Employment Rights Bill (“ERB”) update – impact of government reshuffle, rejection of House of Lords amendments, planned rapid implementation of ban on discrimination and harassment NDAs.
Angela Raynor was one of the biggest driving forces behind the ERB. It had been speculated that her resignation might cause some delay, but the ERB continues to move at pace. Large numbers of the amendments put forward by the House of Lords were rejected by the Commons this month, although the proposal to ban non-disclosure provisions in respect of discrimination and harassment has been kept. In fact, the ban appears to be a top priority for the Government, with Peter Kyle MP (the new Business Secretary) saying it is to be implemented in “as fast as possible”. A similar ban is already in force in the higher education sector: it will be interesting to see whether it leads to a chilling effect on settlements in that sector, as we think it might.
Day v Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust – Employment Appeal Tribunal refuses to enforce whistleblowing protections for detriments which occurred 4 years after the end of employment
The claimant, Dr Day, was employed by the NHS Trust as a specialist registrar from October 2014 to April 2015, and during this time made some protected disclosures. He brought an unfair dismissal and whistleblowing claim in 2018, which the parties settled. The case had attracted public attention, and following the settlement of the claim the NHS trust made public statements about it. Dr Day brought further proceedings, claiming the content of the public statements caused him detriment, which was as a result of him having made the original protected disclosures. The Employment Appeal Tribunal found that although the statements were detrimental to Dr Day and were sufficiently connected to his employment to be protected by whistleblowing legislation, ultimately they were not caused by Dr Day’s whistleblowing but by the Trust’s desire to protect its reputation.
Upcoming HR Cabinet
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If you’d like to discuss the impact of these employment law updates on your business, please contact B P Collins’ employment lawyers at enquiries@bpcollins.co.uk or call 01753 889995.
