This article looks at the key expected developments in England and Wales in the coming year and ends with a summary of what to expect in Northern Ireland. For expected developments in immigration law, see our separate article here.
As the pandemic continues, it is unclear if the government will bring in new restrictions but we certainly expect more employment law issues. A key question for 2022 is whether more employers will introduce mandatory vaccination, testing or NHS Covid pass policies. We also expect more court rulings about the furlough scheme and Covid-19 safety at work (see Employment Tribunal rulings on Covid 19 issues what can we learn). The first cases to reach the appellate courts will inevitably involve events that happened in the early days of the pandemic, but lawyers will be scrutinising decisions carefully to see what guidance can be extracted for today’s different circumstances.
We could also start to see litigation against employers who’ve implemented “no jab no job” policies, although the ET system is currently so backlogged that these may not reach appellate courts in 2022. It’s interesting to look at the position in other countries where the system is faster – for example France already has a body of caselaw on mandatory vaccination - Refusing COVID-19 vaccination:...
ACT leader David Seymour's claims that doctors are erroneously certifying people unfit for work are being labelled as "political rhetoric" by the president of the Royal College of GPs. ACT wanted ...