Welcome to Employment Edit, our pick of the key employment law developments from the last couple of weeks:
- Stress - The High Court has found that an employer was not liable for an employee's psychiatric illness caused by occupational stress because the illness was not reasonably foreseeable. Of particular interest is the court's finding that an employer has no general obligation to make searching or intrusive enquiries of an employee returning to work after a period of sickness absence and may take at face value what the employee says. Please see our case summary on employers' liability for stress at work for more information.
- Redundancy consultation - On 30 April, the ECJ will deliver its decision in the Woolworths case on the meaning of 'establishment' for collective redundancy purposes. The Advocate General delivered his non-binding opinion in February (see our briefing on duty to collectively consult in redundancy situations) and it will be interesting to see if the ECJ follows his view that the obligation to collectively consult only arises where 20 or more redundancies are planned at one establishment.
- Legislation - The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill received Royal Assent at the end of March, just before Parliament was dissolved. Read about the resulting employment law changes in our briefing.
- Shared parental leave - A reminder that employees expecting babies or adopting children on or after 5 April 2015 will, subject to eligibility requirements, be entitled to take shared parental leave. Read updated government guidance on the new right.
If you would like more information, or specific advice, please contact Roger Bull or get in touch with your usual Burges Salmon contact.