The Fast Five: 

1. Northern Ireland makes UK history with miscarriage leave 🌸
2. PSNI dismissals for sexual misconduct: the numbers revealed 🚔
3. Quiet quitting's cousins have arrived - meet microshifting and coffee badging ☕
4. Mental health now among the top three causes of staff absence 🧠
5. Skill Builder for HR: TUPE Management - Don't miss it on 23rd April 👔

In other news................Hub subscribers are beginning to request that our Chairman, Barry covers a particular AI topic in a future podcast. If you have a request, send it to him directly at barry@legal-island.com - he’ll feel like a DJ from the 80s…...🎧

1. Case Law Reviews
2. AI and Employment Law
3. Skill Builder for HR: TUPE Management
4. Cyber-Security
5. Employee engagement at lowest levels since 2020
6. UK first as NI brings in miscarriage leave
7. ONS office attendance rules to be relaxed
8. Just in Case You Missed It...
9. HR Developments
10. Employment News in the Media
11. GB Developments
12. Free Webinars This Month

KJ v The British Council [2026] EAT 46

Summary Description: 

Claimant successfully appealed against a 35% Chagger reduction of compensation for discrimination as the Tribunal did not consider what would have happened had there been no discriminatory conduct.

Claimant: 

KJ

Respondent: 

British Council

Practical Guidance for Employers:

This case primarily looks at the reductions that can be given to remedies for dismissal and discrimination.  In terms of the discrimination, the use of the Chagger reduction was challenged with the claimant successfully arguing that the Tribunal failed to consider the potential effect had there not been any discriminatory conduct.  This, of course, is a difficult one for the Tribunal to consider as it is hypothetical but it is one which has to be considered before a reduction could be made.

Read the Review in full: KJ v The British Council [2026]

MN v NHS Foundation Trust L [2026] EWCA Civ 71

Summary Description: 

Policy relating to disciplinary process was incorporated into the contract and a breach of it was found in terms of the investigation of the claimant.

Claimant: 

MN (Anonymised)

Respondent: 

NHS Foundation Trust L (also anonymised)

Practical Guidance for Employers:

This case demonstrates the extent to which there can be the incorporation of frameworks and policies within the contract of employment and as a result create rights that can be relied upon by employees.  In this case, it was the disciplinary policy and who was required to oversee the investigation and that it could not be delegated.   This should be taken into account by employers to ensure that they are looking at policies as a whole which may form part of the employment relationship rather than merely looking at the contract in isolation to view the responsibilities and duties.

Read the Review in full: MN v NHS Foundation Trust L [2026]

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These case reviews were written by Jason Elliott BL.  NI Tribunal decisions are available on the OITFET website.

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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UK: ICO Report on automated decision-making in recruitment

Organisations are increasingly using AI tools in recruitment to screen CVs, assess suitability, run online tests, and analyse behaviour. On 31 March 2026, the ICO released a report and draft guidance on automated decision‑making in recruitment, based on evidence from over 30 employers and wider public perception research. A key finding is that many employers do not realise they are using automated decision‑making and therefore fail to implement required safeguards such as transparency, bias monitoring, accountability, and respect for data subject rights. DLA Piper explains the risks.

How do you become a sophisticated AI User?

You’re likely measuring the results of your individual AI use the wrong way. Counting prompts and hours won’t tell you if your performance is improving. You need to focus on how you are using AI - not how often. This article from Harvard Business Review explains how to level up your AI skills.

AI for HR Weekly Podcast with Barry Phillips 🎙️

You can tune into the latest episode right here - or, if you’re on the move, why not take us with you?

Listen on 🎧 Spotify or Apple Podcasts

Simply search for “AI for HR Weekly Podcast” and enjoy expert insights anytime, anywhere.

Hub subscribers are beginning to request that our Chairman, Barry covers a particular AI topic in a future podcast. If you have a request, send it to him directly at barry@legal-island.com - he’ll feel like a DJ from the 80s…...🎧

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Skill Builder for HR: TUPE Management 

📅Thursday 23rd April 2026
⏰12:30 - 14:00 ( 1 hour 30 mins )
📍Online

Part of the Skill Builder for HR series, this 90-minute practical session is designed for HR professionals managing diverse ways of working across their organisations. Join Gareth Walls, Partner and Head of Employment Group at A&L Goodbody (NI) LLP and self-confessed TUPE ‘geek’ as he shares practical insights into managing TUPE transfers.

More here.

Legal Island Employment Law Hub Members receive two FREE Skill builder places*

*As part of their subscription - worth £270. T&Cs apply.

Find out more about all the upcoming Skill Builder for HR sessions HERE. 

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EA making 'good progress' to restore school IT systems after cyber attack

The Education Authority (EA) says it is continuing to "make good progress" to restore the IT systems used by schools in Northern Ireland after a cyber attack on Thursday. All online and IT systems in schools are provided through the C2K network, managed by the EA. The attack left all schools and pupils being unable to log into their accounts, meaning pupils could not log in to get work or resources provided by their teachers in the run up to exam season. BBC News has more.

Civil Service Pension Scheme: Capita confirms data breach

A data breach on the Civil Service Pension Scheme portal last week meant some members of the scheme received personal data relating to other members. Capita said 138 members of the scheme either received personal Annual Benefit Statements data belonging to other members and/or had their personal data seen by other members. Catch up here.

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Employee engagement measures the psychological attachment workers have to their work, their team and their employer. The latest State of the Global Workplace report finds that global employee engagement fell to 20% in 2025, its lowest level since 2020, costing the world economy an estimated $10 trillion in lost productivity. You can find out more here.

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The two weeks of leave for a woman and her partner is paid at the statutory level of just more than £194 per week, or 90% of weekly pay if that's lower. It can be taken as one continuous period, or as two separate weeks, within 56 weeks of miscarriage and parents do not have to provide medical evidence - they only have to tell their employer what happened. More from BBC News.

The Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (Employment and Earnings) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026

Employment Law at 11: Miscarriage & Bereavement in the Workplace

In our March instalment of Employment Law at 11 Seamus McGranaghan of O’Reilly Stewart Solicitors and Christine Quinn of Legal Island, gave us a guide to paid miscarriage leave in Northern Ireland and broader guidance on supporting employees through bereavement. They cover statutory entitlements, policy considerations, and best practices for compassionate workplace support, helping employers navigate these sensitive situations with confidence.

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Civil Service World reports civil servants in the Office for National Statistics have voted to bring an end to a two-year dispute over office attendance rules after agreeing a move away from individual targets. Under the new agreement, individual 40% attendance targets will be scrapped, with office attendance instead based on “clear, purposeful need”. An overall organisational attendance target of 40% will replace the individual quotas.

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The Employment Law Hub is a comprehensive, jurisdiction-specific resource designed for HR professionals, legal advisors, and business leaders. It centralises essential employment law and HR updates, expertly curated and written by leading HR and legal specialists to provide reliable, practical, and authoritative insights. We have over 700+ in depth articles and 1000+ case law reviews. As a subscriber, you have access to all of this. Check it out the full Hub here and below are some recent articles you may have missed.....

Beyond Vento: Is Personal Injury Reshaping Tribunal Compensation in Northern Ireland?

For discrimination claims in the Industrial Tribunal in Northern Ireland, the remedy is Injury to Feelings. Assessing the extent of Injury to Feelings is not a straightforward task and one that often requires an assessment of medical information/evidence by a Tribunal. In recent years however, there has been an increasing trend of discrimination claims being accompanied with a Personal Injury claim. Niall McMullan of Edwards Solicitors has more.

‘Seamus Says’ boils down the best bits from Legal Island’s live ‘Employment Law at 11’ webinar into straight-talking takeaways you can actually use. This week, we tackle who really owns return-to-work interviews—and how to spot patterns, challenge absences, and handle suspected “fakers” fairly and effectively.

Return-to-work interviews following sickness, is that the responsibility of line managers or HR?

A system update isn’t enough. Return-to-work interviews uncover patterns, set expectations, and keep absence management human - led by line managers, with HR stepping in only when issues escalate. Read more from Seamus McGranaghan, Director – Commercial, Education, Employment & Licensing, O'Reilly Stewart Solicitors.

Sickness Absence - How do you define a faker?

Spotting a “faker” isn’t guesswork - it’s about patterns, preparation, and the right questions. Return-to-work interviews, backed by data and evidence, help separate genuine absence from suspicion without turning the process into confrontation. More here. 

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From microshifting to coffee badging: whatever happened to just doing your job? 

Here’s another hot trend in the workplace – microshifting, and it’s about to revolutionize the workday by breaking the traditional 9-to-5 into short, flexible and non-linear bursts of activity rather than a continuous 8-hour stretch. Microshifting allows for a better work-life balance. Why not do a yoga class or pop to the shops during work hours? I mean, what is “work” anyway? Read more in The Guardian.

Acas: Mental health problems among top three reasons for staff absence

Almost a third of managers say that stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health problems were among the chief reasons staff give for sickness absence. A YouGov survey, commissioned by workplace expert Acas, asked employers what the top three reasons employees give for being off sick from work. More from Personnel Today.

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A Northern Ireland fuel protest will take place in several locations across the region at 2pm on April 14 after prices at the pump increased due to recent military action. The protest will take place at several locations including Larne, Westlink, Lisburn, Nutts Corner, Mallusk, Ballygawley and Omagh. Belfast Live has more.

An engineer has been awarded £66,295 at tribunal after he was dismissed for repeatedly telling his manager they were incompetent. Andrew Estcourt believed James Irving was not competent to lead the project and expressed his concerns both to Irving and more senior members of staff in meetings and over email. Estcourt was later dismissed from his role after Cadent Gas sent a letter requesting his removal from the contract, describing him as “obstructive” and “unsupportive”. More from People Management.

Waitrose is under growing pressure to reinstate an employee of 17 years who was sacked after tackling a shoplifter who was trying to steal Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs. The retailer has faced public outcry over its treatment of Walker Smith, who was fired two days after he stopped the shoplifter taking items from the Easter egg display reports the Guardian.

Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request reveal the number of PSNI officers dismissed due to sexual misconduct in the past 10 years. It comes as the Chief Constable pledged last week to take action after an independent review found "clear evidence of sexism and misogyny within the PSNI". The FOI request to the PSNI asked for the numbers of officers dismissed due to sexual misconduct. It found that from the start of the 2015 financial year, there has been 26 officers dismissed, with the majority of these dismissals taking place within the last five years. You can read more from Belfast Live here.

A trade union representative who was the subject of complaints by NHS managers over her ‘robust’ approach to workplace disputes has lost her employment tribunal. Dawn Macdonald, a nurse and branch secretary of Unison’s Highland Health branch, took the health chiefs to tribunal, claiming that she had been treated unfairly because of her role representing staff. More from the Herald.

The BBC reports a Network Rail worker was racially harassed by colleagues who placed an anti-Islam leaflet and a false stabbing accusation in his locker, an employment tribunal found. Parmjit Bassi, who was based at the Eastleigh depot in Hampshire, was treated as part of a perceived "other", despite not being Muslim, the Southampton tribunal ruled. It also found that Network Rail took a "laissez-faire" approach, failing to intervene as the situation escalated.

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NB: Please note these articles relate to GB and do not apply in Northern Ireland, unless otherwise stated.

April 2026 GB employment law updates

Multiple employment law changes are set to come into force in April. In addition to the usual uprate in the minimum wage, employers will also have to comply with new measures introduced under the Employment Rights Act including:

• The UK’s minimum wage for those aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour
• Statutory sick pay (SSP) is payable from the first day of illness
• Employees will be entitled to paternity and parental leave from day one of employment
• Unions applying to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) will face a reduced threshold for recognition.
• Employees who report sexual harassment at work will gain stronger legal protections

You can get the full details here from People Management.

Recruitment challenging as new employment law lands

Nearly three quarters of firms (71%) say they experienced hiring difficulties in Q1 of 2026, according to the latest data from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).   The research, published as the first elements of the Employment Rights Act come into effect, shows just 29% of businesses reporting no recruitment problems.  You can find the full press release here.

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Employment Law at 11

Our regular webinar will return in May. Got a topic you'd like Seamus and Christine to discuss? Drop us a line at gosia@legal-island.com or contact Seamus or Christine on LinkedIn.

📅 Friday 8th May 2026

🕒 11am to 11.45am

📍 Live online | Free to attend

REGISTER HERE

Can't wait until then? Catch up with the last webinar here:

Miscarriage & Bereavement in the Workplace

NEW LEGISLATION ALERT: In our March instalment of Employment Law at 11 Seamus McGranaghan of O’Reilly Stewart Solicitors and Christine Quinn of Legal Island, gave us a guide to paid miscarriage leave in Northern Ireland, coming into effect in April 2026, and broader guidance on supporting employees through bereavement. They cover statutory entitlements, policy considerations, and best practices for compassionate workplace support, helping employers navigate these sensitive situations with confidence.

Enjoy your weekend!

Legal Island

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