ACAS's 2017/2018 annual report reveals an increase in tribunal claims and with it demand for its early conciliation services. This spike is linked to the Supreme Court's decision to abolish employment tribunal fees in July 2017.
The Committee claims the government isn't doing enough to tackle age discrimination. This results in the skills and experience of older workers going to waste. The report suggests that there are changes that all employers should be making. Older workers often manage heath conditions or juggle employment with other caring responsibilities. Some want to work less in the years before retirement. The Committee advocates flexible working in all jobs as a default position. They also recommend 5 days' paid carers leave per year and longer period of unpaid leave to stop older workers falling out of the job market.
A repudiatory breach is one that is so serious that the innocent party can choose whether to end the contract or continue ('affirm') it. If an employee resigns in response to a breach but gives long notice, does that affirm the contract?
In Brown v Neon Management, the employer breached the employees' contracts. The employees resigned claiming repudiatory breach of contract. Each gave either six or twelve months' notice. During the notice periods, the employer committed more repudiatory breaches. Two employees resigned immediately and brought claims for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract. The third employee continued to work her notice and brought a claim for breach of contract.
The High Court had to decide whether resigning on a lengthy notice period meant the employees had affirmed the employment contract after the initial repudiatory breach. The Court said they had. An employee can't keep their right to act on a repudiatory breach alive for such a long period.
Had no further breaches taken place, the employees would not have been able to bring their claims.
The High Court also had to decide whether making unjustified misconduct findings, alleging loss of trust and confidence and making unfounded reports to a regulator could constitute repudiation of contract by the employer. The Court said yes again. This meant that the employer could not rely on the post termination restrictions contained in the employees' contracts.
It's been a long, hot summer and it may not be over yet. The Met Office predicts that the warm weather may extend into Autumn, with some meteorologists suggesting 30 degree heat may hit some parts of the UK in September. Some jobs entail working in hot conditions every day, but many of us just aren't used to it. Our offices are not set up to deal with high temperatures as they are on the continent.