HR Matters Big Employment Law Quiz of the Year!
January
1. In the case of Chalmers v Airpoint, the EAT held that there was no ‘protected act’ on which to base a victimisation claim when Chalmers lodged a grievance using the words, “My work has been mostly ignored and I was excluded from the Christmas night out, both of which may be discriminatory”. Why was this?
a) Because a grievance cannot amount to a protected act
b) Because the Christmas night out was just an informal gathering, not a party
c) Because the use of the word “may” cast some doubt over whether she was complaining of discrimination
2. Workplace support for domestic abuse victims was high on the agenda in January 2021 with the BEIS and ACAS publishing a joint report. How many victims of domestic abuse (aged 17-76) did the report suggest that there are each year?
a) 2.3 million
b) 1.8 million
c) 3.1 million
February
3. Why is the February 2021 case of Allay v Gehlen music to employment law trainers’ ears?
a) Because a self-employed employment law trainer was held not to be caught by IR35
b) Because it established the principle of equal pay as between employment law trainers and health and safety trainers
c) Because it held that equal opportunities training needed to be regularly refreshed if an employer was to benefit from the statutory defence
4. In the period March 2020 to February 2021, what did 48% of whistleblower reports to the HSE relate to?
a) The dangers of working from home
b) Alleged failures by employers to implement social distancing measures
c) Display screen equipment failures
March
5. In the Supreme Court case of Royal Menap v Tomlinson-Blake the court decided that a care worker who carried out ‘sleep ins’ at care homes of residents was entitled to be paid what during this time:
Nothing, she was asleep, and this was not therefore “working time” for the purposes of the Working Time Regulations
Her minimum wage entitlement because she was there as part of her usual working duties
An enhancement due to the unsociable hours that she had to work in an already low paid position
6. Following the EAT decision in Mukoro v Independent Workers Union, which of the following excuses were held to be a valid reason for adjourning a hearing the same day, rather than striking the claim out:
The legal representative was held up in traffic
The Respondent’s main witness was on a pre booked holiday
The Claimant had a dental abscess requiring emergency treatment
April
7. The April 2021 case of Sinclair v Trackwork confirmed that an individual who is carrying out designated health and safety activities is protected by the law, even if their fellow workers find their manner over zealous and unwelcome (health and safety gone mad!). What form does this protection take?
a) A high-vis jacket, a hard hat and steel toe capped boots
b) Automatically unfair dismissal
c) Automatically unfair dismissal and a minimum basic award
8. On 6th April 2021 the Vento bands were updated. The Presidential guidance for maximum injury to feelings awards in the most exceptional cases is now:
£45,000
£45,600
Potentially more than £45,600
May
9. The May 2021 case of All Answers v Whelpfully illustrates the principle that, when assessing whether a Claimant has a disability, the ET should focus on the position “at the material time” (i.e. when the alleged act or acts of discrimination occurred). How does this work in practice?
a) It requires ET’s to conduct a hypothetical exercise, focusing on whether the test of disability was made out at the time, and disregarding what happened afterwards
b) It requires everyone to jump in the nearest DeLorean to travel back in time
c) It requires ET’s to conduct a hypothetical exercise, focusing on whether the test of disability was made out at the time, but this must be informed by what happened afterwards
10. In an important status case in May 2021 the EAT held that the absence of an irreducible minimum of obligation in the sense relied upon by the Respondent did not preclude the Claimant (Mr Somerville) from being a worker in circumstances where there was an overarching contract to perform services personally, and where the Claimant had performed such services under a series of separate contracts. The Claimant sat on the “fitness to practice” panel for a regulatory body. Each time he sat on such panel, there was an individual contract and there was also an overarching contract for services which addressed his chairing of the panel, but which regulatory body lost the appeal?
The GMC (General Medical Council)
The NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council)
The SC (Style Council)
June
11. Gibson v Lothian Leisure was one of the first reported cases looking at the issue of automatically unfair dismissal on health and safety grounds following a dismissal at the end of the first lockdown. Which category of automatically unfair dismissal did Gibson rely on?
a) Section 100(1)(b) – he was a health and safety rep and he was dismissed for performing his H&S functions
b) Section 100(1)((c) – there was no H&S committee so he raised health and safety concerns directly with his employer and was dismissed for doing so
c) Section 100(1)(e) – he was dismissed for taking appropriate steps to protect himself or other persons in circumstances of danger which he believed to be serious and imminent
12. In the contrasting case of Accattatis v Fortuna Group why did Accattatis fail in his claim of automatically unfair dismissal under Section 100(1)(e)?
a) Because the steps that he was proposing to take to protect himself were not “appropriate”
b) Because, following the development of the COVID vaccine, the danger could no longer be said to be “serious and imminent”
c) Because he worked for a PPE manufacturer and the irony would have been too much to bear
July
13. In this month, a decision was published which reminds us that, in indirect sex discrimination claims, tribunals are able to take “judicial notice” of the fact that it is well established that women bear a greater burden than men for childcare duties, as a result of which there is no need to prove “group disadvantage” if an employer’s provision, criterion or practice impacts a woman’s ability to perform childcare. What was the name of the case?
a) Dobson v The National Trust
b) Dobson v North Cumbria NHS Trust
c) Dobson v Trust Me It’s Not This One
14. In July 2021 the European Court of Justice (remember them?) held in IX v WABE & MH Muller GmbH v MJ that the policy of a chain of German day care centres (WABE) which required all employees to wear neutral dress and therefore prohibited employees from displaying, in a manner visible to parents, children or third parties, any signs of political, philosophical or religious beliefs, was not directly discriminatory contrary to EU law. Which of the following was not mentioned in the case report as an item that employees of the day care centre were required to remove:
headscarf
lightsabre
cross
August
15. In August 2021, what was helpfully extended to 5 April 2022 making life a lot easier for employers?
a) The deadline for submitting amended furlough pay claims to HMRC
b) The temporary adjustments to right to work checks brought in because of COVID
c) The deadline for introducing the new IR35 (“off payroll working”) rules
16. The August 2021 EAT decision in Moore v Phoenix Product Development Ltdheld that an appeal is not always necessary for a dismissal to be fair. Although a right of appeal will normally be required as part of a fair procedure, it was held that it would have been futile, but which of the following was not cited as a relevant factor contributing to the EAT’s decision that an appeal would have been futile:
the Claimant was a founder of the Respondent
the Claimant was unrepentant about his conduct and attitude
the Claimant had not shown any sign that he was likely to change
September
17. Which Supermarket announced that it was ending its practice of paying company sick pay to “pinged” employees who had to self-isolate, but only if they were unvaccinated?
a) ASDA
b) Tesco
c) Morrisons
18. Why in the case of Gwynned Council v Barratt was it held that a failure to offer an appeal rendered a redundancy dismissal unfair?
a) Because the employees had a contractual right to an appeal so it was unfair not to offer them one
b) Because not offering an appeal offends the rules of natural justice
c) Because it is a breach of the ACAS Code of Practice not to offer an appeal
October
19. Rooney v Leicester City Council is a case of discrimination brought by a menopausal woman. The menopause isn’t a protected characteristic in its own right, so what protected characteristic did Ms Rooney rely on?
a) Age
b) Sex
c) Disability
20. In Stott v Ralli the employer dismissed Stott for poor performance during her probationary period. Stott lodged an appeal and raised, for the first time, that she was suffering from a mental impairment which could amount to a disability. What interesting (albeit obiter) finding did the EAT make in this case?
a) As the employer was aware of disability by the time of the appeal, the original decision to dismiss was deemed to be disability-related discrimination.
b) The original decision to dismiss could not be discriminatory because of an absence of knowledge; however, the failure to consider the impact of the disability at the appeal stage could be disability-related discrimination.
c) There could be no discrimination at all here because the employer only found out about the possible disability after Stott’s employment had terminated.
November
21. What’s the name of the Society that has urged employers to stop asking job applicants about their previous salaries because it perpetuates pay inequalities?
a) The Fawcett Society
b) The Fair Pay Society
c) The Force-It Society
22. On 11 November ACAS updated its guidance on which controversial practice:
“fire at will”
“fire when ready”
“fire and rehire”
December
23. In December, which organisation became the first organisation to offer one week’s paid grandparent leave to its employees?
a) Channel 4
b) the BBC
c) Saga
24. In the case of Burn v Alder Hey what new duty did the Court of Appeal suggest could possibly be implied into employment contracts (but didn’t go so far as to imply it in this case)?
a) A duty to resolve a workplace grievance promptly
b) A duty to act fairly in disciplinary cases
c) A duty to allow reasonable paid time off to take part in Christmas quizzes