HR Bytes - November 2011

Welcome!

Employment law has gone political this month (you may say when was it ever not?).

Extracts were leaked from a report into employment laws commissioned by David Cameron from venture capitalist and Tory party donor Adrian Beecroft. Amongst other matters, Mr Beecroft has advocated the removal of the unfair dismissal regime altogether, leading to a spectacular PR own-goal for the Coalition in their attempts to cut red tape for businesses. The LibDems have already condemned the report.

This comes on top of last month's announcement that the government would make it harder to bring Employment Tribunal cases by raising the qualifying period for an unfair dismissal claim to two years and introducing fees for claims.

The government's positive and welcome attempt to cut red tape for employers looks set to become a political football.

To help you to negotiate your way through the minefield, we have launched the latest version of our UK Employment Law Guide 2011 – 2012. We're sure you'll find it useful.

What's new this month?

Legal Developments

When can an employer change terms and conditions of employment following a TUPE transfer? Notice of termination issued by mistake cannot be withdrawn Expiry of a work permit does not limit the compensation available for unfair dismissal Can cost be relevant to the duty to make reasonable adjustments? Employees on long-term sick leave must request holiday to be paid for it Other news

Leaked Beecroft report suggests the abolition of the Unfair Dismissal regime, Clegg wades into the debate with "protected conversations" CIPD gets political about the impact of new flexible working proposals Further reductions in the number of non-EEA migrants entitled to work (and settle) in the UK are likely What's coming up

HR Forum: Redundancies - lessons learned from the recession - 1 December 2011 - read more Legal developments

When can an employer change terms and conditions of employment following a TUPE transfer?

In Smith and others v Trustees Of Brooklands College UKEAT/0128/11, part-time teaching assistants at a college were paid as if they were employed on a full-time contract. This arrangement was out of step with market practice and was contrary to their trade union's guidance on pay for teaching assistants.

The teaching assistants transferred under TUPE to a new college. Following the transfer, the HR Director reviewed rates of pay across the organisation and concluded that the teaching assistants had been overpaid in error. A phased reduction in pay was agreed with the teaching assistants but they subsequently brought claims for unlawful deductions from wages, arguing that the variation of their contracts was void under TUPE. The college argued that the variation was not by reason of the transfer or for a reason connected with the transfer, so it was not void under TUPE.

The EAT held that the reason for the variation was the HR Director's belief that the teaching assistants had been mistakenly paid the wrong rate. This was not a reason connected with the transfer, so the variation was effective.

The decision is a useful reminder that...