Issue 709

Public sector exit payments

After a judicial review challenge by Thompsons on instruction from a number of trade unions regarding the imposition of a cap on public sector exit payments of £95,000, the government has revoked the regulations which came into force on 4 November last year (...).

Reasons for delay

Claimants have to lodge a tribunal complaint within a three-month time limit and extensions to that time limit will only be granted in certain, defined circumstances. The Court of Appeal doubled down on the strictness of the time limit while also advising in Adedeji v University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust that, when considering whether to extend time for a claim to be heard, tribunals should assess all the factors it considers relevant including the length of, and the reasons for, the delay (...).

Particular claim

In order to bring a claim for “ordinary” unfair dismissal, a claimant needs two years’ continuous service whereas a claim for unfair dismissal on the basis of whistleblowing does not. In Dorrington v Tower Hamlets GP Care Group CIC, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that, in order to bring a whistleblowing claim in those circumstances, it has to be predicated on a claim for unfair dismissal (...).