Morton Fraser's Podcasts

In our fortnightly podcast, David Hossack and Kerri McGaff discuss the Employment Appeal Tribunal case of Thomas v Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and another, in which the EAT considered whether "English Nationalism" could amount to a protected belief in the context of the claimant, an agency worker, having been dismissed prior to the expiry of his fixed-term contract.

In our latest Employment law podcast, Elise Turner speaks to David Hossack about the case of Alsnih v Al Quds Al-Arabi Publishing and Advertising, in which it was found that an employee was unfairly dismissed for refusing to download a work-related app to her personal phone.

In our latest podcast, David Hossack and Innes Clark discuss the recently published annual UK employment tribunal award statistics, including the highest awards made.

In our latest employment podcast, Sarah Gilzean talks to David Hossack about the recent case against Next in which 3,500 women won their equal pay claims when the employer was unable to justify the pay difference on the basis that they were paying male warehouse workers the market rate.

In our latest employment podcast, David Hossack speaks to Hayley Johnson about new guidance published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on Supporting Disabled Workers with Hybrid Working arrangements. Hayley signposts the practical tips included in the guidance and discusses how these can be used to encourage conversations between staff and managers about any barriers to working effectively.  

In our latest employment podcast David Hossack is joined by Jenny Dickson, Health and Safety expert and Chair of Morton Fraser MacRoberts to consider the practical steps that need to be taken by employers in the aftermaths of accidents at work.

In our recent podcast, David Hossack and Fiona Meek look at the recent EAT case of Masiero & others v Barchester Healthcare PLC, where the EAT concluded that the dismissal of the Claimants for refusing to comply with the mandatory covid vaccination policy was fair.  

With the law set to change in October to put the onus on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, David Hossack and discrimination expert Sarah Gilzean discuss what employers need to do to comply.

Care should be taken if an employer is considering dismissing an apprentice, as a higher legal threshold applies for terminating a contract of apprenticeship in Scotland compared to other employees. In our latest podcast, Nikita Sandhu discusses the case of Hassan v Commsworld Ltd with David Hossack and highlights why the employer was found to have unlawfully terminated their apprentice's contract.  It was accepted in this case that the individual was a common law apprentice. Even if a contract describes the arrangement as an apprenticeship, if the key features of a common law apprenticeship are not present then it is open to the Employment Tribunal or Court to find that the individual was not, in fact, a common law apprentice.  Please note that the above applies to the law of Scotland. Different considerations apply to apprentices in England and Wales.

In light of the recent General Election, Stuart McWilliams and David Hossack discuss what is likely to change for employers sponsoring work visas and what other reforms would be useful in the visa system.

In our latest employment podcast, David Hossack speaks to Innes Clark and Hayley Johnson about the new employment legislation that the Labour Government has promised to introduce - what changes can we expect to see and when? Are these the most significant changes we have seen to the world of work over the past 20 years?

In our latest employment podcast, we are joined by Tatiana Pignon from the Autonomy Institute to discuss a follow up report looking at the longer term effects of a four-day working week pilot which took place in the UK in 2022. Details of the report can be found via this link Making It Stick: The UK Four-Day Week Pilot One Year On - The Autonomy Institute

In our latest employment podcast David Hossack is joined by Grace Corby of Cloisters Chambers to discuss the use of AI in employment and the proposed Artificial Intelligence (Regulation and Employment Rights) Bill. As one of the team involved in the drafting of the Bill, Grace is well positioned to cast light on this area. Details of the Bill, which was an outcome of a TUC taskforce, can be found here Artificial Intelligence (Regulation and Employment Rights) Bill | TUC  

In our recent podcast, David Hossack and Fiona Meek look at a recent employment tribunal decision which has attracted a significant amount of publicity, regarding an employee who was dismissed and discriminated against in light of her gender critical beliefs.

In our latest employment podcast, hosted by David Hossack, Innes Clark and Hayley Johnson discuss the employment law changes that Labour are proposing in the event that they win the general election.

In our latest podcast, David Hossack and Ellen Grant discuss the recent Supreme Court decision of Secretary of State for the Department of Business and Trade v Mercer and the impact this judgement may have on the protection of workers who take part in industrial action during working hours.

David Hossack speaks to Hayley Johnson, Legal Director and Andrew Crammond, Barrister from Trinity Chambers about what you need to know about how Employment Tribunal hearings work in practice from giving evidence, how hearings in England and Scotland differ, to dos and don'ts during hearings.

David Hossack talks to Sarah Gilzean about the case of Lister v New College Swindon where a teacher was dismissed for - amongst other things - failing to use a pupil's preferred name and pronouns.

In our weekly podcast, David Hossack and Caroline Maher discuss the Employment Appeal Tribunal case of Omooba v Michael Garrett Associates Ltd (T/A Global Artists) and another in which the EAT considered whether there had been direct religion or belief discrimination or harassment when a Christian actor was dismissed from a role.  

David Hossack is joined by Tim LaTulippe from iDiscovery Solutions to discuss investigative steps that employers might take when there is a concern about sensitive information being taken by a departing employee. Tim's contact details can be found at Timothy LaTulippe - Director, UK/EEA (idsinc.com)