The concept of ‘all reasonable steps’ is not a new one. In harassment cases under Equality Act 2010, employers are able to defend a claim for harassment on the basis that they took ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent it. The defence is narrow and very hard to run successfully. Many employers will run the defence in the early stages of a tribunal claim, only to quietly drop it in the face of an obvious inability to provide the evidence required to demonstrate that they had done it ‘all’.
A recent Employment tribunal judgment provides a good case study for employers of what not to do when dismissing an employee for gross misconduct. In Langton v Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue, Mr Langton, an experienced firefighter, was summarily dismissed for gross misconduct after making a “misogynistic” comment saying a woman he rescued looked ‘haggard for her age’. The employment tribunal found that the dismissal was unfair.
Handling appeals can feel like revisiting ground you would rather leave behind. However, from a legal perspective, offering an appeal is not optional in most cases – it is a fundamental part of a fair dismissal process.
Last month, the Government released its latest ‘name and shame’ list of employers who failed to pay national minimum wage to their workers. On the list were high profile names including Costa, Bupa, and Hovis. This potentially reputationally damaging naming and shaming process sits alongside fines of up to 200% of the value of the underpayment. Paying national minimum wage incorrectly can be costly in more ways than one.
April marks the month each year where changes to statutory rates come into force. Most rate changes take effect from 6th April (to align with the start of the new tax year).
The statutory rates for family leave, sick pay, redundancy and the cap on unfair dismissal compensatory awards are, from 6th April 2026, as follows:
Work has started to create a new five-court padel venue in Southport which is scheduled to open in June.
Site clearance and groundworks are under way at the six-figure Birkdale Padel Club development in Victoria Park, which is the first project by Sefton Padel.
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