advanced by the parties. An agreed list of issues ordinarily defines the matters for decision, although it may…

A discrimination claim is not defeated merely because the employer did not objectively demote the employee. The tribunal must decide whether a reasonable…

An Employment Tribunal may permit a late amendment which introduces a distinct cause of action, but it must first identify its true nature. It must consider…

It is not necessary for an employer to itemise a London weighting allowance separately, but the tribunal must first identify what sums were properly payable at…

A Polkey assessment requires the tribunal to assess, on all material and reliable evidence, the likelihood that the actual employer would have dismissed fairly…

Permission to amend an Employment Tribunal claim is discretionary. The tribunal must consider all the circumstances and balance the relative injustice and…

Where an Employment Appeal Tribunal identifies a material error of law, it must remit the case to the Employment Tribunal unless the error could not have…

An Employment Tribunal must give sufficient reasons for rejecting an employer’s stated reason for dismissal, particularly where that rejection determines both…

An employee who brings claims for unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal on the pleaded basis that the employer terminated the contract elects to treat the…

In a conduct dismissal case, the investigation must establish the relevant facts, allow the employee to answer the allegations, and allow mitigation to be…

A reasonable-adjustment duty is not confined to preventing dismissal. It may require an adjustment which prevents a disabled employee being subjected to a…

Where an employer admits an employee’s contractual entitlement to a bonus but relies on the asserted existence of a final written warning to defeat it, the…

An application to vary or revoke an unless order under Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2004, rule 12(2), does not suspend the obligation to comply. The…

Under section 1 of the Equal Pay Act 1970, an employer may establish a material-factor defence by proving a genuine, significant and relevant reason for a…

Under regulation 13(2) of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, information must be given sufficiently before a transfer to…

When deciding an amendment application, an Employment Tribunal must apply the Selkent balance to each proposed claim. An existing, timely unfair-dismissal…

A tribunal may find a severe disfigurement without inspecting the claimant or photographs. Severity is an objective question for the tribunal on the evidence…

An allegation that a tribunal member was asleep or insufficiently attentive requires a factual assessment of the nature and extent of any proved inattention in…

An unless order carrying automatic strike-out must state the required act with clarity and certainty. The party subject to it must be able to understand what…

A later qualifying disclosure does not cease to be protected merely because an employee has made earlier protected disclosures. Employment Rights Act 1996…

In an unfair-dismissal claim founded on protected disclosures, the reason or principal reason for dismissal is a factual question concerning the facts or…

An Employment Tribunal does not ordinarily have to recuse itself merely because it made firm adverse credibility findings at the liability hearing. The…

An Employment Tribunal may uphold a misconduct dismissal where the employer held a genuine belief, founded on reasonable grounds after an adequate…

An employer’s contractual scheme may confer a discretionary power to make temporary additional payments without creating a permanent right to them. A payment…

An Employment Tribunal may clarify and determine a discrimination complaint which is fairly raised by the pleaded facts or has emerged during the hearing…

An Employment Tribunal must address whether unchallenged sickness absence caused by an impairment demonstrates a substantial adverse effect on normal…

In a discrimination claim, a tribunal may assess the primary facts cumulatively when deciding whether the burden of proof has shifted. It must first identify…

In a discrimination claim, the tribunal must decide whether the proved primary facts could support an inference of discrimination in the absence of an adequate…

An Employment Tribunal may refuse an amendment which adds a disability-discrimination complaint to an unfair-dismissal claim where it introduces a new cause of…

In a conduct dismissal, the tribunal must assess whether the employee’s conduct in its totality was a sufficient reason for dismissal within section 98(4) of…

A transfer of an economic entity under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, regulation 3(1)(a), requires a broad…

An appellate tribunal must not substitute its own view for that of the employment tribunal or employer when reviewing a conduct dismissal. A finding that an…

Where a party has obtained an order that a pre-hearing review be heard by a full Employment Tribunal, determination by an Employment Judge sitting alone may…

An Employment Tribunal may strike out discrimination, whistleblowing and unfair-dismissal claims in a plain and obvious, fact-sensitive case. The need for…

Under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the fairness of a dismissal is a single overall question. Although substantive justification and…

A constructive-dismissal claim requires an employment tribunal to determine whether the employer breached the implied term of trust and confidence by conduct…

For wrongful dismissal, an Employment Tribunal must decide what the employee actually did and then decide whether that conduct amounted to repudiatory gross…

In a misconduct dismissal, the tribunal must assess the employer’s genuine belief and the reasonableness of its decision on the facts known to the employer at…

An Employment Tribunal must undertake the separate statutory stage of deciding whether a costs order is appropriate, after finding unreasonable conduct. It…

Whether an employee has affirmed a repudiatory breach of contract is determined by conduct in its full context, not by elapsed time alone. There is no…

Judicial proceedings immunity protects a police misconduct board from a discrimination or harassment claim founded on the way in which it conducted proceedings…

In determining fairness under section 98(4), an Employment Tribunal must not substitute its own assessment for the employer’s. It may nevertheless find a…

A contractual entitlement may be implied from an employer’s established practice of providing a benefit. The decisive question is whether, viewed objectively…

An Employment Tribunal’s reasons must identify the material issues, findings, applicable law and application of law to fact. The requirement is one of…

For a service provision change under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, the tribunal must identify the activities performed…

For a dismissal to be by reason of redundancy, the tribunal must apply the statutory question: whether it was wholly or mainly attributable to a cessation or…

In a misconduct dismissal, fairness under section 98(4) requires an assessment of the employer’s genuine belief, reasonable grounds and reasonable…

Where a judge has already reached and announced a firm conclusion on a disputed substantive issue after hearing evidence and submissions, the judge should not…

In a capability dismissal arising from an interim suspension of professional registration, fairness under section 98(4) requires the employer to consider the…

A reorganisation does not of itself establish a redundancy dismissal. The question under section 139 is whether the employer’s requirements for employees to…

A dismissal is not procedurally unfair merely because the employer did not hold a formal grievance meeting before commencing a disciplinary investigation. The…

The short-term-task exception in regulation 3(3)(a)(ii) of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 must be established by the…

An Employment Tribunal may determine limitation by reference to the last discriminatory act which a claimant identifies and relies upon at the hearing. This…

A finding that an employee was subjected to race discrimination does not, without a factual causal connection, establish that a later dismissal was also…

An Employment Appeal Tribunal may make an indefinite restriction of proceedings order where it is satisfied that a person has habitually and persistently, and…

An employer subject to the Scally implied term must take reasonable steps to draw an employee’s attention to a valuable contractual pension right which…

For the primary time limit for an unfair-dismissal complaint, the effective date of termination following a summary dismissal is the date on which that…

A worker is protected by section 47B of the Employment Rights Act 1996 where making a protected disclosure materially influences the employer’s detrimental…

In a misconduct dismissal, the tribunal must identify the employer’s genuine reason for dismissal and assess fairness under section 98(4) of the Employment…

An Employment Tribunal should first determine whether each discrimination complaint is in time, including whether the alleged matters form a continuing state…

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the duty to make reasonable adjustments is objective. The tribunal must identify the relevant provision…

An employer may ordinarily rely on a live final written warning when deciding whether to dismiss for later misconduct. A tribunal may investigate the earlier…

On an application to amend, an Employment Tribunal must consider all the circumstances and balance the relative injustice and hardship of allowing and refusing…

Under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the question is whether the employer acted reasonably in treating the established reason as sufficient…

A contractual sum payable on breach is enforceable as liquidated damages if, construed at the time of contracting and in its commercial and employment context…

A late application to review a default judgment that is otherwise compliant with rule 33(2) must be treated as a properly constituted application for which an…

A dismissal arising from an employee's refusal to agree revised working hours may be for some other substantial reason under Employment Rights Act 1996, rather…

In a reasonable-adjustments claim, the tribunal must identify the alleged provision, criterion or practice, or the auxiliary aid relied on, and determine…

For disability-related harassment, the statutory language requires a serious and marked effect. A tribunal must assess the claimant’s perception, all the…

An Employment Tribunal is generally entitled to determine a case by reference to an agreed list of issues. It should not be criticised for failing to decide a…

An internal disciplinary appeal forms part of the overall dismissal process. Fairness under Employment Rights Act 1996, section 98(4), is assessed by…

An Employment Tribunal may grant an adjournment only on terms requiring a party to contribute to the other party’s wasted costs. The question on appeal is…

An Employment Tribunal deciding the fairness of a conduct dismissal must review the employer’s decision from the standpoint of the reasonable employer. It must…

A qualifying disclosure under Employment Rights Act 1996, section 43B must convey information rather than merely allege wrongdoing or state a position. The…

An Employment Tribunal must give reasons which identify the material findings of fact, state the applicable law concisely, and explain how those findings and…

In an unfair-dismissal claim, the tribunal must assess the reasonableness of the employer’s conduct, rather than decide for itself whether misconduct occurred.…

An overarching arrangement for ad hoc work is not a contract of employment where neither party is obliged to offer or accept work between assignments.…

A reasonable-adjustments claim requires the tribunal to identify an adjustment that would probably avoid the substantial disadvantage caused by the employer’s…

On a strike-out application for unfair dismissal, a tribunal must not decide that an apparent procedural defect is immaterial because a fair procedure would…

A proposed reasonable adjustment must be assessed objectively by its practical capacity to prevent the disabled employee’s substantial disadvantage. The…

A reasonable-adjustments claim requires identification of a proposed adjustment capable of avoiding the substantial disadvantage caused by the provision…

In assessing a Polkey deduction, an Employment Tribunal must assess the chance that a fair dismissal would have occurred. It must not decide, on the balance of…

For the reverse burden of proof under section 63A(2) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, less favourable treatment and a difference in sex do not alone…

For justification under section 15 of the Equality Act 2010, the question is objective. Where dismissal is a legitimate and inevitable means of achieving the…

An employment tribunal must give reasons sufficient to show why it concluded that an employer had reasonable grounds for its belief in misconduct. The adequacy…

When deciding whether the interests of justice require a review of an Employment Tribunal remedy judgment, the finality of litigation is an important factor…

In a direct discrimination claim, a difference in protected status and treatment alone does not shift the burden of proof. However, the tribunal may take…

In a misconduct dismissal case, the Employment Tribunal must apply the statutory fairness test in section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It must…

Under Employment Rights Act 1996, section 98 requires a tribunal to determine the employer’s actual reason for dismissal. Where that issue concerns the…

For disability discrimination, the question is whether the effects of an impairment, rather than the impairment itself, have a substantial and long-term…

An Employment Tribunal determining whether a claimant is disabled should not assume that expert psychiatric evidence is necessary. It may first determine, from…

A repudiatory breach cannot be cured by the employer’s later withdrawal of the impugned decision. The employer may make amends and invite affirmation, but…

In a victimisation claim, an Employment Tribunal may find that a detriment following a protected act was caused by other aspects of the employee’s conduct…

For harassment under section 26 of the Equality Act 2010, unwanted conduct may be unlawful because it had the prohibited effect, even where the respondent did…

In a Polkey assessment, an Employment Tribunal must assess the realistic chance of a fair dismissal. It must not refuse the exercise merely because it involves…

An employment tribunal must give a clear and reasoned decision on each discrete claim that has been identified for determination and addressed in the evidence…

For the purpose of section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the employer’s reason for dismissal is the relevant set of facts known or beliefs held by the…

An Employment Tribunal determining a reasonable-adjustments claim must identify the employer’s provision, criterion or practice, the relevant non-disabled…

In a constructive-dismissal claim, the tribunal must determine whether the employer committed a fundamental breach of contract and whether the employee…

Entitlement to paid time off for a safety representative under Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 is confined to the time off which…

An Employment Judge may summarily refuse a review application under rule 35(3) where it has no reasonable prospect of success. Reasons may be brief where the…

Under Equality Act 2010, the decision whether it is just and equitable to extend the time for a discrimination complaint is a broad discretionary assessment of…

For a direct age-discrimination comparison, circumstances cannot be treated as materially different merely because they consist of age or factors inextricably…

For the comparator exercise in a direct age-discrimination claim, a difference consisting of age, or of a factor inextricably linked to age, cannot make the…

A dismissal may be by reason of redundancy where an employer, for financial reasons, decides that it no longer requires an employee to perform work of a…

An Employment Tribunal errs in law where its reasons contain an apparent finding on a vital contractual issue that is irreconcilable with its ultimate…

An appeal hearing may be adjourned where proceeding on newly introduced material and additional grounds would deny the opposing party a fair opportunity to…

In a redundancy dismissal, the statutory question is whether the employer acted reasonably in treating redundancy as sufficient reason for dismissal at the…

When assessing compensation for unfair dismissal under section 123(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, a tribunal must consider whether there was a chance…

Under section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an Employment Tribunal must keep separate the employer’s reason for dismissal and the fairness of treating…

In a tripartite agency arrangement, an individual claiming statutory employment protection against an end-user must first establish a contract with that…

For limitation purposes, a claimant must show a properly arguable factual basis for treating alleged discriminatory incidents as an ongoing situation or…

In a misconduct dismissal case, an Employment Tribunal must assess the employer's investigation, belief and grounds for belief, and then decide objectively…

Before apportioning compensation for psychiatric injury, an Employment Tribunal must first decide whether the injury or state of health is divisible. A…

Where an employee’s psychiatric illness may have both tortious and non-tortious causes, a tribunal must first decide as a question of fact whether the injury…

Where an agreed list of issues concedes the reason for dismissal, an Employment Tribunal should not decide that issue without first giving the parties an…

In assessing misconduct dismissal under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the established staged guidance remains a helpful application of the…

Covertly made recordings are not inadmissible merely because they were made covertly. Where they are relevant, an Employment Tribunal must balance the general…

In a conduct unfair-dismissal claim, the tribunal assesses the employer’s conduct. It asks whether the employer reasonably believed the employee guilty after a…