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Employment law brief: 7 June 2018

07 June 2018 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7796 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Ian Smith tackles ‘no oral variations’ clauses, zero-hour contracts & who qualifies as a ‘worker’

  • Cycle courier qualifies as a ‘worker’.
  • Zero-hours part-timer can claim a valid comparison.
  • ‘No oral variation’ clauses effective; effect on ‘entire agreement’ clauses.

In a month when we have all been assailed by frantic emails from all sorts of weird and wonderful organisations wanting to stay our best friends after the GDPR came into force (the usual response of most of us being a maniacal laugh and an audible ‘you must be joking’), the one point of primary importance for employment lawyers about the new Regulation is that the view of the Information Commissioner’s Office is that it does not affect its long-standing Employment Practices Data Protection Code (see Harvey at s [1801]), which continues to apply and for which there are no current plans for replacement.

Turning to the case law this month, the three cases below all concern issues relating to contracts of employment – (1) the basic definition of a ‘worker’

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Ceri Morgan, knowledge counsel at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP, analyses the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd, which reshapes the law of fiduciary relationships and common law bribery
The boundaries of media access in family law are scrutinised by Nicholas Dobson in NLJ this week
Reflecting on personal experience, Professor Graham Zellick KC, Senior Master of the Bench and former Reader of the Middle Temple, questions the unchecked power of parliamentary privilege
Geoff Dover, managing director at Heirloom Fair Legal, sets out a blueprint for ethical litigation funding in the wake of high-profile law firm collapses
James Grice, head of innovation and AI at Lawfront, explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the legal sector
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