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13 June 2025 / Ian Smith
Issue: 8120 / Categories: Features , Employment , Whistleblowing , Tribunals
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Employment law brief: 13 June 2025

222357
Ian Smith chews over a bad apple, part-time status, missing appeal documents & whistleblowing detriments
  • Part-time status: must it be the sole reason?
  • A more liberal approach to missing appeal documents.
  • Whistleblowing detriment: vicarious liability for agents.
  • Equal value claims and job evaluation studies: is there a ‘bad apple’ principle?

Two Court of Appeal cases in the last month are of particular importance on very different problems in current employment law—namely the requirement of causation in part-time worker cases, and the right approach to be taken to incomplete documentation in an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), in the light of a legislative change in 2023. In the case of the latter, it should finally determine the point but, for reasons explained below, the former may not be the last word.

In addition, two EAT cases are considered here, relating to vicarious liability of agents in whistleblowing law and the position of job evaluation schemes in equal value cases.

Part-time status

Augustine

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Workplace law firm expands commercial disputes team with senior consultant hire

EIP—Rob Barker

EIP—Rob Barker

IP firm promotes patent attorney to partner

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Banking and restructuring team bolstered by insolvency specialist

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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