A young boy who fell off a climbing frame onto a concrete surface in 2009 has won £7,500 in compensation from Suffolk County Council. Jamie Griffin, now 10, was using the climbing frame in the playground at Burton End Primary School in Haverhill when...
The Government has announced its proposals for reform of the employment law system following its consultation, ‘Resolving Workplace Disputes’, and the Red Tape Challenge review of employment law. The aim is to replace overburdensome regulation...
A plater who suffered extensive damage to his hands as a result of continued use of vibrating tools has won damages of £12,000, the second time his employer has compensated him for work-related injury. The 54-year-old man had worked with vibrating...
A young girl who suffered brain damage at birth has been awarded £5.6 million in compensation in a High Court settlement. The girl, now 11 years old, was starved of oxygen at birth. Her mother had a placental abruption, which is where the placenta has...
A recent case ( Whitham v Club 24 Ltd. t/a Ventura ) sheds further light on how an employer should respond if an employee makes derogatory remarks concerning the workplace on a social networking site. Mrs Whitham worked as a team leader at Club 24 Ltd.,...
A journalist whose skin was left scarred after she underwent a cosmetic procedure for a newspaper feature she was writing has won damages from a spa in London. Charlotte Cripps, an arts writer for the Independent, underwent Intense Pulsed Light treatment,...
A grandmother who fractured her hip when she tripped on a Christmas tree decoration in Santa’s grotto in Selfridges in 2009 has won her claim for compensation after the Court of Appeal ruled that Father Christmas and his assistant should have made sure...
There has recently been a further case on long-term sickness and a worker’s right to accrue untaken annual holiday leave ( Fraser v Southwest London St George’s Mental Health Trust ). Mrs Fraser was on long-term sick leave after she injured her...
A rider who was injured after being thrown from her horse has won compensation of £37,000. The accident happened in 2007 when Ceri Tonkinson was riding in Cosmeston Country Park, near Penarth in Wales. The horse she was riding had only recently been...
A retired plumber who was diagnosed with mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos at work has won £115,000 in damages. The man had worked almost exclusively for the same building firm between 1950 and the early 1970s. He was exposed to asbestos...
After years of litigation, a young woman who suffered life-changing injuries when she was hit by a car as a child has been awarded a compensation settlement worth more than £9 million. Leigh Ann Blinkhorn, now 23, was seven years old when the accident...
A man who was almost blinded after an accident at work has won an undisclosed amount in damages. Trevor Watson, 42, was working as a drainage engineer. He was instructed to take his truck to a hydraulic specialist because of a blockage in its jetting...
Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (now superseded by the Equality Act 2010 ), when deciding whether or not an employer took sufficient steps to comply with its duty to make reasonable adjustments to remove a disadvantage faced by a disabled...
An engineer who was seriously injured when he fell through a roof has won more than £164,000 in damages. The 66-year-old man worked for electronics and electrical engineering company Siemens. He was installing CCTV cameras at Liverpool Lime Street...
A woman who lost a filling when she bit into an oven chip has won compensation from the manufacturer of the product. Susan Stapylton, 60, was eating Aunt Bessie’s oven chips. She bit into something solid and dislodged a filling in one of her wisdom...
In Williamson & Soden Solicitors v Briars , the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered the employment status of a solicitor who was described as a partner of the firm and whose remuneration was by way of a ‘guaranteed profit share’...
A golfer who was hit in the face by a stray golf ball has received compensation for her injuries. Rachel Davis was walking back to the car park from the ninth hole at Branston Golf and Country Club in Staffordshire when the accident happened. The ball hit...
A Gulf War veteran who suffered life-changing injuries when he hit a pothole and was thrown from his motorcycle has won an undisclosed amount in compensation from the council responsible for the upkeep of the road. The accident happened in February 2009,...
A retired man who has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease several decades after exposure has received more than £141,000 in compensation. For more than 20 years, the man worked as a labourer at a paper mill, where he operated a paper...
There are generally strict time limits that apply when presenting a claim for unfair dismissal to the Employment Tribunal (ET). Normally, a claim must be lodged before the end of a three-month period beginning with the effective date of termination (EDT)....
A shopper who was injured when he tried to lift a faulty box containing flat-pack furniture has won £11,000 in damages. The man was shopping at a major supermarket when the accident happened. He wished to buy the furniture and was attempting to remove...
A man who suffered damage to his hearing as a result of exposure to excessive noise in the workplace has won compensation from his employer. William Shipman, from West Yorkshire, had worked in a variety of jobs for a packaging company. During his...
A woman who missed out on her holiday after she fell down a set of temporary stairs at Birmingham International Airport has won £28,000 in compensation from Thomson Airways. Sheila Gilling, 69, was boarding a flight to Lanzarote when the accident...
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has issued for consultation proposals for introducing fees for those wishing to lodge a claim with an Employment Tribunal (ET) or an appeal with the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). Currently, the system is free to use and in...
A former professional jockey who was injured while working on an equestrian farm has won £22,000 in compensation. Jeffery Kear was working as an equestrian facilities manager at Stockland Lovell, near Bridgwater in Somerset. He had only been employed...
In July, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) announced that it had applied to intervene in four cases due to be heard by the European Court of Human Rights, all of which were brought by Christian employees who claimed to be victims of religious...
A man who suffered a serious spinal injury as a result of a mistaken hospital diagnosis in 2000 has won an undisclosed amount in compensation. Liam Careless, now 23, was 12 years old when he was taken to Tameside Hospital complaining of paralysis in his...
A man who was run over by musician Pete Doherty’s Daimler in 2009 has won an undisclosed amount in compensation at the High Court. Chris Corder, 42, was delivering church newsletters near Hadleigh in Suffolk when the accident happened. He was struck...
Every year the firm's Christmas party presents employees with the chance to relax and enjoy the holiday season. However, it is easy to forget that an employer owes its employees certain obligations, even outside work, when the employer has organised the...
The widow of a man who died of an asbestos-related disease has won over £250,000 in compensation. William Wolff had worked as a joiner for 50 years before he retired in 2005, three months before his 65th birthday. He and his wife had planned to tour...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published provisional fatal injury statistics for the year April 2010 to March 2011 . These show that the number of workers killed in Britain was 171, compared with an all time low of 147 deaths in the previous...
An amateur footballer who was seriously injured while playing on a poorly maintained pitch was recently awarded £22,700 in compensation at Dewsbury County Court. Paul Zoledziejewski, a 33-year-old mechanic, was playing for his club on a pitch in Shelf...
A grandmother has won substantial compensation for injuries she sustained when she slipped on a spillage at an ASDA superstore. Patricia Hill, 73, was shopping at the Rivergate store in Peterborough when she slipped on what was thought to be vegetable...
Following its Resolving Workplace Disputes consultation and the Red Tape Challenge review of employment law, the Government has announced its proposals for reform. The aim is to replace overly burdensome regulation whilst safeguarding workers’ rights,...
Every employer must provide employees with suitable personal protective equipment to guard against exposure to health and safety hazards while they are at work. To this end, employers should carry out risk assessments to identify any foreseeable risks faced...
The court has approved a compensation settlement of £900,000 for a boy whose leg had to be amputated shortly after he was born. Leo Ison, now six, was just three weeks old when doctors at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester told his parents that he would...
The construction industry is one of the most dangerous in which to earn a living. A construction worker who was seriously injured in a fall from height at work has secured a compensation package worth millions of pounds. The 38-year-old man was working for...
Under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR), which came into force on 1 October 2011, agency workers are entitled to have the same basic terms and conditions of employment as if they had been employed directly by the hirer once they have completed a...
A man who was struck by a van while walking through a car park has won £5,500 in damages. The man was returning to his car when he saw a van reversing, so he altered his route so that he passed in front of the vehicle. The van driver quickly changed...
A woman who was left permanently disabled after a routine hip operation went wrong has won over £100,000 in damages. Margaret Peabody, 51, was suffering from painful osteoarthritis and, in 2008, underwent an operation at the St Cross Hospital in Rugby...
Two companies have been fined a total of £450,000 and ordered to pay costs after health and safety failures led to a maintenance worker falling to his death. Christopher Booker, 49, was working at Aberthaw Power Station when the accident happened in...
A woman who fell from a boat during a pleasure cruise has been awarded compensation for the injuries she suffered as a result. The woman was at a Christmas party, with colleagues from work, when the accident happened. She and a friend had been dancing and...
A woman whose hearing was damaged as a result of exposure to excessive levels of noise at work has won just over £1,200 in compensation from one of her former employers. This comes on top of an earlier settlement of £2,700 from a different...
The Supreme Court has handed down its decision in a case concerning the employment status of 20 valeters who provided car-cleaning services to motor retailers and auctioneers ( Autoclenz Ltd. v Belcher and others ). The valeters had written contracts with...
The family of a former shipyard worker who was exposed to asbestos in more than one job has won compensation from three of his former employers. William Galloway began working as a lagger when he was 16 years old, and was exposed to asbestos during that...
A textile factory employee who suffered a serious wrist injury when he slipped at work has won £40,000 in an out-of-court settlement. The man, who is in his 60s, slipped on fluid that had leaked from a textile printing machine. He fell backwards and...
A retired roofer has won compensation for the injuries he suffered when a gas canister ignited, setting fire to him and forcing him to jump from a 12-foot roof. Victor Barrell, 65, was using a roofing torch, to which the gas canister was attached, to repair...
As reported previously, the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) as they currently stand are not in accord with recent decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the interpretation of the Working Time Directive with regard to the interaction of...
A woman who is disabled as a result of injuries she sustained when she was knocked down by a taxi when she was 14 years old has been awarded £3 million in compensation. Vicki Hart, now 22, was hit by the taxi while crossing the road in Guisborough,...
A school worker who fell from a toilet she was standing on in order to open a window has been awarded £15,900 in damages . Marie Wallace, 64, was a clerical assistant at Kirkriggs School in Glasgow. The accident happened when she attempted to open...
Employers are reminded that new National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates came into force on 1 October 2011. The revised rates are as follows: The adult hourly rate of the NMW has increased from £5.93 to £6.08; The development rate (which...
