On element of compensation that can be awarded by an Employment Tribunals for unlawful discrimination (such as sex discrimination, race discrimination and disability discrimination) are awards for ‘injury to feelings’.    In Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police [2003] IRLR 102 the Court of Appeal set out guidelines for the award of compensation for injury to feelings. The court roughly categorised three bands – lower, middle and top.   The Presidents of Employment Tribunals for England and Wales and Scotland have increased amounts in the Vento bands from 6 April 2020 as follows: L ..read more

The Court of Appeal that it did not mean this in ICTS (UK) Limited v Visram.   https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/202   Mr Visram worked for American Airlines at Heathrow. He was TUPE transferred to ICTS while on sick leave. Prior to the transfer he was entitled to receive long-term disability benefit (LTDB) provided by Legal & General (L&G).    After the transfer ICTS ran an LTDB scheme that was underwritten by Canada Life.   L&G refused to continue the LTDB payments to Mr Visram after the TUPE transfer because the transfer took place before expiry of the deferred period. Ca ..read more

Recently, an Employment Tribunal was held for a flight attendant who was discriminated against because of her disability following a brain tumour. The Equality Act 2010 (EA) is the key piece of legislation which relates to any accusations of discrimination, which can be generated by a number of sources, such as an employer’s actions or the actions of an employee’s agents or colleagues. In this case, it was the actions of the employer against the employee, who refused to make any reasonable adjustment for the sick flight attendant.    Who are Ryanair?    Ryanair is a budget airline, founded in ..read more

Presenter Samira Ahmed is taking the BBC to a tribunal after claiming she has been paid less than male colleagues for doing equal work. She is suing the BBC for £693,245 in lost earnings over claims of unequal pay, based on the fact that BBC colleague Jeremy Vine was paid nearly seven times more than her, over a number of years for equivalent on-air work.   The presenter previously secured an agreement with the BBC to receive full backdated pay with her male counterparts for her work on Radio 4’s Front Row and Night Waves on Radio 3, and is looking to do the same with Newswatch.    Who is Sami ..read more

In today’s workplace, employers are incredibly conscious of the way personal data is used. Organisations are aware that GDPR is not just about customer data, it is also important to respect the privacy of employees and protect their personal information. How data is processed needs to be made clear, as the lines can be blurred between personal and work life.   As new technology is introduced into the workplace, this can allow potentially invasive monitoring. Employers are able to track employees not just in the workplace but potentially in their homes through many different devices including s ..read more

The President of the Employment Tribunal has issued a Second Addendum to the Presidential Guidance originally issued on 5 September 2017. It contains the annual update to the Vento guidelines, which sets out the bands of awards for injury to feelings, adjusted for inflation. The new bass are as follows : – Lower band for less serious cases: £900 – £8,800; – Middle band : £8,800 – £26,300 – Upper band (for the most serious cases) : £26,300 – £44,000 These figures apply to cases presented to the Employment Tribunal on or after 6 April 2019. Click here for presidential guidance. The pos ..read more