WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM 21 Looking ahead, how do you foresee the landscape of discrimination law evolving, especially with the rise of remote work and changed workplace dynamics? We already have laws on flexible working, including working from home, but remote working has become widespread, and reductions in the working week are increasingly being claimed or negotiated. The new Employment Rights Bill contains an important provision affecting such issues. At present, an employer who is refusing a formal application for flexible working must identify the ground(s) for refusal. The employee can complain to an employment tribunal that the decision to reject the application was based on incorrect facts, but clause 7 of the Bill would also enable the employee to complain that it was unreasonable to rely on the specified ground(s). This change could create a good deal of work for employment lawyers. In addition, granting contract changes for flexible working to some workers and refusing it to others can result in equal pay claims, because equal pay legislation covers other contract terms as well as pay. Moreover, a reduction in contracted hours without any change in pay obviously increases the hourly rate of the fortunate employee, and that increase could generate equal pay claims from employees whose pay has remained at the lower hourly rate. Other clauses in the Bill relate to steps to prevent the harassment of employees by third parties and equality action plans for larger employers, but these provisions are to be fleshed out in subsequent regulations. Of course, a Bill can undergo major changes during its passage through the two Houses of Parliament and the various Committee stages. About Michael Malone Michael Malone is a non-practising solicitor, mediator, and retired employment judge. He is based at Trinity Chambers Newcastle and divides his time mainly between the North East and the North West. He has substantial experience as a former judicial mediator and is also CEDR accredited. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Michael writes and lectures for both professional and lay audiences on equal pay and discrimination law generally. His publications include Discrimination Law - A Practical Guide for Management (Kogan Page 1993). Subsequently, he was the joint author, with Martin Edwards, of two editions of Tolley’s Equal Opportunities Handbook. He currently updates, at quarterly intervals, the equal pay and pensions chapters of Butterworths Discrimination Law. Michael did a great deal of equal pay work during his time as a salaried employment judge. The most high-profile case he chaired was a challenge to a job evaluation study covering approximately one million jobs (‘Hartley’). Tribunals that he chaired also considered market forces defences in that case and two other cases. Contact Josh Stewart-Tilling Tel: 0191 232 1927 Email: josh@trinitychambers.co.uk www.trinitychambers.co.uk
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