Daniel Barnett's Latest - November 30th
Daniel Barnett's Latest News
The following case summaries are provided courtesy of Daniel
Barnett to whom we are very grateful:
28 November 2006
The Court of Appeal has handed down another decision, following
its decision in Gover v Property Care (see bulletin 28/3/06).
Hopefully putting an overdue nail in the coffin of King v Eaton
(no. 2), the Court of Appeal has confirmed that tribunals should
not avoid making Polkey (or other) reductions to a compensatory
award simply because to do so would involve 'speculation'.
Giving the lead judgment, Pill LJ stated: "Judges and tribunals
are very familiar with making predictions based on the evidence
they have heard. The tribunal's statutory duty may involve making
such predictions and tribunal cannot be expected, or even allowed,
to opt out of that duty because their task is a difficult one and
may involve speculation." (para. 36)
The decision is not yet available on BAILII, so I've uploaded it
here until it is available on BAILII:
http://www.danielbarnett.co.uk/temp_Thornett.doc.
Confidential Information Injunctions
27 November 2006
The Court of Appeal has handed down a decision confirming that a
(new) employer who fails to give suitably swift undertakings not
to use confidential information which an employee brings over from
his (old) employer should pay the costs of any injunction
application.
The (old) employer, on discovering that the employee had gone to
work for a competitor, asked for undertakings that the (new)
employer would not encourage the employee to breach an express
term of his contract relating to confidential information.
The (new) employer ignored the first letter and, in response to a
second letter, simply wrote back and said it was investigating the
position (without giving any undertaking). The (old) employer then
issued an application for an injunction, following which the (new)
employer gave an appropriate undertaking.
The Court of Appeal, overturning the judge, held that the (old)
employer should be entitled to the costs of the injunction
application in these circumstances. The (old) employer had
effectively won the case by obtaining the undertakings. The
judge's refusal to award costs was erroneous as a matter of
principle.
The case provides comfort to those advising employers of departing
employees, demonstrating that they can act swiftly and be
confident that they will not be penalised in costs.
Thanks to Neil Russell of BD Laddie, who acted for the successful
Appellant, for telling me about this decision
Fox Gregory v Spinks
BAILII Judgment
Tribunal Award Limits - Annual Increases
24 November 2006
The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2006 has been
laid before Parliament, containing the increase in limits to
tribunal awards which come into force on 1st February 2007.
The key increases are as follows:
* compensatory award for unfair dismissal - £60,600 (from £58,400)
* a week's pay (for basic award, redundancy payments etc.) - £310
(from £290)
The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2006
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/20063045.htm
Take a look at the following items from Daniel Barnett, barrister
(http://www.danielbarnett.co.uk):
Law Society Handbook on Employment Law
by Daniel Barnett and Henry Scrope
Third edition just published
£49.95
Click here for more details
http://www.danielbarnett.co.uk/publications_lawsoc.htm
To subscribe to Daniel's Newswire, go to his smart new site:
http://www.danielbarnett.co.uk/bulletins.htm
Daniel Barnett Archive Now Available
By arrangement with emplaw, an archive for Daniel's bulletins is
now available: http://www.emplaw.co.uk
"Age Discrimination" - yet another useful publication from Daniel
Barnett.
Second Edition - Published 3 May 2006
* 170 pages of commentary and analysis on the Employment Equality
(Age) Regulations 2006
* highlighting practical difficulties for employers and legal
advisors
* sets out arguments on both sides when the Regulations are
unclear
Click here to see a sample and for more information:
http://www.danielbarnett.co.uk/age_analysis.htm
Hear audio testimonials or view some sample pages:
http://www.danielbarnett.co.uk/age_analysis_testimonials.htm