Female economist wins sex discrimination case against ONS
A woman who worked for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been awarded £19,000 after an employment tribunal in Cardiff found her former employer denied her a promotion based on her gender. Olwen Renowden missed out on a promotion to a male candidate who was less experienced and was a victim of ‘favouritism’ towards […]
Cleaner unfairly dismissed for pay protest at Topshop, tribunal rules
An employment tribunal found that Susana Benavides, a 43-year-old cleaner at Topshop, was unfairly dismissed for trade union activities. In March 2016, Mrs Benavides helped to organise a 200-person protest against the rates for agency cleaners in front of the Oxford Street branch of Topshop. As a member of the United Voices of the Work […]
Cheshire police guilty of discrimination for rejecting white heterosexual man
A police force has been found guilty of discrimination after it refused to give a “well prepared” potential recruit a job because he was a white, heterosexual man. As the first reported case of its kind in the UK, an employment tribunal in Liverpool found Cheshire Police to have used positive action to discriminate by […]
One in three breastfeeding mothers express in work toilets
One in three breastfeeding women are being forced to use the bathrooms at work to express milk due to a lack of suitable facilities, a new survey finds. The research of 2,000 mothers who had a baby within the last five years found they were encountering a ‘shocking lack of support’ after returning to work. […]
The ‘biggest package of workplace reforms in almost 20 years’ has been released
The government has announced a number of proposals meant to bring UK employment law into the modern era. The Good Work Plan, if enacted in full, would bring 51 of the Taylor Review’s 53 recommendations on modern working practices into law, with a particular focus on the ‘gig economy’. Clarity of Employment Status ‘Detailed proposals’ […]
‘Much more needs to be done’ about reporting gender and ethnic pay, MPs warn
69 per cent of MPs believe the new reporting requirements on gender, ethnicity and executive pay is a ‘good start’ but not enough, according to a recent YouGov poll. Commissioned by the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), the report revealed that almost a quarter of MPs strongly agreed with this concept, while a further 46 […]
Government proposes new mothers get better protection from redundancy
Under a new government proposal, expectant mothers returning to work will receive greater protection from redundancy, extending the ‘protection period’ against dismissal up to six months after they return to work. The 10-week consultation also recommends this be applied to others, including men, who return from both adoption leave and shared parental leave. 54,000 women […]
Court of Appeal rules Uber drivers are workers, not self-employed
Uber has lost its second appeal against a ruling that its drivers should be classed as workers rather than self-employed. In 2016, a tribunal ruled that Uber drivers James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam were workers of the company and should be entitled to holiday pay, paid rest breaks and the minimum wage. Uber went on […]
One in five young people on less than minimum wage
Young Women’s Trust (YWT) is urging the government to crack down on employers after study reveals that one in five young workers (20 per cent of young women and 16 per cent of young men) are illegally paid less than the national minimum wage in England and Wales. This figure jumps to one in four, […]
Workers’ rights still at risk even with Brexit deal
Workers’ rights in the UK are still at risk even if a Brexit deal is reached, according to a new study from a major think tank. Protection for workers ‘not strong enough’ The Institute for Public Policy Research warns that the provisions in place for a no-deal Brexit are not strong enough to protect working […]