News

A round up of recent HR & Employment Law news.
Living with Covid
The government last week announced its “Living with Covid” changes. The key changes are:
New ACAS guidance
ACAS have just published new guidance to help employers deal with employees suffering a bereavement. Employers are advised to recognise that grief affects everyone differently and to tailor the support provided to a bereaved employee, both at the time of the bereavement and after they have returned to work.
It is recommended that employers have a workplace bereavement policy to cover time off and pay – please get in touch to discuss this with a member of the team.
Dismissal for frivolous repeated grievances was fair
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has upheld a tribunal decision that it was not unfair for an employer to dismiss an employee for repeatedly raising grievances and then insisting that they be dealt with informally and failing to follow them through. It was not unreasonable in the tribunal’s view for the employer to have concluded that the employee’s behaviour was vexatious and unreasonable, and that it was within the band of reasonable responses for the employer to treat this as a sufficient reason for dismissal.
The decision calls in to question the simplicity of the widely held position that a dismissal for conduct reasons without any formal warnings will only be fair if the conduct amounts to gross misconduct. The decision also suggests that in certain circumstances, an employer may insist that the employee either cooperates in a formal process to its conclusion or withdraws it. As such, repeated abuse of the grievance process could, depending on the circumstances, be seen as misconduct.
Should you require support with the implications of this on your business, please do not hesitate to contact the team.