Springboard relief The court said Whitmar had a very good chance of succeeding at trial so he was granted ‘springboard relief’. This is a form of injunction which stops a new business, set up by former employees, from using confidential information obtained by the employees from their employer. This type of relief is commonly sought where former employees have not signed any specific agreements in their contracts of employment preventing them from taking confidential information, using client information or competing with their former employer.
Control of the LinkedIn groups was subsequently handed back to Whitmar.
CIPP comment This is the first injunction of this type granted for the misuse of LinkedIn information which seems surprising given that social media networking is now common practice in business. This is yet another case that highlights the importance of employers ensuring they not only have appropriate policies in place at work regarding the use of social media, but that contracts have sufficient terms included to protect businesses.
REPRESENTATION AT DISCIPLINARY HEARINGS
26 August 2013
In a recent appeal case the court found that regardless of any employer objection, employees are allowed to choose any trade union rep to act as their companion in disciplinary hearings. The Employee Relations Act 1999 (“the Act”) states that all staff who are required or invited to attend a disciplinary or grievance hearing should be given the right to be accompanied at the formal meetings. The Act provides a list of companions who may be permitted, including other colleagues within the company, and trade union representatives (even if that trade union is not recognised by the employer). In some circumstances, the employer may not be happy with the choice of companion. The ACAS code provides guidance in such circumstances, setting out detail on who would be considered a reasonable companion, thereby suggesting that the employer is entitled to refuse to allow certain proposed companions if it does not consider them to be ‘reasonable’. In this recently reported case, the EAT confirmed that this is not the case
Read the employment law update from Pinsent Masons where they take a look at this case Toal and another v GB Oils Ltd and explain what the outcome means for employers.
Volunteer worker at commercial company still qualifies for National Minimum Wage
6 September 2013
An intern at Sony has been awarded £4,600 after complaining that he should have earned the minimum wage whilst working for the company.
Workplace Law reports:
Chris Jarvis revealed that he worked from 9.30am until 6pm for three months at Sony Computer Entertainment in Cambridge during 2012, commuting three hours a day from his home in Milton Keynes. He said that he only expected to be paid his travel expenses, but when payment of those expenses were “delayed”, Mr Jarvis felt he should be paid as he was working the hours of an employee.
CIPP Policy News Journal
16/04/2014, Page 111 of 519
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