Weekly Issue 338

Equality Act – third party protection ends from 1 October

The government is repealing the third party harassment provisions in the Equality Act from 1 October - disregarding overwhelming opposition from senior members of the judiciary and despite having the support of only 20 per cent of those who responded to a consultation.

Mitigation

In cases of gross misconduct, tribunals must look at whether the employer believed the employee was guilty, had reasonable grounds for that belief and carried out a reasonable investigation before dismissing them.

Termination of contract

If an employee is offered - and accepts - the option of a redundancy, does that amount to dismissal or mutual termination of contract?