Policy News Journal - 2017-18

Employee imprisoned for breaching court order 19 July 2017

The High Court has imposed a sentence of 6 weeks imprisonment on an employee for breaches of an interim injunction in a dispute over confidential information, in OCS Group UK v Dadi.

Mr Dadi was an employee of the Claimant, an aviation cleaning contractor at Heathrow. His employer alleged that he had sent its confidential information to his private email, and served an interim injunction on him. Before seeking advice, Mr Dadi committed several breaches of the order, including deleting around 8,000 emails and tipping off others about the injunction. After obtaining legal advice, he then admitted breaching the order and co-operated with the Claimant in trying (unsuccessfully) to recover the deleted emails. The court took a number of factors into account in sentencing, and following the approach in Crystal Mews Ltd v Metterick, imposed what it regarded as the minimum term of imprisonment appropriate with regard to each of the breaches, considering imprisonment necessary given the need for continuing compliance with orders in this case, and as a warning to others.

With thanks to Daniel Barnett’s employment law bulletin for providing this case summary.

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UNISON legal victory sees employment tribunal fees scrapped 27 July 2017

Supreme Court verdict follows four-year fight by union and is a victory for everyone in work.

Employment tribunal fees will be scrapped after UNISON won a landmark court victory against the government this morning.

The Supreme Court – the UK’s highest court – has unanimously ruled that the government was acting unlawfully and unconstitutionally when it introduced the fees four years ago.

From today, anyone who has been treated illegally or unfairly at work will no longer have to pay to take their employers to court – as a direct result of UNISON’s legal challenge.

The government will also have to refund more than £27m to the thousands of people charged for taking claims to tribunals since July 2013, when fees were introduced by then Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling.

Anyone in England, Scotland and Wales wanting to pursue a case against their employer has had to find as much as £1,200. This has been a huge expense for many low-paid employees, says UNISON.

Read more from Unison

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Unlawful employment tribunal fees 31 July 2017

Due to the recent ruling that employment tribunal fees are unlawful, HM Courts & Tribunals Service has immediately taken steps to stop charging fees for proceedings in the Employment and the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

Daniel Barnett’s employment law bulletin has highlighted that the Employment & Property Jurisdictional Support Team at HM Courts & Tribunals Service has issued a message to tribunal users, reproduced below.

“You will all be aware that on 26 July, the Supreme Court handed down judgment in the case of R (Unison) v Lord Chancellor. Unison’s appeal was a challenge to the lawfulness of Employment Tribunals fees. The Court has found that the fees unlawfully hinder access to justice and the relevant Fees Order – the Employment Tribunals and Employment Appeal Tribunal Fees Order 2013, has been quashed.

The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals

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