Summer 2004 Employment Case Law Round Up

The last few months have seen an enormous amount of activity in the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords on employment issues. They have had the opportunity to give welcome clarity on several key issues that had been causing a great deal of uncertainty. They have also caused some controversy.

The current unfair dismissal legislation is to be found in the Employment Rights Act 1996 but this largely reflects, at least for these purposes, earlier legislation introduced in 1972. The Employment Rights Act 1996 provides that the compensatory award for unfair dismissal should be such amount as the Tribunal considers just and equitable in all the circumstances "having regard to the loss sustained by the complainant in consequence of the dismissal".