Case law highlights the need for openness in the advertising of internal job opportunities. In Uddin v Westex Carpets Ltd ET/1805994/12 Mr Uddin had worked for twenty years as a night shift manager. He was hoping to apply for a promotion when one of the senior managers retired. Unfortunately the vacancy was never advertised and a white man was selected for the promotion seemingly without any proper selection criteria being applied. Mr …
As a general rule, employees going through disciplinary processes which may lead to their dismissal are usually better to wait and see what the outcome is rather than preemptively resign. The thinking behind this advice is that it is only possible to claim unfair dismissal if you have actually been dismissed. If you chose to jump ship before you are pushed you will be left with the less straightforward, and more …
There are several notable employment law cases which deal with whether or not a single remark can constitute dismissal. In Richmond Pharmacology v Dhaliwal [2009] UKEAT it was held that a remark made to a Claimant about the possibility of her being “married off in India” was capable of violating her dignity and did constitute harassment for the purposes of the discrimination legislation. What an Employment Tribunal has to do …
Written and reviewed by: Tom Street, Solicitor Principal, Tom Street & Co. Solicitors (SRA No. 566718) Last updated: 12 January 2026 Key Points ✓ The Burchell test is the legal framework employment tribunals use to assess whether a misconduct dismissal was fair ✓ Employers must satisfy three requirements: genuine belief in guilt, reasonable grounds for that belief, and a reasonable investigation ✓ Tribunals do not decide whether the employee actually …
Submitting your claim Once your claim is submitted (ET1 claim form), the Respondent is formally advised of the details of your claim and then has 28 days to submit their defence to your claim (ET3 Response). Preliminary Hearing Once their defence has been received, a Preliminary Hearing will normally be scheduled. During Preliminary Hearings (which often take place by telephone) the Judge will ask the parties to clarify the issues …
Previously flexible working requests were limited to those employees with children. Nowadays, any person who has employed for 26 weeks for the same company is entitled to make a flexible working request. Request can be made informally or formally as statutory requests. Why make an informal request? If you have not worked for your employer for 26 you will not be eligible to make a statutory request but you may …
A recent change in the law (Employment Rights Act 1996) has given UK employees a legal right to request their employers for flexible working hours. This right is available to the employee after 26 weeks of employment service. If the employer declines the request he is under a legal duty to give a legitimate reason for it. Previously this right was applicable to only those who had dependants such as …