Welcome to the latest edition of Need to Know, Winckworth Sherwood’s Employment and HR newsletter. In this issue, we look at Gender Pay Gap reporting; how to enforce mobility clauses in a redundancy situation; whether failing to proactively take steps to remedy wrongdoing constitute gross misconduct; and whether a dismissal can considered to be fair if the employer has taken into account expired warnings.
Mind the gap: Gender Pay Gap reporting
The Gender Pay Gap regulations (‘Regulations’) will come into force from 6 April 2017. Although employers will have 12 months from then to publish their first gender pay gap (‘GPG’) report, the Regulations and the obligations they impose are complex – so, employers should start planning now.
Enforcing mobility clauses in a redundancy situation
A common cost cutting measure for struggling businesses is to move its workforce, or part of it, to a more cost effective site. If this means that there is no longer work for employees in the location where they are employed, they may be dismissed by reason of redundancy and consequently, might be entitled to receive a redundancy payment. However, many employers include mobility clauses in their employees’ contracts of employment which may state, for example, that the employee may be required to work “anywhere in the UK” or “anywhere within reasonable daily travelling distance” of the existing premises. If the employer is able to rely on a mobility clause, there may well be no need to dismiss the employee and therefore there might be a saving in terms of not having to pay a redundancy payment.
Sins of omission: can failing to proactively take steps to remedy wrongdoing constitute gross misconduct?
Adesokan v Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Limited [2017] EWCA Civ 22
The Court of Appeal has considered whether or not, by failing to correct an error made by another employee, a manager committed gross misconduct.
Mr Adesokan had been employed by Sainsbury’s for 26 years, rising to the senior rank of Regional Operations Manager responsible for 20 stores. In June 2013, he was responsible for managing the Talkback procedure in his region.
Can a dismissal be fair if the employer has taken into account expired warnings?
In the recent case of Stratford v Auto Trail VR Limited UKEAT/0116/16, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) considered whether it was fair to dismiss an employee where the principal reason for the dismissal was the employee’s previous disciplinary record (including expired warnings) and the employer’s belief that the employee’s behaviour would not improve in the future.
For more information on any of these articles, please contact the Employment Team.
