Issue 702

Call to reform sick pay

The Resolution Foundation, an independent think tank, is calling on the government to allow employers to use the Job Retention Scheme to pay self-isolating workers rather than Statutory Sick Pay (...).

Repudiatory acceptance

If an employer fundamentally breaches a contract of employment (called a repudiatory breach), the employee may accept the breach, resign and claim unfair constructive dismissal. In Chemcem Scotland Ltd v Ure, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the claimant’s failure to return to work after maternity leave constituted an acceptance of the company’s repudiatory acts, entitling her to resign and claim unfair dismissal (...).

Fair-minded observer

In Lyfar-Cissƒ v Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, the question was raised as to whether a tribunal decision was biased by the presence of a lay member at two hearings relating to the same parties. Dismissing the argument, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that "...a fair-minded and informed observer would not see a real possibility of bias” (...).