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08 April 2022 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7974 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Employment law brief: 8 April 2022

77721
Making history: Ian Smith performs a perfect loop-the-loop & serves up three significant Court of Appeal decisions

In brief

  • ‘Worker’ definition—no need for an irreducible minimum of obligation.
  • Detriment on union grounds does not extend to taking industrial action.
  • Directors/CEOs and employment status—the EU law angle.

Apart from the usual spate of annual changes in the run-up to the beginning of April (the increase of the various employment protection limits, the up-rating of the national minimum wage and relevant social security benefit, a review of the Vento scales for injury to feelings awards by the employment tribunal (ET) presidents and, this year, two replacement immigration law codes of practice for employers on the operation of the civil penalty scheme for employing illegal workers and how to avoid unlawful discrimination when using the system) this has been a relatively quiet month for employment case law in the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). However, we have had instead three Court of Appeal cases.

The first two make important statements on historically difficult

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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
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