Date updated: Thursday 19th April 2018

In this issue:

  • Failure to enhance shared parental pay does not amount to direct discrimination against men
  • Was the dismissal of a headteacher who had a close relationship with an offender fair?
  • What steps should schools be taking to prepare for the GDPR?
  • Can a claim sensibly be responded to if the ET1 form does not contain any particulars?
  • Gender pay gap reporting: the deadline has passed
  • Vento Bands for awards for injury to feelings increased in line with RPI
  • Should an employer raise bumping to an employee in the redundancy process?
  • Does a claimant require a good reason for the delay in bringing a claim in order for the tribunal to permit an extension of time?
  • Pay award for school support staff 2018 and 2019
Failure to enhance shared parental pay does not amount to direct discrimination against men

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that an employer is not directly discriminating against men if it does not enhance its shared parental pay in line with its enhanced maternity pay.

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Was the dismissal of a headteacher who had a close relationship with an offender fair?

A recent Supreme Court decision has held that the dismissal of a teacher who failed to disclose her relationship with an offender was fair. This case is an important decision for schools as it highlights the importance of teachers’ safeguarding responsibilities and the necessity for disclosure where the safeguarding of children is concerned.

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Can a claim sensibly be responded to if the ET1 form does not contain and particulars?

When making a claim to an employment tribunal against an employer, potential employer or trade union, a claimant is required to present a completed Form ET1 to the employment tribunal. If the claimant does not use the prescribed ET1 the claim will be rejected.

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What steps should schools be taking to prepare for GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Bill (DPB) are coming into force next month on 25 May 2018 and will replace the outdated Data Protection Act 1998. These new laws will modernise data protection law in the UK and will impose stricter rules on organisations who process individuals’ personal data.

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Gender pay gap reporting: deadline has passed

The gender pay gap has gained significant attention over the recent months due to the publication of gender pay gap reports becoming a legal requirement for some organisations. Private and voluntary organisations with over 250 employees were legally required to publish their gender pay gap reports by 4 April 2018 – this is now an annual requirement for such organisations.

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Vento Bands for awards for injury to feelings increased in line with RPI

We are often asked how much compensation clients are likely to be awarded for an injury to feelings claim. The amount of compensation will largely depend on the severity of the case and whether it is an isolated or repeated occurrence.

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Should an employer raise bumping to an employee in the redundancy process?

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has provided some useful guidance on ‘bumping’ in the redundancy process.

What is ‘bumping’?

Bumping, also known as a transferred redundancy, is the process of moving a potentially redundant employee into another role, and dismissing the employee currently performing in that role. This employee is then dismissed for reason of redundancy, provided that both employees are employed by the same business. There are two exceptions to this rule, namely:

If the employees work at separate companies which are part of a ‘group’; or If the employees work at separate schools which are both maintained by the same local education authority.

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Does a claimant require a good reason for the delay in bringing a claim in order for the tribunal to permit an extension of time?

The Court of Appeal recently held that a tribunal does not need to be satisfied that there is a good reason for a delay in bringing a claim before finding it just and equitable to extend time in a claimant’s favour.

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Pay award for school support staff 2018 and 2019

As you may have seen in the letter from the TU Joint Secretaries on 10th April 2018; “Agreement has been reached between the National Employers and the NJC Trade Union Side on rates of pay applicable from 1 April 2018 and 1 April 2019”.

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