header-logo header-logo

13 September 2018 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7808 / Categories: Features , TUPE , Employment
printer mail-detail

Employment law brief: 13 September 2018

nlj_7808_smith

Testing, testing, one two three: Ian Smith rounds up a trio of cases which could echo through the courts in the coming years

  • When is an agency-supplied worker in fact ‘permanent’?
  • The right to be accompanied & the law of unfair dismissal
  • What is an ‘administrative transfer’ in TUPE law?

Three very specific points of interpretation arose in the cases in this month’s brief:

  1. When is someone apparently an ‘agency worker’ deprived of that status (and hence its statutory protection) because they are considered ‘permanent’?
  2. What is the relationship between the specific statutory right to be accompanied at a disciplinary hearing on the one hand and the general law of unfair dismissal (especially the requirement of a fair procedure) on the other?
  3. When is a TUPE transfer negated because the transaction in question came under the exception for an ‘administrative transfer’?

These are all relatively small points in the greater scheme of things, but what they have in common is that they could all be legally determinative in cases (admittedly

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

Switalskis—Grimsby

Switalskis—Grimsby

Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Property team boosted by two solicitor appointments

NEWS
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
Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle
A landmark ruling has reshaped child clinical negligence claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Jodi Newton, head of birth and paediatric negligence at Osbornes Law, explains how the Supreme Court in CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 has overturned Croke v Wiseman, ending the long-standing bar on children recovering ‘lost years’ earnings
A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
back-to-top-scroll