Reflecting On Employment Law Cases And Developments In 2020

Dealing with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the workforce has held the top spot on the HR to-do list for most of 2020. But what other developments should employers note from the last 12 months? Putting Covid-19 to one side, we've picked out some interesting cases and other developments from 2020 for employers to reflect on as the year draws to a close.

Equality and discrimination

As usual, there has been a great deal of activity in the equality sphere:

• Vegetarianism and veganism: we learnt that whilst vegetarianism was not a philosophical belief capable of protection under the Equality Act 2010, ethical veganism was protected. At the tail end of 2019, the Employment Tribunal ruled in the case of Conisbee v Crossley Farms that the plurality of reasons for becoming a vegetarian (e.g. lifestyle, health, animal welfare, personal taste etc) meant it did not attain the necessary level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance to qualify for