In this latest edition of our 'Need To Know' employment and HR newsletter, we look at whether long covid could be classified as a disability; if a redundancy dismissal without appeal will always be unfair, the Government's response to the 2020 consultation on carer's leave and much more.

We also have included our usual HR Bullets - which cover other significant employment law updates from the past month.

Our key articles this month:

HR Bullets

  • An Employment Tribunal has found that an estate agent suffered unlawful indirect discrimination based on her sex as her flexible working request was rejected. The tribunal found that her employer had not shown that refusal of the proposed reduction in hours of work was proportionate to the real need of the business to maintain successful relations with customers.
    (Mrs A Thompson_vs_Scancrown_Ltd_trading_as_Manors.)
  • It was held not to be discriminatory to send a pregnant worker home during the early stages of the pandemic and delay her return to work until adequate social distancing measures were put in place.
    (Miss_A_Prosser_v Community Gateway_Association Ltd_)
  • An Employment Tribunal found that it was automatically unfair to dismiss an employee who refused to attend the home of a self-isolating manager.
    (Mr_M_Ham_v_Esl_Bbsw_Ltd_)
  • The Court of Appeal held that the absence of any appeal or review procedure is one of the factors to be considered when assessing the overall fairness of a redundancy dismissal. However, absence of review or appeal will not, of itself, render a redundancy dismissal unfair. (Gwynedd_Council_v_Shelley_Barratt_and_Other )
  • The Court of Appeal found that a charitable fostering agency's policy requiring foster carers to refrain from 'homosexual behaviour' constituted unlawful discrimination.
    (Cornerstone-v-Ofsted)
  • The Government has announced a proposal to make flexible working the default position. The consultation document published includes a proposal to allow all employees to request flexible working from day one, replacing the current 26 weeks' continuous service requirement.
    (    flexible-working-consultation. )
  • PwC has discerned that there was an almost 20% fall in FTSE 250 CEO remuneration during 2020. PwC believes this was at least partly a result of the ongoing impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on UK businesses.
    (executive-pay-ftse-250-agm-update-september-2021)
  • The Government has confirmed that, following a consultation in 2020, it will introduce a new statutory right for unpaid carers to take up to one week of unpaid leave per year. The right will apply in England, Wales and Scotland.
    (carers-leave-consultation-government-response)

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.