April 6: Additional paternity leave and pay legislation comes into force
The right to additional paternity leave and pay was introduced on 6 April 2010. This allows fathers to benefit from up to six months' additional paternity leave if the mother returns to work before using her full entitlement to statutory maternity leave. The new right is available to parents of children with an expected week of childbirth beginning on or after 3 April 2011.

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Why it should not matter how wide "philosophical belief" extends
In Grainger plc v Nicholson, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) said that, to be protected under the religious discrimination Regulations, a philosophical belief must be "worthy of respect in a democratic society and not incompatible with human dignity". Consultant editor Darren Newman questions the necessity of limiting protection in this way.

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Age discrimination: Keane v Investigo and others
The EAT upheld an employment tribunal finding that a job applicant did not suffer age discrimination when her applications were not genuine.

Age discrimination: Wolf v Stadt Frankfurt Am Main
The ECJ held that the German Government's restriction on recruitment as a firefighter to those aged 30 or under does not give rise to age discrimination because it constitutes a proportionate "genuine and determining occupational requirement" in pursuit of a legitimate aim, within the meaning of art.4(1) of the Equal Treatment Framework Directive.

Religious discrimination: Eweida v British Airways plc
The Court of Appeal upheld an employment tribunal finding that a Christian employee, who was sent home when she insisted on wearing a cross visibly, in breach of the employer's uniform policy, did not suffer indirect discrimination. The Court rejected the employee's argument that the test of indirect discrimination was met, even if she was alone in being disadvantaged by the policy.

Race discrimination: Muschett v HM Prison Service
The Court of Appeal upheld an employment tribunal decision that an agency worker was not an employee of the end user. Nor was he in its employment under the wider meaning in discrimination legislation. Therefore, he was unable to bring claims against it for unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal and discrimination.

Sex discrimination: O'Neill v Buckinghamshire County Council
The EAT has upheld an employment tribunal finding that the employer had not failed to carry out a risk assessment on the basis that the requirement to carry out an assessment did not apply to the employee's work. There is no general obligation to carry out a risk assessment on pregnant employees so that a failure to do so amounts to discrimination per se. The obligation to carry out a risk assessment is triggered only in certain circumstances.

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XpertHR provides summaries of recent employment tribunal rulings involving, among other things:

› sex discrimination - Royal Navy officer whose applications for promotion were repeatedly turned down;

› sex discrimination - an employee who successfully claimed despite having an illegal contract of employment with her employer;

› sexual orientation discrimination - gay pub employee who was subjected to offensive comments;

› religious discrimination - a Muslim applicant who claimed against a Christian organisation;

› disability discrimination - a job offer that was made to an applicant with bipolar affective disorder was withdrawn; and

› age discrimination - a 42-year-old disc jockey who was subjected to age discrimination.

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Good practice: Disability
This good practice guide covers: how to attract disabled people to an organisation; how to make the application and interview processes inclusive; and the ongoing considerations to ensure that disabled employees are employed productively for their skills and experience.

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IRS flexible working survey 2010: combating the recession
In this report on the IRS flexible working survey 2010, IRS investigates employers' use of flexible working measures to cut employment costs and reduce job losses.

IRS flexible working survey 2010: take-up and employee requests
IRS finds that the number of employee requests to work flexibly is on the increase. Most employers consider requests to work flexibly from all employees, and informal arrangements are now the norm.

IRS flexible working survey 2010: benefits, issues, and making it work
IRS looks at which options are on offer, their benefits and pitfalls, and how organisations are successfully adapting to new ways of working.

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› Draft EHRC code of practice: don't panic!

› Is your workplace disability confident?

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