Top 5 for Busy People 🕒

1. Newsflash!! ChatGPT5 has dropped and scores a clear round in our legal test..⚡
2. LRA sets the course – Fresh reports and forward plans just published 🚀
3. £100k payout – Disability & age bias claim settled against Fraser Partners Ltd 💼
4. £88k win – Northern Ireland woman scores big after unfair dismissal 👩‍⚖️
5. Discrimination exposed – Prison officer harassed over family ties to IRA wins most of his case ⚖️

In other news.....................seen the sneak peek of Legal Island’s Annual Review of Employment Law this November? It’s looking sharp - join us in-person or online! 📅 More info HERE 

**If you have any difficulties accessing the article or resetting your password (if you haven’t already done so in 2025) please email hub@legal-island.com and we’ll be in touch with you as soon as possible.**

1. Case Law Reviews
2. AI and Employment Law
3. Disability and age discrimination case settled against Fraser Partners Ltd for £100k
4. Northern Ireland woman awarded nearly £88k after unfair dismissal
5. Data Protection
6. EAT rules that employers are not obligated to pay National Minimum Wage for travel time to work
7. LRA publishes reports and plans for the future
8. Cost of Living
9. Just in Case You Missed It...
10. HR Developments
11. Employment News in the Media
12. GB Developments
13. Free Webinars This Month

Sweeney v Western Urgent Care Ltd [2025] NIIT 36864/23

Summary Description: 

Claimant successful in claiming unlawful deduction from wages when employer sought to reduce hourly pay claiming that there was a mistake and that she had been overpaid for three years.

Claimant: 

Anne Sweeney

Respondent: 

Western Urgent Care Ltd

Practical Guidance for Employers:

This case demonstrates the importance of having clear contractual statements when it comes to matters such as pay.  The issue was the distinction between sessional and salaried GP pay and how that linked into the claimant’s role. Additionally, there was no evidence to suggest that there was an overpayment and considering there was no evidence to the contrary the Tribunal found that the pay outlined to the claimant when providing the shifts from July to October 2023 meant that it was the proper pay rather than the reduced rate which the respondent had sought to enforce.

Read the Review in full:
Sweeney v Western Urgent Care Ltd [2025]

Maxwell v Queen’s University, Belfast [2025] NIIT 1752/24

Summary Description: 

Unlawful deduction from wages claim out of time and Tribunal did not have jurisdiction to hear the claim.

Claimant: 

Paul Maxwell

Respondent: 

Queen’s University, Belfast

Practical Guidance for Employers:

Yet another case relating to time limits.  In this case the claimant argued that he remained an employee by virtue of not receiving a P45 and receiving some correspondence.  However, the Tribunal did not have to determine that matter as the claim was submitted outside of time and the argument that it was due to Covid restrictions when said restrictions had already been lifted was not one accepted by the Tribunal.

Read the Review in full:
Maxwell v Queen’s University, Belfast [2025]

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These case reviews were written by Jason Elliott BL.  NI Tribunal decisions are available on the OITFET website:
http://www.employmenttribunalsni.co.uk/

If you have any queries or wish to comment on the reports please feel free to contact Jason at: jasondelliott@outlook.com 

Jason Elliott was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2013 and is the Associate Head of School of Law at Ulster University. As a practising barrister, he has developed a largely civil practice representing individuals, companies and public bodies in litigation.  This covers a wide range of areas including personal injuries, wills and employment law. In terms of employment law, he has represented both applicants and respondents in the Industrial Tribunal.   At Ulster University, Jason lectures extensively on the civil areas of practise such as Equity and Trusts and delivers employment law lectures for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Remember: Our case law reviews are held in our case law section on our fully-searchable employment law hub website.

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Newsflash!! ChatGPT5 has dropped and scores a clear round in our legal test..

This week Barry Phillips puts ChatGPT5 to the test and witnesses another big leap forwards.

You can also access the episode here.

Duracell become first company to adopt new integrated AI-augmented contracting solution

Global battery leader Duracell has become the first company to adopt a new integrated AI-augmented contracting solution developed by Eudia, in partnership with recently acquired Irish legal services provider Johnson Hana. The announcement marks a significant milestone for Eudia, a US-based leader in Augmented Intelligence for Fortune 500 legal departments. More here.

Two-thirds of officials expect AI to benefit government

Two thirds of civil servants polled in a survey by YouGov have said that they expect plans for deploying artificial intelligence across Whitehall in the coming years will have a positive effect on the work of government. The newly published survey found that 65% of respondents said the adoption of AI “along the lines outlined by the government” will have a positive impact on the civil service over the next few years. Officials were especially likely to say AI will have a help improve productivity (71%), with more than half also expecting it to help save money (57%) and improve public service delivery (52%). 
Public Technology has more on this story.

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Clifford Donaldson has settled a disability and age discrimination case against his former employer, Fraser Partners Ltd, for £100,000. The case was supported by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and was settled without admission of liability.

Mr Donaldson was employed by Fraser Partners Ltd as a site manager for over seven years.  In January 2023, he had two strokes that impacted on his speech and movement. After a short period of sick leave, he returned to work on a phased basis. Mr Donaldson asked for a reduction in his working hours to 30 hours per week, with a reduced salary. In the summer of 2023, Fraser Partners Ltd recruited a new site manager who was younger than Mr Donaldson. 

Mr Donaldson was told that his own employment would end in September 2023. He alleged that he was told that the new site manager would now manage the housing construction over three sites. Mr Donaldson was later offered a potential consultancy role to commence after his employment ended, but he says it came with no guarantee of hours or duration. He did not take up this offer and his employment with the company finished in September 2023.

Read more here.

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Rosaleen Conway was employed by JMC Packaging Limited, initially as chief financial officer and later as finance director. The respondent company claimed Ms Conway had resigned her employment after telling the managing director: “I can’t take this anymore, I have to go before I end up falling out with you.” However, Employment Judge Orla Murray said the words “were not unambiguous words of resignation” and the managing director’s account of events lacked credibility, reports Irish Legal News.

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ICO issues guidance on disclosing documents securely following MoD security breach

The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued guidance to help organisations disclose documents securely after serious data breaches, including at the Ministry of Defence. The regulator said the new guidance is its “most comprehensive resource on avoiding accidental data breaches when disclosing documents to the public, replacing an advisory note issued in the immediate aftermath of high-profile data breaches in 2023”. Read more here. 

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In the case of Revenue and Customs Commissioners v Taylors Services Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that time spent by workers travelling from their homes to the first place of work and back, using their employer’s transport (minibus), is not considered “time work” for National Minimum Wage (NMW) purposes, according to legal resources. The EAT reversed the Employment Tribunal’s decision, which had classified this travel time as “time work” under the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015. HR Director has more on this.

Jason Elliott BL covered this in a case law review which can be found here.

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The Labour Relations Agency have published their Annual Report for 2024-2025, their Corporate Plan for 2025-2029 and Business Plan for 2025-2026.

They comment that it has been a remarkable year; their staff have rallied to deliver both dispute prevention and dispute resolution services in the context of large-scale public sector unrest. Whilst they celebrate successes and thank staff for their commitment and hard work, they also now look forward to playing their part in the development of the ‘Good Jobs’ Employment Rights Bill for Northern Ireland – the first significant reform of employment law in years – and the overall Good Jobs Agenda.

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UK National Living Wage increase 2026: Advisory body estimates wage to rise by 4.1% to £12.71 an hour

The UK Government has asked the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to ensure the national living wage doesn’t drop below two-thirds of UK median earnings. The advisory body predicts a potential increase of up to 65p an hour for UK workers. Currently, the rate stands at £12.21 per hour. To avoid dipping below two-thirds of median earnings - a benchmark the Government insists on - the LPC suggests it should reach £12.71 by 2026. National World has more.

‘Knowledge gap’ fuelling stress about workers’ finances

Almost three-quarters of employees are stressed about their finances, with two-fifths unprepared for financial emergencies, according to Hymans Robertson Personal Wealth. More than a quarter (27%) of respondents to Hymans Robertson’s survey felt their financial situation was at crisis point or described themselves as struggling. The cost of living continues to be the biggest concern for employees, the survey found, with 56% citing this. A quarter worry about paying off debts, and a further quarter are concerned about saving for retirement. Personnel Today has more here.

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Burying workplace sexual harassment allegations no longer an option?

Niall McMullan of Edwards Solicitors gives his take on the impending ban on NDAs. Access the article here.

Latest Q&A

Madison Bowyer of Arthur Cox NI provides the answers to more of your burning questions:

• When and why might Employers have a separate non-disclosure agreement (“NDA”) rather than just merely relying on the confidentiality clauses within an employment contract? Read here.
   
  
• How can our organisation prepare ahead of the failure to prevent fraud offence coming into force on 1st September 2025? More here.
   
  
• Is an employer required to inform employees on maternity leave about internal job vacancies? Read more.

Poll Results Are In! Recruitment Insights from Legal Island... 🚨

Legal Island’s latest poll reveals what’s keeping HR up at night – and it’s still talent shortages by a mile. Two-thirds say they can’t find the right candidates, and employer branding remains a work in progress for many. Only 19% rate theirs as “very strong”. If HR had a recruitment superpower? 42% want x-ray vision to find hidden talent.
Full results here.

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The role of benefits in supporting corporate culture after mergers or acquisitions

Arguably the challenging element of any merger or acquisition (M&A) is integrating the two disparate corporate cultures, to create an environment in which employees, and ultimately the business itself, can thrive and flourish. Often, issues arise due to a lack of clarity, says Jenny Hinde, chief people officer at Personal Group. Employee benefits have the potential to help in such situations, by providing employees with a common set of measures that can help them feel part of the new organisation. More from Employee Benefits.

Businesses are moving away from fire and rehire prior to reforms

Many UK employers are already taking steps to distance themselves from controversial ‘fire and rehire’ practices in a move that could help them stay ahead of Government reforms due to come into force next year. Just 15% of businesses have ever used ‘fire and rehire’ tactics to implement contractual changes and only 4% had used the controversial practice in the last year. Experts warn though that the move away presents a potential skills gap that should be addressed. HR Director has more here.

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The EU Pay Transparency Directive is having an impact on pay culture in the UK, as three-quarters (76%) of British companies plan to share individuals’ pay ranges with employees, according to research. WTW’s 2025 Pay Transparency Survey also found that 70% of employers plan to share pay range information with external candidates, regardless of legal requirements. Catch up here.

An employment tribunal has awarded £2,500 to Scottish care assistant after she was "outnumbered" during a formal meeting in which the participants spoke Polish to each other. Samantha Kellington-Crawford, who worked as a carer for Newlands Care Angus, won the compensation after she was called into a meeting with three managers who spoke to each other in Polish, which the tribunal ruled was race discrimination and harassment. The tribunal found that deliberately excluding a colleague by speaking a foreign language they cannot understand is racial discrimination. The documentation about the case, published on 31 July, stated that the managers' actions “violated [the claimant's] dignity or created an intimidating, degrading or humiliating environment”. You can read more from HR Magazine.

The BBC reports that more than three thousand Boeing defence workers went on strike on Monday, in a fresh blow to the embattled aviation giant. It comes after union members at operations in Missouri and Illinois, who build F-15 fighter jets and other military aircraft, voted against the firm's latest offer over pay, work schedules and pensions. Boeing is struggling to turn itself around after a series of problems, including safety issues and a damaging almost eight-week walkout by passenger plane workers last year. Read more here.

A Northern Irish prison officer has succeeded in most of his unfair dismissal, race and religious discrimination case after his prison governor harassed him over family links to the IRA. His dismissal stemmed from an incident involving the use of force on a prisoner. The claimant, Sean Gough, who had worked as a senior guard at HMP Bedford from 2016 before becoming a supervising officer in February 2021, was sent texts by governor Adam Megicks alleging ties with the terrorist organisation. Personnel Today has more.

A Marks Electrical employee stole more than £35,000 worth of goods from the retailer and sold them online. Matthew George's haul of items included Dyson, Nintendo and Playstation products, which were accumulated in just one year. Items stolen from the store were later found on an eBay account linked to the 32-year-old, reports Leicestershire Live.

A Watford FC diversity officer screamed 'Go back to your country, you bloody Indians' while throwing punches at Southall station during a violent confrontation with railway staff, a court has heard. University graduate Ebonnie-Rose John-Jules was an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Championship club's Community Sports & Education Trust. 
The Daily Mail has more on this story.

A PSNI officer who was recently sacked for sending sectarian, racist, anti-Semitic, misogynistic and sexualised WhatsApp messages is a senior member of the Royal British Legion in Northern Ireland. The charity has said that it has now launched an investigation into the issue in order to see if the former officer's actions are in accordance with its values and behaviours. Belfast Live has more.

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One in five employers flag flexible working as most challenging reform in employment rights bill, survey shows

The employment rights bill has been described by the government as the “biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation”, with a ban on zero-hours contracts and day-one protections against unfair dismissal among its many proposals. However, 22 per cent of HR leaders believe making flexible working the “default” where practical will be the most difficult aspect of the legislation to enforce, according to a survey of 300 UK HR decision-makers by payroll software provider Ciphr. More from People Management.

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Employment Law at 11 - Here Comes the Sun: Holiday Leave Essentials for NI Employers

Missed last week's webinar? Fear not! You can catch up here.

Check out previous discussions:
Legal Island | Webinars and Podcasts

Enjoy your weekend!

Legal Island

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