Employment

Employment case law round up

Number of ‘employments’ furloughed under CJRS stood at 3.8 million at 31 December 2020

HMRC figures also show that total value of claims to scheme since it was introduced in March 2020 exceeds £49 billion

Chancellor urged to extend furlough and self-employment support schemes beyond April 2021

Northern Ireland Economy Minister says schemes are essential and must remain in place until there are clear signs of economic recovery

Fewer than 10,000 Kickstart job placements have been made available for Jobcentre Plus work coaches to refer eligible young people to

DWP Minister advises that remainder of the more than 123,000 placements approved for funding will become available to jobcentres once employers provide job details and start dates

TUC calls on government to urgently extend Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to safeguard jobs

Highlighting correlation between peaks in unemployment and previously scheduled endings of the scheme, union warns of risk to jobs in failing to guarantee continuation of support 'until the eleventh hour'

Government issues new Treasury Direction in relation to extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to the end of April 2021

Direction sets out the scheme applying for the period beginning on 1 February 2021 and ending on 30 April 2021

Business Secretary reiterates that the government ‘will not reduce workers’ rights’

Responding to Commons motion, Kwasi Kwarteng says 'I do not want there to be any doubt about my or the government's intentions in this area'

Fewer than 2,000 young people have actually started new roles via the government’s Kickstart scheme, despite the ‘creation’ of 120,000 new jobs

In addition, with reports that the DWP has approved 'gateway' companies with little to no trading history or based outside of the UK, the government announces that it is closing applications for new gateways this week

Almost 1 in 10 workers have been ‘fired and rehired’ since start of the Covid crisis

New polling from the TUC reveals that the controversial practice of 'fire and re-hire' has become widespread during the Covid-19 pandemic as has the downgrading of workers' rights

Employment case law round up

Reports that the government is planning a bonfire of employment rights ‘could not be further from the truth’

Business Secretary says that the idea that the government is trying to whittle down standards is not at all plausible or true

Court of Appeal considers the extent of the Employment Tribunal’s power to make a disclosure order against a person outside Great Britain

[2021] EWCA Civ 26

Northern Ireland Government confirms intention to introduce parental bereavement leave and pay entitlement akin to that already in force in Great Britain

Minister for the Economy says she is confident that Executive and Assembly will support the progression of legislation with a ‘minimum of delay’

HMRC must urgently explain why some taxpayers have had no support during Covid-19 pandemic, say MPs

New Public Accounts Committee report finds that 'quirks in the tax system' have prevented significant number of struggling tax payers from receiving support they should be entitled to

Government confirms that it has no plans to change how the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme operates in relation to working parents

'It is not for the government to decide whether a firm should put its staff on furlough', says Conservative Whip

Court of Appeal considers whether Employment Tribunal correctly refused to grant three-day time limit extension where misunderstanding about conciliation process may have contributed to delay

[2021] EWCA Civ 23

Inadequate sick pay and pressure from employers are driving millions to continue working with Covid symptoms

RSA calls on the government to address the 'terrible trade-off' many workers face between looking after their health and putting food on the table