Rishi and Keir might be going head to head, but there's no need for you to go into battle if you've got our handy updates to hand!

This week's top 5:

1. Tribunal cases to rise as UK firms push back on remote working
2. What to do when your employees have a run in with the law
3. Why banning generative AI at work won’t work
4. Holland & Barrett accused of belittling women
5. Over 55s are being locked out of workplace skills training opportunities

And in other news...............Join industry experts Ryan Calvert and Rebekah Mulligan from MCS, alongside Julie Holmes from Legal Island, for an eye-opening webinar exploring the latest recruitment trends – and the path to building diverse, inclusive teams. FREE WEBINAR - 12th June - REGISTER NOW! 

**If you thought you were seeing double last week - apologies! Due to an admin error on our part, you may have received more than one Round-up - sorry about that - normal service has resumed!**

CONTENTS

1. Case Law Reviews
2. AI and Employment Law
3. Data Protection & Cybersecurity
4. Remote Working
5. DEI
6. Just in Case You Missed It...
7. HR Developments
8. Employment News in the Media
9. GB Developments
10. Free Webinars This Month

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1. Case Law Reviews ⚓︎

Bugden v The Royal Mail Group Limited [2024] EAT 80

Summary Description: The Tribunal ought to have been aware of the need to consider alternatives to dismissal within the general fairness and reasonableness when it comes to making a dismissal, so it would be considered even if it was not raised.

Claimant: Ian Bugden

Respondent: Royal Mail Group Limited

Keywords: Disability Discrimination; Unfair Dismissal

Practical Guidance for Employers:

This case provides useful guidance for the Tribunal and HR professionals alike.  The EAT makes it clear that there are such established principles of employment law that the Tribunal should be mindful of when making their decision, such as the overarching fairness and reasonableness when it comes to a dismissal.  This trickles down into decision making by the employer in terms of the considerations when making a decision to dismiss and whether there are alternatives to dismissal – such as redeployment as sought in this case.

Read the Review in full:
https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/case-law/2024/june/bugden-v-the-royal-mail-group-limited-2024/

Godfrey v Natwest Market Plc [2024] EAT 81

Summary Description: EAT outlines that an employer would be put on notice where they should be making enquiries as to the possible effects of a general mental impairment in the context of autism spectrum disorder.

Claimant: R Godfrey

Respondent: Natwest Market Plc

Keywords: Disability Discrimination

Practical Guidance for Employers:

When it comes to making reasonable adjustments or issues relating to provisions, criteria or policies which may affect disabled employees it is normal to ask ‘what is a disability?’ and ‘How do I know about it?’.  This decision goes to the latter stating that it depends on the context and if the employer would have to make enquiry as to the effects of a general mental impairment should that arise within the relationship with the employee.  This is important in knowing whether there is that duty on employers.

Read the Review in full:
https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/case-law/2024/june/godfrey-v-natwest-market-plc-2024/

These case reviews were written by Jason Elliott BL.  NI Tribunal decisions are available on the OITFET website:
http://www.employmenttribunalsni.co.uk/

If you have any queries or wish to comment on the reports please feel free to contact Jason at: jasondelliott@outlook.com

Jason Elliott was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2013 and is the Associate Head of School of Law at Ulster University.  As a practising barrister, he has developed a largely civil practice representing individuals, companies and public bodies in litigation.  This covers a wide range of areas including personal injuries, wills and employment law. In terms of employment law, he has represented both applicants and respondents in the Industrial Tribunal.   At Ulster University, Jason lectures extensively on the civil areas of practise such as Equity and Trusts and delivers employment law lectures for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Remember: Our case law reviews are held in our case law section on our fully-searchable employment law hub website:
https://www.legal-island.com/employment-law-hub/case-law-search-page/

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2. AI and Employment Law ⚓︎

Why the Legal Profession Should Be Worried About the Advance of LLMs

Barry Phillips from Legal Island considers the likely impact of LLMs like ChatGPT on the legal profession.

https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/resources/ai-for-hr-weekly-podcast/2024/june/why-the-legal-profession-should-be-worried-about-the-advance-of-llms/

Eversheds Sutherland launches new AI guide

Global law firm Eversheds Sutherland has released an online guide aimed at helping businesses and organisations navigate the complex legal landscape of AI use and its development. All AI-Board is intended to be an accessible, comprehensive guide which offers bite-sized, Board-level insights into key legal issues arising from cybersecurity, data privacy, employment, intellectual property, contracts and procurement, and disputes.  Irish Legal News has more here
https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/eversheds-sutherland-launches-new-ai-guide

Why banning generative AI at work won’t work

IT leader Jamie Moles advises companies to embrace AI by developing tools and processes to use it securely, because this tech phenomenon isn’t going anywhere. Red more:
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/banning-generative-ai-at-work-wont-work-cybersecurity-regulation-policy-extrahop

What AI could mean to UK’s nine million ‘economically inactive’ people

AI technology can assist in playing a pivotal role in providing innovative solutions to help get people back into the workplace, reduce sick days and make a difference. In this article from HR Director, Jonathan Sharp, CEO at Britannic, suggests government bodies should use the tremendous processing and analysing capabilities of AI to identify trends and patterns among the economic inactive to garner insights in why they aren’t working, what challenges they face, what demographic groups they are in etc to devise appropriate policies and strategies to help get them back into work:
https://www.thehrdirector.com/features/artificial-intelligence/ai-mean-nine-million-people-age-16-64-economically-inactive/

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3. Data Protection & Cybersecurity ⚓︎

Santander staff and '30 million' customers hacked

Hackers are attempting to sell what they say is confidential information belonging to millions of Santander staff and customers. The bank — which employs 200,000 people worldwide, including around 20,000 in the UK — has confirmed data has been stolen. Santander has apologised for what it says is "the concern this will understandably cause" adding it is "proactively contacting affected customers and employees directly." It told the BBC that "UK customer data was not affected or lost in the hack":
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6ppv06e3n8o

AI will increase the quantity — and quality — of phishing scams

Anyone who has worked at a major organization has likely had to do training on how to spot a phishing attack — the deceptive messages that pretend to be from legitimate sources and aim to trick users into giving away personal information or clicking on harmful links. Phishing emails often exploit sensitive timings and play on a sense of urgency, such as urging the user to update a password. But unfortunately for both companies and employees, gen AI tools are rapidly making these emails more advanced, harder to spot, and significantly more dangerous, reports Harvard Business Review:
https://hbr.org/2024/05/ai-will-increase-the-quantity-and-quality-of-phishing-scams

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4. Remote Working ⚓︎

Tribunal cases to rise as UK firms push back on remote working, experts say

Lawyers and HR experts expect an increase in employment tribunal cases as companies increasingly clamp down on working from home and staff become resentful that the flexibility they have enjoyed since the Covid crisis is being slowly rolled back. A number of companies are now advocating a full five-day return to the office, with others enforcing a minimum number of days in the workplace. The HR consultancy Hamilton Nash said it expected the number of employment tribunals involving remote working to rise this year. Its analysis of past employment tribunal records shows that 42 tribunals mentioned remote working in 2022 – up 50% from the 27 cases in 2021. In the first half of 2023, there were 23 cases, it said. More from the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jun/04/employment-tribunal-cases-remote-working-from-home-office

Everyone back to the office - what can we learn from Manchester United’s approach?

Manchester United hit the headlines last week with its push to get all staff back into the office, highlighting the continued debate over the pros and cons of home and hybrid working. It is of course down to individual businesses to decide the culture and working arrangements that suit them. However, for employers seeking to enforce a return to the office there are a number of considerations and potential risks to be aware of when deciding how to manage this and this article from the CIPD provides tips on getting it right:
https://community.cipd.co.uk/cipd-blogs/b/cipd_voice_on/posts/everyone-back-to-the-office---what-can-we-learn-from-manchester-united-s-approach?

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5. DEI ⚓︎

Many companies unsure they support neurodivergent staff

A new VinciWorks survey among 227 compliance and HR professionals sheds light on a concerning reality: a significant gap exists between stated intentions and actual practices regarding neurodiversity in the workplace. A worrying 40% of respondents are unsure if their organisations are truly neurodiversity-friendly. Nearly a quarter (23%) believe their workplaces lack active support for neurodivergent employees. More from HR Director:
https://www.thehrdirector.com/business-news/diversity-and-equality-inclusion/many-companies-unsure-support-neurodivergent-staff/

Nearly half of LGBTQI+ workers face discrimination — how do we turn the tide?

New data from Randstad’s Workmonitor Pulse Survey shows equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging (EDI&B) initiatives and policies have gone some way to enabling LGBTQI+ workers to be themselves at work. While 58% of LGBTQI+ workers in the UK feel comfortable discussing their sexuality or gender identity at work, a quarter avoid it altogether.  At the same time, we should note that 62% feel their employers have taken meaningful action to create an equitable workplace for LGBTQI+ employees. But there is a lot more to be done:
https://www.randstad.co.uk/market-insights/future-work/nearly-half-lgbtqi-workers-face-discrimination/

Over 55s are being locked out of workplace skills training opportunities

Over half of over 55s (54%) say professional development is an important factor in their decision to stay with an organisation, suggesting employers need to shift their thinking around offering training and development for employees who are in their fifties and over. Findings from Corndel’s Workplace Training Report 2024 include:

• One in three UK employees in the UK are over the age of 50, but a large proportion of this generation are being overlooked for workplace skills training opportunities and are being locked out of opportunities to upskill and re-skill in today’s rapidly evolving workplaces.
• Over half of over 55s haven’t received any management or leadership training in their current role.
• Over half of over 55s (55%) haven’t received any technical skills training on how to use digital tools and technologies, such as ChatGPT, from their employer in the past twelve months.

HRD has more on this:
https://www.hrdconnect.com/2024/05/31/over-55s-are-being-locked-out-of-workplace-skills-training-opportunities/

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6. Just in Case You Missed It... ⚓︎

How Can Managers Best Capitalise on Gen Z within the Workplace?

The term ‘Gen Z’ refers to the cohort born between the years of 1997 and 2012. Gen Z may be the newest generation to join the workforce however, according to the World Economic Forum, Gen Z are predicted to account for one-third of the global workforce by 2025. As the number of Gen Z employees joining the workforce continues grow, organisations are increasingly finding that management strategies used to attract and retain their millennial predecessors appear less effective when it comes to the younger workforce. Charlotte Eakin of Think People discusses:
https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/features/supplementary/2024/june-2024/how-can-managers-best-capitalise-on-gen-z-within-the-workplace/

First Tuesday

Chris Fulton of Arthur Cox offers some sage advice on:

1. What ‘reasonable adjustments’ can I make for a disabled employee?
   https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/features/q-and-a/2024/june-2024/1.what-reasonable-adjustments-can-i-make-for-a-disabled-employee/
2. Can I extend an employee’s probation period due to extended sick leave?
   https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/features/q-and-a/2024/june-2024/can-i-extend-an-employees-probation-period-due-to-extended-sick-leave/
3. Is an employee entitled to a performance-related bonus when they are on long-term sick leave?
   https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/features/q-and-a/2024/june-2024/is-an-employee-entitled-to-a-performance-related-bonus-when-they-are-on-long-term-sick-leave

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7. HR Developments ⚓︎

What to do when your employees have a run in with the law

Susie Lockhart outlines the best approach for employers to take when an employee gets entangled in the criminal justice system outside of work in this article from People Management:
https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1874977/when-employees-run-law

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8. Employment News in the Media ⚓︎

Police officers in Scotland are leaving in droves because of misogyny, heavy workloads, stress and pension changes, exit survey data has revealed. The findings, gathered by the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), showed that concerns over welfare, leadership and misogyny featured in around three in 10 officers’ decisions to leave Police Scotland in recent months, while almost half left because of changes to their pensions.
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/misogyny-workload-police-scotland-officers-quit/

The TUC unfairly dismissed two workers following a flawed investigation in which the deputy general secretary was involved with both the dismissal and appeal process. Darren Lewis and Greg Lepiarz were dismissed from the trade union body in 2022 after providing a website to Newham Trades Council (NTC), an organisation that supports trade unionists working or living in the London Borough of Newham. The claimants appealed against their dismissal. However, the appeal was heard by Paul Nowak, the TUC’s then-deputy general secretary, which the employment tribunal found was inappropriate considering he had sanctioned their dismissal. Personnel Today has more here:
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/tuc-unfair-dismissal-lepiarz-lewis-employment-tribunal/

A British Indian bathroom salesman whose boss repeatedly mispronounced his name has been awarded more than £9,000 after a tribunal judge ruled his dignity had been 'violated.' Viveak Taneja was left 'angry and upset' when his boss Dana Davies repeatedly incorrectly addressed him as 'Vikesh', an employment tribunal heard. The tribunal ruled that calling an an ethnic minority colleague by the wrong name could be race harassment. According to the employment judge, 'mis-naming' someone at work can count as 'unwanted conduct' that may 'violate' their dignity. The Daily Mail has more here:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13488193/British-Indian-salesman-misnamed-boss-awarded-tribunal-judge-ruled-dignity-violated.html

Holland & Barrett has been accused of belittling women by selling a £3.79 bar of chocolate-covered ‘menopause almonds’. The health food giant claims the sweet treat, which contains a woman’s entire daily allowance of saturated fat, can soothe menopause symptoms and provide ‘mood support’ reports the Daily Mail:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13456161/insult-women-Holland-Barrett-menowashing-chocolate-menopause-almond.html

A Metropolitan Police officer who was forced to return to the office despite a heart condition has won his disability discrimination and harassment case at the employment tribunal. Tarik Ahmed, who has worked for the Met Police for more than 22 years, has ischaemic heart disease having previously suffered a heart attack. Subject to regular reviews, Ahmed requested reasonable adjustments to work from home on a full-time, permanent basis to manage the symptoms of his heart disease and the triggers of his stress and anxiety. The tribunal accepted evidence from the police service that there was no operational reason why Ahmed needed to attend the office having successfully undertaken his role from home for several years. Personnel Today has more here:
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/detective-wfh-back-to-office-wins-reasonable-adjustments-ahmed-v-met-police/

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9. GB Developments ⚓︎

Employment law is a devolved power in Northern Ireland. The items in this section apply throughout GB only (Scotland and England & Wales) unless we specify they apply to NI.

Why HR needs to know about the new law on tips

According to government analysis last year, an estimated £200 million is held back from staff by companies withholding tips. The way that tips are distributed between employers and their workers is currently unregulated and has led to inconsistencies in working practices across the hospitality and services sectors. However, from 1 October 2024, this will change when the government’s Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 comes into force in England, Scotland and Wales, making it unlawful for employers to withhold tips and service charges from staff. More from HR Magazine:
https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/content/comment/why-hr-needs-to-know-about-the-new-law-on-tips

Tories pledge to tackle 'confusion' over legal definition of sex

The Conservatives have promised to amend the Equality Act to ensure the protected characteristic of sex is defined as "biological sex". Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the "safety of women and girls" meant the "current confusion around definitions of sex and gender" cannot be allowed to continue, reports the BBC:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0kkvkkejgno

How is Labour moulding its employment rights proposals?

A new document on employment law and workers’ rights, Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay, goes into more detail about its New Deal proposals and reflects the complexities of making changes in areas such as zero hours, fire and rehire and a single worker status. Adam McCulloch examines the evolved plans in this article from Personnel Today:
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/how-is-labour-moulding-its-employment-rights-proposals/

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10. Free Webinars This Month ⚓︎

MCS Lunch and Learn

12 June 2024 (12 noon – 12:45 pm)

Join industry experts Ryan Calvert and Rebekah Mulligan from MCS, alongside Julie Holmes from Legal Island, for an eye-opening webinar exploring the latest recruitment trends – and the path to building diverse, inclusive teams.

While diversity is pivotal, it's just the beginning of the journey towards true inclusivity. Learn how to kickstart this journey by establishing a robust talent pipeline, then go further by fostering a positive workplace culture that embraces everyone.  We'll equip you with strategies tailored for organisations of all sizes, empowering you to create inclusive dream teams that thrive. Get ready to be inspired by real-world examples that will fuel your drive to lead change and transform your workplace into a vibrant, inclusive environment. Plus, don't forget to bring your questions to the table – our experts are here to address them!

Register Now:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2095587136437063770?source=WR+NI

Employment Law at 11 Special – Horizon Scanning with special guest Mark McAllister

21st June 2024 (11:00am - 11:45am)

In a break from tradition, our monthly Employment Law at 11 returns on 21st June 2024.

Join Seamus McGranaghan of O’Reilly Stewart solicitors and Legal Island’s Christine Quinn as they welcome special guest Mark McAllister of the Labour Relations Agency for an Employment Law at 11 special.

The NI Assembly is back, and rumours abound about what’s in store in employment law in the coming 18 months – and forewarned is forearmed!

Mark will be dusting off his crystal ball, normally reserved for Legal Island’s Annual Review of Employment Law in November, to cut through the rumours and give insights on what to expect from Stormont. As always, Seamus will be offering his expert legal opinion on what steps you can take now to make sure your organisation is ready, come what may.

Tell your HR colleagues and register individually or get your HR team around the computer and use the webinars as monthly group learning opportunities. Ask any questions (on employment law) and hear the answers live or catch up later when we upload both a recording and transcript of the discussion.

NOTE: – send questions in live during the webinars or drop a line in advance to webinars@legal-island.com. Anonymity assured.

Register Now:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7561979620020289629?source=WR

Check out previous discussions:
https://www.legal-island.com/resources/any-questions-webinars/

Enjoy the weekend.

Legal-Island

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