Welcome to Employment Edit, our pick of the key employment law developments from the last couple of weeks:
- Vicarious liability – the Supreme Court has considered – and potentially broadened – the scope of vicarious liability, under which employers can be liable for acts of employees and other workers which are outside of the employer's control (Cox v Ministry of Justice; Mohamud v Morrison Supermarkets plc). Our briefing on the implications of the decision will follow shortly.
- Discriminatory advertising – The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published new guidance, a checklist and some FAQs on how to avoid unlawful discrimination in job adverts.
- Whistleblowing – The PRA and FCA's requirement for financial services firms to appoint a whistleblowing champion came into force on 7 March 2016.
- Bonus cap – The PRA and FCA have confirmed that smaller financial services firms will not be required to comply with the bonus cap rules. Please see our briefing for more information.
- Statutory payments – The government has published its annual increases to statutory payments and employment tribunal awards. The new limits apply from 6 April 2016. In particular, the limit on a week's pay for calculating statutory redundancy payments will rise by £4 to £479 and the maximum compensatory award for ordinary unfair dismissal will be £78,962 (currently £78,335).
If you would like more information, or specific advice, please contact Roger Bull, or get in touch with your usual Burges Salmon contact.