Sara Marshall - Franklins Solicitors

An employment tribunal has ruled that ethical veganism amounts to a philosophical belief and so is protected by law, in particular discrimination legislation.

The ruling followed a claim brought by Jordi Casamitjana, who claimed he was unfairly sacked by his former employer League Against Cruel Sports (LACS), due to his ethical veganism. Mr Casamitjana alleged that he was sacked after disclosing to his colleagues that LACS’s pension fund invested in companies involved in animal testing. LACS argued that he was dismissed due to his gross misconduct.

“Religion or belief” is one of the nine protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act 2010. Judge Robin Postle ruled that ethical veganism was a protected characteristic, specifically a philosophical belief as it satisfied several tests for it to amount to a protected belief, including that it was worthy of respect in a democratic society, not incompatible with human dignity and did not conflict with the fundamental rights of others. The judge ruled that ethical veganism should receive similar legal protections to religious beliefs in the workplace.

Although the case has been described as a “landmark ruling” with having “potentially significant effects on employment and the workplace”, it does not impact the law. This is because a judgement from an employment tribunal of the first instance is not a legally binding precedent and so does not have to be followed. Nevertheless, the judgement gives employers guidance on the protection and support ethical vegans should receive in the workplace. Employers may wish to consider the services they provide to their employees and the products that they use, for example furniture choices and offering vegan options for food.

The judgment is in relation to the first of a two-part employment tribunal. The tribunal is yet to consider the lawfulness of Mr Casamitjana’s treatment by his former employer and whether he was treated less favourably due to this beliefs.

If you require legal assistance in relation to your rights in the workplace, or have reason to believe that you are being unfairly treated due to your beliefs, then please do not hesitate to contact our Employment Department who will be happy to assist on 01908 660966 / 01604 828282 or by email at employment@franklins-solsc.co.uk.

One of the main pledges in the Green Party’s manifesto is to have, “gainful employment”. Like the Labour manifesto pledges, their employment-law focus is on polices which they say will address issues of poverty and providing greater financial security to workers. Here are some of their employment pledges:-

Increase the Living Wage from £8.31 to £12.00, extending it to workers aged between 16 and 21 (currently the minimum age is 25).

Promote more stay at home working to reduce travel and the carbon footprint. This would require employers to reimburse the costs of heating during working hours, electricity and Wi-Fi for, “low income workers” working from home.

Support employers to, “explore a 4 day working week without loss of pay, driving up productivity as well as boosting wellbeing of staff”.

Support employers to, “explore the benefits of offering menstruation and menopausal leave to workers.”.

Legislation to ensure that the maximum wage paid to any member of staff in an organisation should not exceed 10 times that paid (pro rata) to the lowest paid worker in the same organisation.

Ban bonuses which exceed the annual wage of the lowest paid worker in that organisation.

Close the gender pay gap in all large and medium size companies by carrying out equal pay audits and redress any inequality and change the law so it is easier for employees to take action against employers in unequal pay cases.

Impose a quote to require a major company board to consist of at least 40% women.

Reviewing current employment law to provide ‘gig economy’ workers with the current minimum wage, job security, sick leave, holiday pay and pension provision.

Whilst the Green party is more closely-associated with environmental policies, the employment law pledges proposed are aimed at providing greater rights and benefits to employees.

To read the Green party’s full Manifesto you can click on the link below:- https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/Elections/Green%20Party%20Manifesto%202019.pdf

If you want to discuss the past or proposed changes to employment law, or any other employment issue, please feel free to email ben.stanton@franklins-sols.co.uk, or call our Employment Team on 01908 660966 or 01604 828282.

Continuing the theme amongst the political parties, the manifesto for the Independent Group for Change mainly focuses on Brexit, the NHS and Crime and Justice, but there are a number of employment law promises:-

A, “Legal right”, for employees to attend GP or hospital appointments.

Rights for employees and those working on flexible contracts to be notified of their shifts at least one month in advance.

The right for all employees to take bereavement leave following a death in their immediate family.

Providing workers with a basic level of critical illness and life insurance cover, with a clear right to opt-out if existing policies are already in place.

A tax break to help individuals relocating if they are seeking a new job across the country.

A tax break for companies that offer longer term secure career contracts to their staff.

A tax break for successful employers who offer short work placements to students about to leave school.

As the newest political party with existing serving MPs, the Independent Group for Change is evidently focusing on Brexit as its main issue on which to stand. Their employment law pledges do seem to focus on offering tax breaks to employers for providing greater security to its workers, as well as securing additional paid leave for workers in the event of illness or death of family members.

To read The Independent Group for Change’s full manifesto you can click on the link below:-https://voteforchange.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/2020-Vision-The-Independent-for-Change.pdf

The Liberal Democrats’ 2019 Election Manifesto has a focus on stopping Brexit, but also proposes a number of changes to employment law and worker’s rights:

Providing a ‘Skills Wallet’ worth £10,000 for every worker, allowing people to, ‘retrain and upskill’ when needed;

Allowing all employees to request flexible working from day 1 on the job, rather than the current 26 week minimum.

Creating a new minimum wage for people on zero-hour contracts, at a rate which is 20% higher than employees on fixed hour contracts. This differs from their 2017 manifesto pledge which promised a complete ban on zero hours contracts.

Giving a right to request a fixed-hours contract after 12 months for workers on zero hours contracts and agency workers. This request cannot be ‘unreasonably refused’.

Offering parental leave and pay to the self-employed.

Giving staff in listed companies with more than 250 employees a right to request shares, to be held in Trust for the benefit of employees, and requiring all UK-listed companies and all private companies with more than 250 employees to have at least one employee representative on their boards. A similar idea was in their 2017 manifesto.

Whilst there are some new employment-law ideas within the 2019 manifesto (although some are already recommendations by the ‘Good Work Report’ commissioned by the Government from February 2018 on the ‘Gig Economy’), the manifesto appears focused on winning the votes of those workers who perhaps have less job security.

To read the Liberal Democrat’s full manifesto you can click on the link below:- https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/libdems/pages/57307/attachments/original/1574876491/Stop_Brexit_and_Build_a_Brighter_Future_CLEARPRINT.pdf?1574876491.

As the name suggests, the Brexit Party has one major focus within its manifesto (which is calls its “Contract with the People”). However, its polices also seek to attract investment and jobs in to the UK, proposing incentives which it states will drive growth and increase revenue from tax. There are no specific employment law pledges, although they will:-

Introduce a, “new workable apprenticeship scheme”, improving tax incentives for employers to take on genuine apprentices.

Reduce annual immigration and address wage stagnation and the skills gap by introducing an immigration points system that is, “blind to ethnic origin”.

Changes to employment law are clearly not high priorities of the Brexit party, as it focuses instead on Brexit, the NHS and immigration.

To read the Brexit Party’s full Contract with the People, you can click on the link below:-

https://www.thebrexitparty.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Contract-With-The-People.pdf

As the largest Welsh party, Plaid Cyrmu’s policies are generally focused on increasing prosperity in Wales. There are few specific employment law policies, but those related to employment are as follows:-

They will create, “tens of thousands of new jobs throughout Wales”, through investment, with the aim of creating a ‘Green Jobs Revolution’ and to become 100% self-sufficient in renewable energy by 2030.

Establish, “sheltered employment schemes”, for those requiring a more supportive environment to return to work, with the aim of achieving their full participation in employment.

All apprentices under the age of 21 will be partnered with a Further Education college, giving access to college days or off-site training/education for key skills or other education choices.

To read Plaid Cymru’s full Manifesto you can click on the link below:- https://www.partyof.wales/full_manifesto

It is usually the case that a change in government will usually bring about changes to employment law. It is not a sweeping generalisation to say that Labour policies generally look to improve protection for employees and that is particularly evident from reading through the Labour party’s manifesto.

Here are a few of Labour’s employment law pledges that we found most interesting:-

To “Rapidly introduce” a ‘Real Living Wage’ of at least £10.00 per hour for all workers aged 16 and over. The current minimum wage for an under 18 is £4.35. Labour’s 2017 Manifesto pledged to increase the Living Wage to £10.00 for those 18 and over.

Large companies will be required to allow 10% of its shares to be owned collectively by employees.

Self-employed people to benefit from free childcare and full-fibre broadband as well as better access to pension and mortgage schemes.

Giving all workers the right to flexible working. Currently, employees must have 26 weeks’ service to make such a request.

A ban on zero-hours contracts. This featured in both the 2015 and 2017 Labour manifestos.

For all rest periods at work to be paid. The Working Time Regulations 1998 currently specify that rest breaks are unpaid.

Extending Statutory Maternity Pay to 12 months’ pay (currently this is 9 months). This would be the most generous maternity pay provision throughout the whole of Europe, level with Bulgaria.

Increasing Paternity Leave from 2 to 4 weeks and increasing the level of pay. This featured in both the Liberal Democrat 2015 manifesto and the Labour 2017 manifesto.

Introducing 4 new Bank Holidays to celebrate our four Patron Saints’ days, resulting in 12 Public and bank holidays. This featured in both the UKIP 2015 manifesto and the Labour 2017 manifesto.

Within 10 years they will reduce the average full time weekly working time to 32 hours, with no loss of pay, and repeal the legislation to prevent people working more than 48 hours per week.

Introduce 10 days of paid leave for survivors of domestic abuse.

Strengthen and enhance various laws and rights of the Trade Unions.

It is noted by the author that, in all his years of reading employment-law pledges at election time, this manifesto has the most that he can recall. These new policies are clearly focused on giving workers and employees enhanced rights in the workplace, whilst also allowing them to have a greater say in the governance of their employers.

To read Labour’s full Workers’ Rights Manifesto you can click on the link below:- https://labour.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2019/12/13238_19-Work-manifesto.pdf

Whilst Brexit features prominently, the Conservatives Party 2019 Election Manifesto proposes to “make the UK the best place in the world to work” by making a number of changes to employment law and worker’s rights. If re-elected, their pledges include:

Providing unpaid carers with one additional week of leave per year. It is not specified whether this is paid or unpaid;

The creation of a new ‘National Skills Fund’ worth £3 billion, to provide education and training to workers and SMEs;

The creation of a £1 billion fund to help create more high quality, affordable childcare, including before and after school and during the school holidays.

Allowing working parents to take extended leave for neonatal care. The Government had previously announced that it was launching a consultation on this proposal on 19^th July 2019, to offer one week of paid leave (although the manifesto does not repeat that detail).

Creating a single enforcement body and crack down on any employer abusing employment law to ensure worker’s rights are upheld.

Ensuring that workers have the right to request a, “more predictable contract”, and other “reasonable protections”. No details are provided.

A policy to, “encourage flexible working” and consult on making this the default position for all employers, unless there are good reasons not to. Currently, employers are free to refuse a flexible working request if there are good business reasons for doing so;

An introduction of the ‘Australian style’ points-based immigration system, based on skills and prioritising people who have a, “good grasp of English”, are law abiding citizens in their own countries, and have a good education and qualification.

Reducing the age threshold for the national living wage from 25 to 21 and increasing the current national living wage from £8.21 to £10.50 by 2024.

Whilst this manifesto does not include significant detail as to how employment law would actually change (and is lighter on specific details than the other main parties), in the interests of balance it should be noted that the Conservative Government has already implemented a number of employment-law changes and has proposed others (for example, extending the redundancy protection period for pregnant women and new mothers – https://franklins-sols.co.uk/blog/employment-blog/proposal-to-extend-employee-rights-after-maternity-leave/).

To read the Conservative’s full Manifesto you can click on the link below:- https://assets-global.website-files.com/5da42e2cae7ebd3f8bde353c/5dda924905da587992a064ba_Conservative%202019%20Manifesto.pdf.

In the case of The Harpur Trust v Brazel, the Court of Appeal has ruled that school staff who only work part of the year should be paid the same minimum statutory entitlement of 28 days annual leave as other workers. Typically, ‘Part Year Staff’ only work during school term times and are not paid during the school holidays. This decision means that term time workers will have their holiday pay calculated differently to part-time staff who work the full year.

In the case against The Harpur Trust, Ms Brazel, was engaged by the Trust on a zero-hours contract. Her zero hours contract entitled her to 5.6 weeks’ annual leave, pro-rated based on the weeks that she worked during the course of a year. The hours she worked were decided at the start of each school term depending on the number of pupils wanting tuition. At the end of each term, the school calculated her holiday pay by:

Working out her average daily rate of pay over the course of the entire term;
Calculating this at 12.07% of the hours worked in a term.

This is in accordance with the recommendations set out by Acas.

Mrs Brazel argued that calculating her holiday pay in this manner meant that she was worse off. She felt that rather than pro-rating her entitlement based on the number of weeks for which she was paid during a school year, she should be given the full 28 days’ holiday each year regardless. She claimed that although she was only paid during term time, she was still engaged by the school during this period and should be treated like a full-time teacher.

The Court agreed with Ms Brazel. Whilst is acknowledged that this would mean that she would receive holiday pay equivalent to 17.5% of annual pay (rather than the 12.07%), the Judges felt that Mr Brazel should be treated like all other full-time staff as she was still under contract with the school outside term time. In handing down the court’s judgment in, Lord Justice Nicholas Underhill coined the term “part-year worker” to describe this type of working arrangement.

If you need any assistance in relation to any employment advice, do not hesitate to contact Ben Stanton, Associate Partner & Employment Solicitor on 01908 660966 or at ben.stanton@franklins-sols.co.uk.

The Pregnancy and Maternity (Redundancy Protection) Bill was introduced on 21st May 2019. The bill proposes to extend the redundancy protection period for pregnant women and new mothers. Whilst employees do have additional rights whilst on maternity leave, the consultation proposes that employees will be protected for a further six months after they return to work.

Current protection from redundancy for employees on maternity leave

Currently, employees on maternity leave receive some protection from redundancy from Regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999. Whilst an employee can still be made redundant on maternity leave, Regulation 10 entitles the employee to be offered any suitable alternative vacancy that may exist, even if there are more qualified employees who could take on the role. The employee does not have to apply or be interviewed for the vacancy but should be offered it in priority to their colleagues. If a suitable alternative vacancy exists and the employee is not offered I, the employee, would have a claim for automatic unfair dismissal and sex discrimination. This is a rare example of positive discrimination.

What is the proposed new legislation?

The proposed new legislation is to extend this protection for new mothers, starting when the woman informs her employer of her pregnancy in writing and lasting for six months after her return from maternity leave. This protection would also extend to other employees, including men, who return from adoption or shared parental leave.

If you are pregnant or currently on maternity leave and not sure of your maternity rights, call us today to book an appointment with Ben Stanton, Partner – Employment Law.

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