The Employment Law & HR Podcast
Using E-Cigarettes at work

How do you deal with staff who 'Vape' at work

In this episode of the Podcast I give you a summary of a recent Employment Tribunal case within which the issue of the use of e-cigarettes at work resulted in an employee facing disciplinary action and resigning from her employment. In this case the employee Ms Insley was seen using an e-cigarette at work. She was a catering assistant at a secondary school. When the Headmaster reported the matter to her employer, Accent Catering, they started disciplinary proceedings, stating that it could be gross misconduct.

Ms Insley resigned and claimed constructive unfair dismissal in the Employment Tribunal.

Particularly you will learn….

  • What the current law is regarding e-cigarettes.
  • The points to consider when looking at staff use of e-cigarettes at work. 
  • Why you should review your smoking policy and notify staff of the changes fairly urgently.
  • What the decision means for your business.
  • Why Ms Insley perhaps would have been better to wait for decision from her employer before resigning.

HR Best Practice Tip

The HR tip of the week follows several issues that have been raised by my clients about managing poor performance of staff and the uncomfortable feeling of doing this.

Direct download: Episode_16.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am EDT

Misuse of Twitter & Unfair Dismissal : Episode 15

What happens when an employee tweets offensive comments

In this episode of the Podcast I give you a summary of a recent Employment Appeal Tribunal case within which the issue of the misuse of an employees personal twitter account resulted in his dismissal for gross misconduct.  In this case the employee Mr Laws tweeted offensive messages (28 in total) on his personal account and although his account and the tweets were unrelated to work he was dismissed for gross misconduct by his employer Game Retail Limited.

Mr Laws was successful with his claim in the Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal but the Employment Appeal Tribunal thought that the Tribunal had not applied the correct tests or considered the correct questions when deciding the case.

Particularly you will learn….

  • What the correct test for reasonableness of a dismissal is.
  • The points to consider when disciplining or dismissing an employee for social media comments.
  • Precautions you should take when dealing with social media issues.
  • What the decision means for your business.
  • The background to the decision.

HR Best Practice Tip

The HR tip of the week follows the featured case and gives guidance on your social media policy, why you need one and what you should do to prevent issues.

Podcast references

Game Retail Limited v Mr C Laws

If you would like to read a full copy of the Judgement you can find a copy by clicking EAT full decision Game Retail Limited v Mr Laws

Direct download: Episode_15.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:00am EDT

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