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FLEXIBLE WORKING
Parents and some others responsible for looking after children under the age of six (or eighteen if the child is disabled) have had the right to request flexible working, such as part-time or working from home, and to ensure that such requests are taken seriously, since April 2003, provided they have worked for their employer for at least six months.
This right is to be extended to employees responsible for caring for their spouse or partner, adult relatives, and other adults living at their address, with effect from 6th April 2007. There are various grounds on which an employer can legally refuse a request for flexible working, but employees whose requests have not been considered seriously can apply to an employment tribunal for compensation, and some have successfully done so.
The trend towards flexible working arrangements appears to be ongoing. The BBC have reported that Beverly Hughes, the children's minister, has suggested in a book due to be published in May, that workers without children should have the same rights as parents to request flexible working.
FINAL WARNINGS AND DISMISSAL
When an employment tribunal is deciding whether a dismissal is unfair, it has to consider whether "in the circumstances..the employer acted reasonably or unreasonably" in deciding that the reason for dismissal was sufficient to warrant dismissal. A recent Employment Appeals Tribunal (Airbus UK Ltd v Webb) has made clear that an expired final warning cannot be taken into account when deciding whether an employer has acted reasonably in dismissing an employee.
In the case, five employees were found guilty of misconduct, but only one, Mr Webb, was dismissed. He had been given a final written warning following a similar offence in the past, but this had recently expired. He won an unfair dismissal claim on the basis of inconsistent treatment. Airbus appealed, on the grounds that it was permissible for it to take account of the recently expired final warning. The EAT stated that expired warnings must be ignored, and Airbus lost their appeal.
DISCRIMINATION AND THE EQUALITIES REVIEW
A recent government-commissioned report concluded that women with young children suffer more discrimination at work than disabled people or those from ethnic minorities.
The review found that a partnered mother of a child under 11 was 45% less likely to be in work than a partnered man, compared to disabled people, who were 29% less likely to be in employment than non-disabled. In a survey of recruitment agencies, more than 70% said they had been asked by clients to avoid hiring pregnant women, or women of child-bearing age.
The report recommends ten steps to increasing equality, including setting targets and measuring progress; using procurement and commissioning more positively; and more sophisticated means of enforcement.
In a related comment, Lee Jasper, the Mayor of London's policy director on equalities and policing, said 'I want to see greater diversity coming through and these issues will become absolutely critical in procuring contracts as far as the City is concerned.'
Ruth Kelly, Communities Secretary, said the Government had already made progress in helping women balance work and family life, with measures such as the right to request flexible working and new paternity rights.