This week’s MMD is slightly curtailed with our team presenting our annual Mock Tribunal at the Theatre Royal Wakefield at the time of writing.

Nevertheless, we still have the 2^nd episode of the MMD podcast to share with you as well as updates in the news from both the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court on issues of vicarious liability and holiday pay respectively.

THE MMD PODCAST

Podcast – Episode 2

An Absolute Menace! – What exactly do you have to do to get a lifetime driving ban?

This week Sam and Nils discuss a Court of Appeal decision regarding the appropriateness of imposing a lifetime disqualification from driving and consider historic holiday pay claims and how a recent ruling means workers may be entitled to thousands in historic underpayments.

https://spoti.fi/3twjyU5

Ask the experts

Each week on the podcast we will answer any of your questions on employment, regulatory law, or any other topic. Please email to team at mmd@chadlaw.co.uk

There have been lots of relevant employment law/HR updates this week.

Court of Appeal and vicarious liability: work experience placement akin to employment but insufficient close connection to tort

The Court of Appeal unanimously decided that the school was not vicariously liable for sexual abuse by an individual on a work experience placement.

Vicarious liability is a common law principle which imposes strict liability on employers for the wrongdoings of their employees. Vicarious liability may also arise in respect of a relationship that is “akin to employment”. There is a two-stage test to satisfy whether the employer incurs vicarious liability. For stage one you must identify the relationship between the employer and tortfeasor. This must be one of employment or one that is akin to employment. In relation to stage two, there must be a sufficiently close connection between stage one relationship and the commission of tort.

In MXX v A Secondary School [2023] EWCA Civ 996 the Court of Appeal found that the High Court were mistaken in finding that the relationship between the school and PXM was not akin to employment but held that the facts did not satisfy the requirements of the close connection test. This is because the grooming which led to the sexual offending was not inextricably woven with PXM carrying out the work during the work experience placement such that it would be fair and just to hold the school vicariously liable.

This case provides guidance on what is required to establish vicarious liability in the context of working with children and the importance of thorough scrutiny of the facts and risks in each case.

https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2023/996.html

Historic holiday pay claims can be brought even where there is a gap of three months or more between a series of underpayments.

Prior to this week’s ruling, workers who consistently received incorrect pay could only make a claim for the most recent underpayment. The worker could make a claim for similar underpayments on previous occasions provided that there was not a gap of three or more months between them. Due to the judgement in Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and another v Agnew and other & UNISON, many workers will now be able to challenge ongoing linked underpayments in their wages. A period of three months or more between alleged deductions or lawful payment no longer acts as a break to any series of deductions and no longer limits prior claims. The recent ruling means that workers may be entitled to thousands in historic underpayments and prevents workers being unfairly denied the chance to have their legitimate claims heard in the future.

For full details, please visit:

https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2019-0204-judgment.pdf

UPCOMING EVENTS

We have lots of exciting events coming up which we would love for you to be a part of.

To register your interest in any event, please email seminars@chadlaw.co.uk. We look forward to seeing you there!

JOIN US FOR OUR MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS SESSIONS

Through our relationship with Tailored Learning Solutions who provide mental health first aid courses in our business, we are now able to announce that we are running multiple courses, including MHFA England Adult Courses, Supporting Mental Health in the Workplace Course – For Managers (Non Accredited Course), and Understanding Suicide Intervention at our Wakefield office.

There are events taking place at our Wakefield office as follows:

MHFA England Adult Courses

• 28/29th November 2023 – 2 days, 9.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.

The details of these sessions can be found at the Tailored Learning Solutions website: https://www.tailoredlearningsolutions.co.uk/book-online?category=all-services

If you would like further information and details of the cost for these events, please email carolgledhill@chadlaw.co.uk