November 2021 employment law newsletter out now

Welcome to November's employment law newsletter

Our team has much to celebrate this month yet again, with Mathew Gullick's formal appointment at the Queen’s Counsel Appointment Ceremony in Westminster Hall on Monday. This comes hot on the heels of Chambers and Partners announcing a record 11 of our employment juniors ranked in 3 circuits, following equally outstanding results in the Legal 500 back in October.

Case law analysis is provided by
- Grace Nicholls on the importance of case management in Rooney v Leicester City Council UKEAT/0064/20/DA and UKEAT/0104/21/DA;
- Elliott Stenson on employment status with Stuart Delivery Ltd v Warren Augustine [2021] EWCA Civ 1514;
- Grace Boorer on suspension and right to pay in Agbeze v Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust EA-2020-000413-VP;

- Alex Leonhardt considers anonymity orders in A v Burke & Hare (EA-2020-SCO-0000067-DT);
- Naomi Webber looks at competing rights in R (Cornerstone) v Ofsted [2021] EWCA Civ 1390;
- Finally, Daniel Brown reviews the matters to be considered when an allegation is not put to a witness in court in P2CG Limited v Davis (Appeal No. EA-2019-000762-AT).

Mathew Gullick appointed Silk

3PB employment and public and regulatory law barrister Mathew Gullick QC was formally sworn in at the Queen’s Counsel Appointment Ceremony at Westminster Hall on Monday.

Our many congratulations to Mathew who becomes 3PB's fifeenth Silk.

Chambers 2022 awards our team a record 12 rankings

The directory lists 12 rankings for our team, up from 9 last year. Eleven of our 23 employment juniors are now acknowledged for their expertise in the directory. The team retains its band 2 ranking in Western, has consolidated its offering in South Eastern with 3 ranked barristers and attracts its first ranking in London.

Change to the ET rules on notice for preliminary hearing

Rule 54 of the Employment Tribunal Rules has been amended, with effect from 6 October 2021. 'Reasonable notice' must now be given for any preliminary hearing, with 14 days notice for the hearing of any preliminary issues.

Competing rights in foster care

Naomi Webber reviews R (Cornerstone) v Ofsted [2021] EWCA Civ 1390, a case considering whether a requirement for foster parents to be in heterosexual marriages on religious grounds was discriminatory.

Court of Appeal upholds decision that couriers are workers

Elliott Stenson on Stuart Delivery Ltd v Warren Augustine [2021] EWCA Civ 1514, a case in which the Court of Appeal distances itself from the Pimlico Plumbers categories approach when considering substitution clauses in employment status cases, recommending instead to start with the statutory framework and to look at the entire factual matrix.

No anonymity order for former stripper

Alex Leonhardt reviews A v Burke & Hare (EA-2020-SCO-0000067-DT), a case in which the EAT concludes that applications for anonymity orders need to be supported by robust evidence on harm that will arise to the party, going beyond mere embarrassment or social opprobrium, with evidence of impact on labour market outcomes potentially considered relevant and sufficient.

Can a right to pay during suspension be implied into the contract of a bank worker where that contract is silent?

Grace Boorer analyses Agbeze v Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust EA-2020-000413-VP, in which the EAT found that where a worker’s contract requires something more than being ready, willing and able to work in order to receive wages, a term is not implied that the worker is entitled to be paid on suspension in absence of a contractual provision on the point.

Caution required in case management

Grace Nicholls on Rooney v Leicester City Council UKEAT/0064/20/DA and UKEAT/0104/21/DA, a case which reminds us that fact sensitive cases be dealt with with extra care and caution to prevent unnecessary delay and ensure effective, efficient conduct of litigation.

That was not put!

Daniel Brown reviews P2CG Limited v Davis (Appeal No. EA-2019-000762-AT), a judgment that provides useful guidance as to the matters to be considered when an allegation is not put to a witness in court.

Meet the team

3PB’s employment law group offers expert advisory and advocacy services to private and public sector employers across all areas of employment law including unfair dismissal, discrimination, equal pay, industrial disputes, executive contracts, wrongful dismissals, restrictive covenants, whistleblowing, TUPE, injunctions, pensions disputes and disciplinary proceedings.