Employment - October 2007

This month’s edition includes articles on: The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006; The statutory dispute resolution procedures; Recruitment issues; CV fibbing and Weightmans’ Corporate Social Responsibility activities.

Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006

The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 creates a new criminal offence of stirring up hatred against a person on racial or religious grounds.  This carries a fine or prison sentence of up to 7 years.  Employers, directors, managers and secretaries can be liable if an offence is committed with their consent or connivance.  Stuart Jones, a Partner in Weightmans’ Liverpool employment practice summarizes what employers need to know about the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006.

The statutory dispute resolution procedures

On 1 October 2004 statutory procedures were introduced which set out disciplinary, dismissal and grievance procedures for employers to follow when dealing with problems that arise in the workplace. Radhika Aggarwal, an Associate in Weightmans’ Manchester employment practice and head of the Weightmans National Employment Tribunal Forum, provides a practice note on the statutory dispute resolution procedures, with tips on compliance.

Recruitment issues: CV fibbing

Recent news stories demonstrate that a large percentage of candidates for job vacancies make misleading statements in their applications.  Hannah Strawbridge, Solicitor in Weightmans’ Birmingham employment practice explores recent new stories and provides guidance on how to mitigate the effects of CV fibbing.

Weightmans’ Corporate Social Responsibility activities  

Corporate Social Responsibility policies provide employers with valuable tools for and contributing to the community, profile - raising and motivating and retaining employees. Sam Airey, Head of Human Resources at Weightmans LLP, provides an account of recent CSR activities undertaken by Weightmans employees.

Stop press - Paul McFarlane reports on the latest case from the European Court of Justice on age discrimination and retirement

As we are about to publish this month's Bulletin we have been informed of the ECJ decision in the case of Palacios de la Villa v Cortefiel Servicios SA (C-411/05).  The ECJ held that the age strand of the Equal Treatment Framework Directive (No.2000/78) does not preclude a Spanish law which provides for compulsory retirement clauses in collective agreements.  We will provide you with a more detailed analysis of this case in November's Bulletin. 

This update does not attempt to provide a full analysis of those matters with which it deals and is provided for general information purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice and should not be treated as a substitute for legal advice. Weightmans LLP accepts no responsibility for any loss that may arise from reliance on the information in this update. The copyright in this update is owned by Weightmans.