Friday February 26, 2010 at 4:31pm
An interesting article in the Times on the problems of overtime in the workplace.
"We’ve had extreme fishing, extreme skiing and even extreme ironing. Now, however, the TUC has found that almost a million workers are spending hours every week on an activity that may give them no pleasure and certainly no reward — extreme overtime. More than five million professionals and managers in both the public and private sectors are working an average of seven hours a week without extra p....
Thursday February 25, 2010 at 1:49pm
The recent publication of Observer journalist, Andrew Rawnsley’s book The End of the Party has brought much interest in the conduct of Gordon Brown and others, including the National Bullying Helpline and its Chief Executive, Christine Pratt, and the journalist, Andrew Rawnsley.
It is time to step back.
We are close to a general election, so the truth is not necessarily a priority for any of the parties.
First of all the allegations. What are they?
Gordon’s Brown abusive....
Wednesday February 17, 2010 at 12:35pm
Lawyers acting on behalf of employee clients do not like alleging Constructive Dismissal but sometimes you have to do it.
The reason why we do not like doing it is because the onus is on the employee to prove the dismissal.
The law is if the employer is in fundmental breach of his obligations under the contract then the employee has the right to accept the breach by resigning and then claiming constructive dismissal.
The biggest difficulty for the employee is to establish that the b....
Monday February 15, 2010 at 2:01pm
This is well reported news but olne in four employers is planning to make redundancies in the first three months of 2010, a survey has revealed. Employers plan to cut an average of 6.2% of their workforce, according to the poll of 700 employers by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). That is up 2.4% compared with the previous quarter, in which workforces were cut by an average of 3.8%. This signals the start of a public sector recession that will see deep cuts in public e....
Wednesday February 10, 2010 at 10:20am
An interesting article on the Personnel Today website about homophobia.
Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation may be against the law, but many 'out' employees continue to experience homophobia in the workplace. Sophie Hudson investigates.
Former teacher Sue Sanders spent much of 1989 vigorously campaigning on television against Section 28, the law banning councils and schools from intentionally promoting homosexuality. Little did she know it would result in her boss sidi....
Monday February 1, 2010 at 5:08pm
Increasingly Human Law Mediation is dealing with issues relating to elderly workers both in an employment law and a mediation capacity.
My experience of conflict or a dispute is there are some fundamental dymanics which are the same.
You have 2 or more different parties and there is some kind of problem e.g either the Employee has done something wrong or the Employer is just trying to ensure the business makes money and it wants to sack or discipline a member of staff.
You....
Thursday January 28, 2010 at 11:54am
There is an interesting employment law case which has obtained a great deal of interest in the human resources and legal press.
Public sector employees may have the right to bring a lawyer to all disciplinary hearings should their dismissal prevent them from working in their profession in future. A Court of Appeal decision published last week has opened up the issue as to whether employees have the right to legal representation at internal disciplinary hearings. The case involved a music a....
Tuesday January 19, 2010 at 3:31pm
Despite the increased interest of mediation within employment lawyers, human resource professionals and their clients, there is still resistance to the use of mediation.
A lot of this can be underpinned by ignorance or lack of experience in use of mediation. One leading employment lawyer told me that he would like to refer matters to mediation but the clients are very resistant.
In addition, there is still a lack of legal incentive to use mediation. The Gibbons Review does represent ....
Sunday January 17, 2010 at 9:37pm
There have been some intriguing reports in the PR/Media press recently with Rupert Murdoch's son-in-law, Matthew Freud delivering a public attack on Fox News output and in particular,one of Murdoch's key Fox employees, Roger Ailes.
Freud said that he was "shamed and sickened" by Fox's journalistic standards and he targeted Ailes in particular.
Roger Ailes is the closest and one of Murdoch's key employees; According to the Guardian on Saturday he earned even more m....
Friday January 15, 2010 at 1:45pm
One third of UK employees say they have not felt appreciated by their employer during the recession and would leave for another job if they could, according to a poll of around 950 workers commissioned by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Of those respondents who said their employer had shown appreciation for them in the downturn, 41% said they had no plans to leave as a consequence of this loyalty while just 23% said they would consider leaving regardless. The findings illustrate the huge potentia....
Tuesday January 12, 2010 at 11:24am
Despite the absence of fanfare, Employment Judicial Mediation does sometimes become an issue for the employment lawyer or human resources professional.
It is now on potential offer in every single Employment Tribunal.
The scheme was piloted in Newcastle, Birmingham and London Central during 2006-07. It was introduced throughout England and Wales in January 2009 and was formally launched in Scotland in June 2009.
To recap it can be offered to the disputing parties in an ....
Monday January 11, 2010 at 11:33am
The British Airways/Unite dispute rumbles on with Unite seeking a new ballot which will start on 22nd January.
At this point, it is the trade union on the defensive with its failed attempt to strike over the Christmas period and the fact that it is looking just plain stupid and greedy in the current economic environment.
When I mediate any dispute one of the elements which can be present is the inherent need of one or both of the parties for the dispute to continue.
W....
Saturday January 9, 2010 at 11:36am
So according to press reports today, we read that Baroness Greenfield is going to sue the Royal Institution for sexual discrimination.
Do not necessarily believe what you are reading as it appears both the employer and the employee are in a briefing war.
In addition, it appears that Baroness Greenfield was only served with redundancy papers(initial consultation?) the day before, the Friday, and has only just instructed lawyers then and has made an immediate decision to sue for sexua....
Wednesday January 6, 2010 at 1:41pm
There has been some interesting articles in the National Press on the subject of bullying in the clergy and the involvement of the union, Unite. The Times had a good piece yesterday.
A bishop is among the 150 clergy and ministers who have sought protection with the trade union Unite from what it describes as a culture of bullying in the established Church. Most of those who have sought help are in the Church of England but Roman Catholic priests, rabbis and imams have also joined Unite, ac....
Thursday November 26, 2009 at 12:41pm
If you would like an illustration of the benefits of mediation, consider this article which refers to bullying in the Guardian.
Essentially, Moira Cameron was the first female yeoman warder in the 1,000-year history of the Tower of London, and history was made again when two male yeomen accused of a sustained campaign of bullying against her were sacked. A 56-year-old man has also received a police caution under the Communications Act 2003 for defacing Cameron's Wikipedia entry, whic....
Monday November 9, 2009 at 8:15am
As has been recently reported, a senior manager who has alleged he was unfairly dismissed on the basis of his views on climate change can take his employer to a tribunal, an employment appeal judge has ruled. Tim Nicholson, head of sustainability at residential landlord group Grainger, said his environmental beliefs were the reason behind a decision to make him redundant in 2008, because his views had strained relations with senior staff. Nicholson asserted his views on climate change amoun....
Monday October 19, 2009 at 6:37am
The Royal Mail Dispute rumbles on with Trade Unions and management heading towards what seems to be mutual destruction.
Against this background, how could I successfully mediate this matter?
What are the key variables which would give a possibility of a settlement being reached? In particular, what are the variables that I would consider?
Focus on the Parties. One of the most neglected ways to reach a settlement is to focus on which parties to attend the mediation. It goe....
Saturday October 17, 2009 at 10:01am
With the two day Royal Mail strike looming and Mr Hayes, the leader of the Communication Workers Union, now receiving comparisons to Arthur Scargill, it may be a useful time to take a step back and give this matter more consideration.
In particular the parties are now receiving pressure to refer this martter to binding arbitration.
Now is a good opportunity to consider what is arbitration and how it differs to mediation.
Arbitration is the imposition of a....
Friday October 16, 2009 at 4:29pm
As Personnel Today points out the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has accused Royal Mail management of bullying and harassing postal workers as the war of words ahead of next week's strikes heats up. In a letter to Royal Mail chief Mark Higson, CWU leader Dave Ward claimed "unagreed HR procedures" were being used in an attempt to bully employees into agreeing to changes to working practices. The CWU said these referred to the firm ignoring pre-determined steps that any employee must ....
Thursday October 15, 2009 at 3:10pm
According to the Law Society Gazette, lawyers are witnessing a huge surge in unfair dismissal claims which is leading them to expand their employment teams but is also placing a severe strain on the tribunal system. Figures released by the Tribunals Service last week showed that unfair dismissal claims rose 29% to 52,711 in the year to March 2009. Cases relating to redundancy pay rose 48% to 10,839, while claims for failure to inform and consult over redundancy saw a high 154% increase....
Monday October 5, 2009 at 8:40am
Information has recently emerged on the number of Employment Tribunal claims being lodged.
As usual there is good and bad news.
The good news is the number of claims accepted by employment tribunals has fallen by a fifth. Employment tribunals accepted 151,000 claims in 2008-09, a decrease of 20% on the 2007-08 figure, latest figures by the Tribunals Service have shown. Multiple claims accepted for 2008-09 fell by 13% on the previous year, but this figure excluded the number of airline employee....
Wednesday September 16, 2009 at 2:01pm
Some interesting news has emerged within the last week in the Law Society Gazette and the Times.
Divorcing and separating couples would be compelled to consider mediation before going to court, under plans being drawn up by ministers. At present only couples funded by legal aid must consider mediation as a method of sorting out arrangements over children and finances. An interesting objectio from Baroness Deech, the Gresham Professor of Law who this week launches a series of lectures calli....
Friday September 4, 2009 at 7:16am
It is always important to stay up to date on the law and a good event worth attending is on Monday, 7th September 2009 and run by CPD for Webinars.
The beauty of webinars is that you can stay in the office(or home) and do not have to get out and about, you can ask the speaker questions and get to see the event again and again.
As one testimonial says "After a hard day at the office, the last thing I want to do is travel to a barristers' chambers....
Tuesday September 1, 2009 at 8:41am
This is just to let you know that I will be speaking on behalf of MBL Seminars and have a series of dates coming up.
The era of mediation has arrived and lawyers need to have an understanding of these issues. Main points covered:
The different forms of ADR - Conciliation, Arbitration, Mediation
How mediation fits into the ADR arena and why it’s different from conciliation and arbitration
What are the trends underpinning the growth of mediation
What happens at a mediation....
Tuesday August 25, 2009 at 1:53pm
An interesting article in the Guardian about the impact of the recession on pregnant women in the workplace.
"Rosalind Bragg, director of charity Maternity Action, says: "We have seen an increase in the number of women being chosen for redundancy because they are pregnant, which is unlawful. We are very concerned that some unscrupulous employers are using the recession as an excuse to unfairly target pregnant women and women on maternity leave." She adds that women are reporting ....
Tuesday August 18, 2009 at 2:35pm
There is an excellent article written by Alex Locke for the ELA Briefing on the issue of employment judicial mediation.
We now learn via Alex the following.
There are very few employment judges trained as mediators. In one of the London regions only two judges have been trained.
There appears to be inadequte facitiies such as more than 1 room available.
There is a lack of guidance given to parties which prohibits the judges from giving a steer to the parties.
Oh dear.
First of all....
Saturday August 8, 2009 at 7:39am
With some rather positive headlines about the economy such as risining stockmarket, house prices and services activity there are some that think the worst is behind us and we can look forward to a new brighter era.
Sorry to be depressing but that it is not my view.
There is still too much debt in the economy and for individulas, too much emphasis on high house prices, the Bank of England has just had to do more Quantatitive Easing and the redundancies have not worked....
Wednesday July 22, 2009 at 10:43am
With not much fanfare the pilot of Judicial Mediation rolls out from London, Birmingham and Newcastle Tribunals and onto the whole Tribunal circuit.
Welcome as this may be this is hardly going to lead to a widescale use of mediation in employment disputes. Indeed judicial mediation could be counter-productive.
Some reasons why judicial mediation will not really change much in the employment scheme are:
1 The fact that mediations will be geared towards discrimination c....
Thursday July 16, 2009 at 10:01am
I have just finished doing a mediation session for lawyers for MBL Seminars in London at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
As I often do in this session, we had a role play where one person acts as mediator and we see how the lawyers will get to grips with the scenario.
What was quite revealing is how counter-intutive the mediation process is to the lawyers namely the best approach to take is to be open with the mediator but obviously making it quite clear what you would a....
Saturday July 4, 2009 at 7:30am
So according to the Telegraph, BT with 106,000 staff - is trying to save money as it struggles to cope with the impact of the recession. BT has proposed that employees take up to a year off, in return for taking a 75 per cent pay cut. To encourage as many workers to take up of the offer, the company will pay their reduced salary as an upfront cash payment. Parents are also being offered the opportunity to work only in school term times, so they can spend the summer holidays with their ....
Thursday July 2, 2009 at 10:09pm
I am a lawyer(solicitor) mediator.
In my experience many lawyers(And I count myself in this domain) who subsequently qualify as a mediator struggle initally with the techniques of being a mediator.
One concept which is difficult is the need to empathise with both(or maybe more) disputing parties. One client can be demanding enough but more than one......it can be pretty tough.
Another difficulty which some lawyers experience is that of eye contact. Us lawyers love our writing p....
Friday June 26, 2009 at 9:18am
As a lawyer, mediator and trainer I get to see lots of disputes.
In a tough employmnet climate that is goiing to continue for many.
What I realise more and more is that disputes are increasingly about the parties which are engaed in. Many individuals are enagaed in disputes which they will have again albeit a more subtle level in different spheres of their lives.
Therefore at least part the problem is not out there but within.
The solution is ....
Wednesday June 17, 2009 at 12:16pm
Alex Locke, editor of the ELA Brief refers to the rolling out of judicial mediation to all Employment Tribunals in the latest ELA Briefing magazine.
Apparently certain cases wil be identified as suitable for mediation.
These are discrimination cases, ones that listed for over 3 days in Tribunal and ones where the person is still employed by the organisation.
All well and good.
Some observations.
1 As Alex points out, hardly anyone knows about the rolling out of jud....
Wednesday June 10, 2009 at 4:56pm
Yesterday I attended an employment seminar run by Fox Williams which was informative on topics such as Intellectual Property, Bonuses, Age Discriminaton and finally, the Acas Code.
The new Acas Code on grievances and discipline is commenably brief but as Aron Pope of the firm pointed out there are a number of uncertainties such as:
What status/weight will a tribunal give the Guide(e.g no the Code)?
What are defined as grievances?
Can employees be su....
Thursday May 28, 2009 at 2:29pm
As many of us are aware, new employment legislation has come into play with the intention of reducing the number of Tribunal claims but will it make a difference to greater use of mediation?
The new legislation came into existence on 6th April 2009.
The Employment Act 2008 and the ACAS Code have not adopted any form of compulsion for mediation in the Tribunals and the references to mediation are not positive. The only reference to mediation in the Code is in the non-bind....
Wednesday May 13, 2009 at 4:44pm
Legal and General is announcing redundancies and trying to avert legal action but it looks as though it is a losing battle.
As Reuters point outt, Insurer Legal & General is in talks with unions to make up to 560 staff redundant, a spokesman for the group said Tuesday, marking the latest in a wave of job cuts to hit the financial sector. The L&G spokesman said the redundancy target included 300 full-time positions, with temporary contracts accounting for the remainder. The Unite tr....
Wednesday April 22, 2009 at 3:07pm
My firm deals with quite a few Compromise Agreements and redundancy scenarios at the moment.
There is interesting news from the Budget.
Alastair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced that the maximum of a week's pay for statutory redundancy payment purposes will increase from £350 to £380. Accordingly, the maximum statutory redundancy payment will rise from £10,500 to £11,400. However:- Do not jump with fear straight away, the Chancellor was....
Tuesday April 21, 2009 at 4:51pm
Evaluate One of the key skills which an employment lawyer or mediator can bring to the table is the ability to effectively evaluate any employment dispute. Knowledge of law will help an employer to know the possible value of any employment claim and what is involved. From this one can start to consider what the offer should be and when to walk away. This involves identifying all plausible alternatives you may pursue if you fail to reach an agreement and how things will work out with the employee....
Wednesday April 15, 2009 at 10:10am
Congratulations to the CIPD who have introduced some useful guidance on dealing with the new disciplinary and grievance procedures.
Whlist we are getting rid of the old dreaded legislation, the new rules make no legal obligation to mediate. The result being that the Gibbons Review which was published 2 years ago will lead to little upsurge in mediation.
Frankly I do remain optimistic that long term there will be growth in mediation within the employment sphere but it ....
Saturday April 4, 2009 at 8:36am
As I point out in my recent enewsflash there are worrying statistics published just a few weeks ago which suggest the risks of punitive employment tribunal claims are getting greater for employers. Six months later than expected the latest statistics published by the Employment Tribunals Service show a steep increase in the number of employment claims being upheld and a corresponding drop in the numbers being turned down. In the latest figures (for 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008) 189,3....
Wednesday March 11, 2009 at 4:36pm
It is all go in the age discrimination arena and the issue is going to run and run.
As the Law Society Gazette reports "the first tribunal hearing to deal ‘head on’ with bars to employment based on date of birth has ruled that the National Air Traffic Service (NATS) acted unlawfully in rejecting candidates over 35. This follows the Heyday case which has been all over the press recently and shows that the issue of age discrimination has a while to run just yet with the ECJ....
Sunday March 1, 2009 at 5:46pm
One of the best economic columnists writes for the Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. His latest lucid piece highlights the global and relatively early nature of the recession.
As he writes. "Factory output is collapsing at the fastest pace everywhere. The figures for the most recent month available are, year-on-year: Taiwan (-43pc), Ukraine (-34pc), Japan (-30pc), Singapore (-29pc), Hungary (-23pc), Sweden (-20pc), Korea (-19pc), Turkey (-18pc), Russia (-16pc), Spa....
Tuesday February 10, 2009 at 3:06pm
As Real Business highlights:
Some small business owners are being hit with lawsuits because they’ve failed to follow the correct statutory procedures when it comes to making employees redundant. Small business insurer Hiscox says there has been a threefold rise in insurance claims during the last quarter from SME employers being sued by former workers for unfair dismissal. The firm says employers are leaving themselves exposed to significant claims. According to Hiscox, the top three clai....