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Employment tribunal rules against Addison Lee in employment status case 7 August 2017 The London Central Employment Tribunal has ruled that a former cycle courier who worked for car and courier organisation Addison Lee was employed as a worker, not as an independent contractor, and should have been entitled to employment rights including holiday pay and the national minimum wage. Employee Benefits has reported on the case where Christopher Gascoigne, who worked for Addison Lee as a cycle courier for seven years, contended that he should be classified as a worker rather than an independent contractor, and was therefore entitled to receive holiday pay, the national minimum wage, and protection against discrimination.
Gascoigne’s claim was supported by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB).
Following the tribunal’s ruling, the amount of holiday pay owed to Gascoigne by Addison Lee will be decided at a later hearing.
A spokesperson for Addison Lee said that they are disappointed with the ruling because they have always had, and are committed to maintaining, a flexible and fair relationship with cycle couriers and that this is a single judgement based on one pushbike courier and the circumstances of his particular relationship with Addison Lee in March 2016.
Conversely the general secretary at the IWGB said that the judgement once again proves their point that the law is clear and employers in the so-called gig-economy have been choosing to unlawfully deprive their workers of rights.
Read the full story from Employee Benefits .
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Employers will be obliged to consult with unions around workplace issues 8 August 2017
UNISON has won a landmark court victory that makes it much harder for employers to ignore staff when making major changes in the workplace.
The Court of Appeal ruling means that for the first time employers will be obliged to consult with unions around any workplace issues that affect their members. Employees in any workplace where there’s a union will now benefit from greater protection at work.
One comment from UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis:
“The message to bosses is they will have to treat their staff more fairly over pay and working conditions. If they fail to consult unions then they will be acting unlawfully and could be taken to court.”
Until now, unions only had the right to be consulted where the law required this, for example in TUPE regulations where employees transfer from one employer to another, and in redundancy cases. The ruling means employers will also have to involve unions in issues such as those around working hours and holiday pay. The victory came about after the union took up a case involving parks police who were made redundant by the London Borough of Wandsworth. The Court of Appeal ruled that UNISON had the right to be consulted by Wandsworth over the job losses.
Read the full press release from UNISON
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The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Policy News Journal
cipp.org.uk
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