Welcome to the Spring Employment Law update. In our employment and HR updates, Tom Evans outlines recent cases, updates to the law and other Employment and HR news. If you want to ensure you don’t miss the latest in Employment and HR, you can subscribe to our Employment Law Update Newsletter.
Employment Rights Act
April will see further changes coming into force as a result of the Employment Rights Act. A reminder of the key changes that will apply from 6 April 2026 are:
Statutory Sick Pay:
- The 3-day waiting period and lower earnings limit will be removed meaning SSP will be payable from day one.
- The requirement to earn a minimum amount to qualify is removed, expanding coverage to lower-paid workers.
Family rights & leave:
- ‘Day 1’ right to Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave.
- Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave – There will be a new right to time off (of up to 52 weeks of unpaid leave) for bereaved partners if a child’s mother/primary adopter dies
- Restriction on taking paternity leave after shared parental leave is removed.
Whistleblowing:
- Stronger protections for workers who report sexual harassment. A report that sexual harassment has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur will be a type of “protected disclosure” for whistleblowing purposes.
Redundancy:
- Collective redundancy protective award will be doubled from 90 days’ pay to 180 days’ pay.
Trade Unions:
- Simplified requirements for trade union recognition process.
- Establishment of the Fair Work Agency – bringing together existing enforcement bodies and taking on enforcement duties of other employment rights, including holiday pay and statutory sick pay.
Case law update
Hayes v West Leeds Civils Ltd
Facts:
- The Claimant had worked for the Respondent since 2021 as an Office manager/Bookkeeper on a part time basis.
- Over a period of 6 months between December 2023 and June 2024 she was repeatedly subjected to comments made by her manager where she was called “potato”, “paddy”, “stupid paddy” and “pikey”. She was also subjected to imitations of her accent.
- The Claimant alleged that the company director, would repeatedly shout ‘potato’ in a strong Irish accent if they had a disagreement, and that he would often shout potato as soon as he walked in the office without her having even spoken to him.
- The Claimant tried to accept the comments as humour, however the comments increased and this left her feeling anxious and nervous.
- The Claimant raised complaints about the behaviour. After she complained, the company began pursuing allegations of gross misconduct against her.
- The Claimant was signed off work in July 2024 after she began suffering from anxiety and depression due to the toxic environment she was working in.
- The Claimant then brought a series of claims in the Employment Tribunal including sex discrimination, direct race discrimination, harassment related to race, victimisation and failure to provide a written statement of terms and conditions of employment.
Outcome:
- The Tribunal did not find sufficient evidence of race discrimination. However, it did find that the behaviour amounted to harassment related to race.
- Employment Judge Buckley stated that the harassment the Claimant experienced “clearly created a hostile, humiliating and offensive environment for her” and ruled that the offensive and humiliating phrases were “overtly linked to race”.
- Although it was acknowledged that the Claimant did join in on a small number of occasions, most of the time she did not, and the tribunal accepted that this was an attempt to make light of the issue and to ‘fit in’.
- The sex discrimination claim was withdrawn.
- The Claimant was awarded £20,735 related to victimisation and harassment related to race, and £2,800 in missed (four weeks) pay.
Key Takeaways:
- This case is a reminder that harassment often emerges through banter and that what matters is how the comment is received, not the intention behind it.
- Employers should make sure line managers are properly trained to recognise such behaviour and recognise that insults can constitute unlawful harassment, regardless of the perpetrator’s intent.
- Employers should ensure matters are investigated promptly, that they have strict anti-harassment policies, and act immediately on complaints.
Wells v Cranatt Construction Ltd
Facts:
- The Claimant had worked for the Respondent for 16 years from 8 May 2007 to 26 April 2023 as a Site Manager.
- The Claimant suffered from bronchiectasis, a condition which constitutes a disability under the Equality Act 2010.
- Between November 2022 and April 2023 following a management change, the Claimant was required to work alone and denied support, failing to receive assistance with lapsed safety and first aid certifications.
- The Claimant was suspended, required to attend a disciplinary hearing based on unspecified ‘gross negligence’ and subsequently dismissed.
- The Claimant argued that the Respondent failed to consider or implement reasonable adjustments and treated him unfairly because of issues related to his disability in respect of lone working, failure to provide assistance, suspension, disciplinary process and dismissal.
- The Claimant brought claims for disability discrimination, unfair dismissal and breach of contract.
Outcome:
- The Tribunal found that the Respondent did not accommodate the Claimant’s disability. It found that the Respondent failed to assist the Claimant in obtaining the required Site Management Safety Training Scheme and first‑aid certificates after these lapsed, which it considered to be a failure to make reasonable adjustments.
- The disciplinary investigation was found to be fundamentally flawed, conducted without an independent investigator and lacked full evidence disclosure.
- The Claimant was successful in his claims for breach of contract, unfair dismissal and disability discrimination and was £72,903.33 which included compensation for injury to feelings and financial losses.
Key Takeaways:
- This case acts as a reminder that it is important to recognise when an employee may be disabled, and reasonable adjustments must be considered and implemented where practicable.
For further advice on recent Employment Law Changes please contact the employment team at employment@dtmlegal.com or call 01244 354 800 / 0151 321 0000
