We’ve had a problem with mice in the office recently so when I saw a tweet from @jonb1966 linking to this YouTube video, I had to put it on here. As Jon says it’s very funny, if a little disturbing. I don’t think any animals were actually hurt in making it.
Employment Law Explained
Internet Marketing Training Workshop
Future First, a Lon
don based web design agency are running a series of one day Internet Marketing Training Workshops over the next few weeks near Old Street. The course covers the use of social media in the business environment, SEO, Blogging and Twitter. I went on the course last year and fond it very informative.
Future First also redesigned this blog for me last year and I am happy to recommend it to anyone who wants an entry level introduction to the topic. The course costs £500 + VAT but that can be reimbursed under the Train 2 Gain Leadership and Management Grant, if you qualify.
Constructive Dismissal: Good news for Employers?
Daniel Barnett’s regular news alert brought the case of Aberdeen City Council v McNeill to my attention. It provides a useful reminder about who must be in breach of the contract of employment before an employee can pursue a claim for constructive dismissal.
The facts were these:
Mr McNeill was a long standing employee of the Council. He became embroiled in disciplinary proceedings when his line manager was suspended pending investigation of alleged misconduct of a financial nature. The Claimant believed he had heard his line manager and a female employee, on two occasions, engaging in sexual activity together. It appears he was rather indiscreet in keeping this information to himself and was himself suspended for breaching confidentiality, as well as making defamatory remarks about a female colleague. That same female colleague alleged harassment, sexual harassment and bullying against Mr McNeill.
Tesco Rules
No, not a post about the dreaded Tesco law, but an article from the Metro on what you can and can’t wear in their stores.
http://www.metro.co.uk/home/812358-top-5-weird-tesco-rules
Any more ideas for what should be banned? Shell suits? Man U shirts?
Blog Off!
It’s getting a bit scary. Recently I wrote about how I predicted that Gordon Turner’s serial-litigants.com search website for tracking down abusers of the ET system would be challenged (and it was, in Parliament). Then I wrote a piece about the need for employers to develop social media policies for use by their staff – and last weekend Vodafone hit the news when one of their employees misused the corporate Twitter account to write homophobic and sexist comments. Then Manchester United and Manchester City denied having banned their players from using social media. Finally the BBC tonight reports on a “cyberspace witch hunt” at the world’s formerly favourite airline, BA. 15 cabin crew members are reported to have been suspended for posting inappropriate comments on the Unite website. Unite retorts that the comments were on its Facebook page (so what?) and accused BA of “intimidation”. Clearly this blog is a happening place.
Combating Tesco Law: Prepare your Brand Presence
How prepared are you for the Legal Services Act?
Gateway Media are a very accomplished media agency with some blue-chip clients. I was therefore delighted to be invited to speak on the 2nd March at the above workshop about the Legal Services Act 2007 and the implications for lawyers. I will be taking a look at the Legal Services Act and its main provisions in a talk entitled “The Legal Services Act Explained“. The introduction of Alternative Business Structures is now only a year away.
To Baldly Go …
Last week’s Law Society Gazette had an amusing article in its diary section, about a man in a post office sticking stamps onto the scores of valentine’s cards he had written, all of which said “I love you from ?”. He was, of course, a divorce lawyer touting for business. I laughed. However, I wasn’t so impressed by the way the scene was set because he is introduced to us as a “balding middle aged man”. Now, can anyone explain why this is so funny? When are the Employment Equality (Prohibition of Baldie jokes) Regulations coming into force? Not that I’m sensitive about it you understand…
Truly I can see the Future
Truly I can see the future. A few weeks ago I wrote on this blog about a website run by Gordon Turner and Damien McCarthy, the two employment lawyers who set up www.serial-litigants.com, designed to keep a check on those claimants who repeatedly bring claims against different employers (or potential employers) for the same thing – usually discrimination claims. I welcomed the scheme but thought that it might hit problems with the Data Protection Act, which governs what information can be held on people and how it can be used. Then, lo and behold, I received this email from Gordon Turner a few days ago;
Why Employers need a Social Media Policy
Everyone is talking about social media these days and no longer is it confined to the purely social. Many businesses are using it to promote themselves; good heavens, even lawyers are getting into it. But use of sites like Facebook, My Space, You Tube and micro-blogging sites like Twitter present multiple challenges to employers.
Case Round Up 25th January 2010
There have been some interesting reported cases over the last couple of weeks on a broad range of topics. For instance,
Legal Representation at Internal Disciplinary Hearings