Here are our top picks of the latest employment law developments from an unusually busy summer that may affect your business.
Our top 10 picks are:
Case law updates
Government consultations & proposed legislation
Hot topic news
1. COVID-19 "paid Special Leave"
Employer's special leave policy during COVID-19 pandemic was not discriminatory
As the furlough scheme was not an available option for every employer during the pandemic, some employers put in schemes to support employees who, for reasons of shielding or childcare, were unable to attend work and unable to work from home. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service did just that. They put in place paid special leave which enabled such employees to take paid leave on an indefinite basis subject to the requirement that they first exhaust any accrued time off in lieu (TOIL) and annual leave.
Did the preconditions of first needing to exhaust accrued TOIL and annual leave turn an otherwise generous paid leave scheme into one which amounted to:
In Cowie and ors v Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, some employees complained that the preconditions for taking paid special leave were unfavourable/put them at a disadvantage in that it removed the flexibility of taking TOIL and/or annual leave at a time of their choosing.
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Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Attorney General Fitch announced, along with 39 other states and the federal government, that an agreement with Abbott Laboratories (Abbott) to ...