Recent Work & News

Recent Work

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News

 

Potential of the Four-day week

There has been a lot of media interest recently in the idea of firms trailing a four-day week with their staff.  Unilever, for example have recently started a 12 month trial with all their New Zealand based staff.  The employees are being paid for five days during the trial while working just four.  Back in November, after its own trial, Microsoft said that the productivity of the employees who took part in their trial increased by 40% – so more than making up for the 20% drop in attendance caused by the staff working one less day; albeit some of that increase was no doubt caused by the decision to restrict meetings to half an hour and make changes to a number of working practices.

Anyone wishing to discuss the potential for trialling a four-day week with their company, or simply just to chat through the potential pros and cons,  please get in touch.

 

EMPLOYMENT LAW CASES

These are three recent employment law cases which might be of interested to regular clients:

Covert CCTV - Guidance from ECHR on when it can be installed

López Ribalda and others v Spain (ECHR)

 

This judgment from the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) gives employers some clear guidance on the human rights implications of covert CCTV at work. 

 

The background to this López case goes back to 2009 when a supermarket manager noticed a regular discrepancy between actual and expected stock levels; in some cases as much as €20,000! As part of the investigation into this the manager had a number of cameras installed (visible and hidden) in order to film the store’s cashiers.  The applicants  (who had been dismissed after being caught on camera stealing from the store and helping certain customers to also steal) had argued that under Spanish law they should have been informed of the surveillance.

 

The case eventually found itself going all the way to the Grand Chamber of the ECHR which, you will be pleased to hear, found in favour of the supermarket.

 

In summary, the Grand Chamber said that employers may be able to justify covert CCTV if:

 

  1. they have reasonable suspicion that an employee/employees are committing serious misconduct
  2. the surveillance stops once the misconduct is captured on film and there is no similar reason to continue it.
  3. the captured footage is used only for the purpose of finding those responsible for the misconduct
  4. there is no alternative method which could be used to provide sufficient evidence of the misconduct

 

Louise Lawrence, partner at Winckworth Sherwood, said: “The Lopez case makes it clear that employers have to be careful of carrying out covert surveillance of their employers even when they suspect wrongdoing. Employers have to consider whether the covert surveillance is proportionate – weighing up the intrusion in to the employees’ private lives and business needs. The decision making should be clearly documented.”.

Restrictive Covenants

Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd (Supreme Court)

The Supreme Court in this case provided some helpful clarification on the correct test for deciding when a restriction within a non-compete clause ruled by a court to be unenforceable can be “severed” without the need for any additions or modifications to the remaining wording to make the clause enforceable.

Tillman, a senior employee with Egon Zehnder, claimed she was prevented from taking up employment with a US firm due to the 6 months non-compete clause within her contract which states that she should not “directly or indirectly engage or be concerned or interested in any business carried out in competition”.

The Supreme Court decided that the phrase “concerned or interested in” is too wide to be enforceable; concluding that the phrase could even prevent a person from holding shares in a company which they had earlier bought. That part of the decision would have been expected but the Supreme Court also decided that the words “or interested in” could be removed from the clause and the restrictive covenant would still be enforceable.  This decision represents a loosening of the previous stringent approach to removing unenforceable clause from restrictive covenants.

Perception that medical conditions could develop into disability

Chief Constable of Norfolk v Coffey (Court of Appeal)

The Equality Act 2010 can lead to employers being liable for “perceptive discrimination”; which is where an employee (or member of the public) can bring a discrimination claim even if they do not actually possess the protected characteristic in question – with the full list of protected characteristics being: age, gender reassignment, being married or in a civil partnership, being pregnant or on maternity leave, disability, race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation.

This is an interesting case as it is the first time the Court of Appeal has considered perceptive discrimination in relation to disability.  In the employment arena, the Court of Appeal is where appeals are heard on decisions on points of law made by an Employment Appeal Tribunal.  Decisions from the Court of Appeal can establish ‘case law’ (as can ones from EATs) so this makes this case significant.

In this case, the Court of Appeal upheld (i.e. agreed with) a tribunal decision that Norfolk Police Force’s refusal to accept the transfer of Coffey (a police officer) from the Wiltshire Police Force, because of a perception the Norfolk Force held that her hearing problems could develop into a disability, amounted to perceived direct discrimination.

The Court of Appeal agreed with the EAT that:

  • The Norfolk Force’s belief that Coffey’s hearing loss would currently, or in the future, make her unable to perform her duties amounted to a perception that she had a disability; and
  • A person should be treated as having a disability here and now if they are perceived to have a progressive condition that is likely to result in an impairment (which would be considered to be a disability) in the future.

This case highlights that if an employer believes an employee (or job applicant) not only may have a disability* now but also may have a condition that is likely to continue or progress such that will likely be considered a disability in the future, then the employer should obtain medical evidence, discuss the matter with the employee and consider whether or not there are any reasonable adjustments or modifications which could be made.

Definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010

(taken from https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010)

You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

The Equality Act 2010 doesn’t apply to Northern Ireland.

“Substantial and “long-term” definitions

“Substantial” is more than minor or trivial, e.g. it takes much longer than it usually would to complete a daily task like getting dressed.

“Long-term” means 12 months or more, e.g. a breathing condition that develops as a result of a lung infection

There are special rules about recurring or fluctuating conditions, e.g. arthritis.

Progressive conditions

A progressive condition is one that gets worse over time. People with progressive conditions can be classed as disabled.

However, you automatically meet the disability definition under the Equality Act 2010 from the day you’re diagnosed with HIV infection, cancer or multiple sclerosis