News: May 2015

Whyte & Mackay Limited v Origin Wine UK Limited & Dolce Co Invest Limited Worth knowing about because… Launching a new brand or sub-brand which incorporates your established brand name alongside another word which has already been registered as a trade mark by a third party can give rise to legal challenges. This case highlights […]

Most people are probably of the view that signing an agreement indicates that they intend to be bound by it. But what if the agreement has not been signed? Can a binding contract still come into existence? This has been the scenario in a number of recent cases considered by the courts and is a […]

A group of senior doctors published an article in the British Medical Journal last week announcing that the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges is to launch a nationwide “Choosing Wisely” campaign in collaboration with other healthcare organisations, including the NHS. The campaign is based on Choosing Wisely initiatives already underway in the US, Canada, Germany, […]

In previous reviews we reported on a number of employment law changes effective as of 5 April, including the availability of Shared Parental Leave and the abolition of Additional Paternity Leave for babies expected or children adopted on or after 5 April. Other, less well-publicised, family friendly changes that also came into force on 5 […]

The Tribunal in Bailes v First Bristol Ltd has awarded an unfair dismissal pay out of £83,910 to a Bristol bus driver who was dismissed after testing positive in a saliva test for cocaine. Mr Bailes persuaded the Tribunal that the positive drugs test resulted from him handling bank notes contaminated with the illegal substance […]

It has been a longstanding right that where a worker is invited to attend either a disciplinary or grievance hearing, provided that their request has been made reasonably, they have a right to be accompanied to that hearing by a fellow worker, a trade union representative, or an official employed by a trade union. Employers […]

Under the Equality Act 2010, a person is disabled where they have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The question in the recent case of Metroline Travel Ltd v Stoute was whether an employee with Type 2 diabetes, which […]

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has provided its decision in the long-running Woolworths and Ethel Austin cases (USDAW and anor v VW Realisation 1 Ltd and others). Agreeing with the opinion of the Advocate General (which we reported in March’s review), the ECJ has clarified that the term ‘establishment’ for the purposes of collective […]

The EU Working Time Directive provides that workers are entitled to receive ‘normal pay’ for at least 4-weeks holiday per year. Last November, in Bear Scotland Ltd v Fulton and others, it was held that to give effect to this, non-guaranteed overtime payments should be included in holiday pay and that wording should be added […]

In Way v Spectrum Property Care Ltd the Court of Appeal held that a Tribunal, hearing an unfair dismissal claim, must consider whether a previous warning (relied upon as part of the decision to dismiss) was made in bad faith. Mr Way was employed as a recruitment manager. In 2010 he was given a final […]