Weekly Issue 442

Fee system not working

In their submission to the government’s review of employment tribunal fees, the Employment Tribunals (England & Wales) have concluded that they have not been successful in achieving the Government’s stated objectives.

Role for HR

Although an investigating officer is entitled to call for advice from Human Resources (HR), the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held in Ramphal v Department for Transport that the advice must be limited to questions of law, procedure and process. It was not the role of HR to advise whether the finding should be one of simple misconduct or gross misconduct.

Travelling and working time

The Working Time Directive defines “working time” as any period when the worker is working, at their employer’s disposal and carrying out their “activity or duties”. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) held in Federacion de Servicios Privados del Sindicato Comisiones Obreras v Tyco Integrated Security SL and anor that for mobile workers it also includes time spent travelling to and from the premises of customers at the beginning and end of the day.