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Discrimination in the workplace is no laughing matter - quite the contrary. Earlier this month, it was reported that in cases where an employee (including any senior employee) claims discriminatory remarks or harassment at work, those accused are claiming ‘banter’ in their defence. In fact, UK employment tribunal cases with ‘banter’ as a subject rose last year by 44 per cent.

The recent criticism of the behaviour of P&O Ferries when terminating the employment of 800 of its staff, including senior employees, without notice, unfortunately, makes the reality of suddenly losing your job a possibility. P&O Ferries announced through a pre-recorded video the harsh news that this was their employees’ final day of employment. When working for a globally well-established brand like P&O Ferries, redundancy was probably not a prospect its employees had previously been too concerned about. 

It has been revealed that a gender pay gap exists amongst female board directors in FTSE 350 financial firms. Female directors' average annual pay is £235,000, yet male directors receive a generous £689,000 on average annually. This 66% gender pay gap is overwhelmingly larger than the overall gender pay gap in the UK economy which stands at 7.9%. It has been suggested that one of the reasons for such a significant pay gap in financial services is the lack of promotion for women to executive director positions. 

In a recent Financial Times article (Ignites Europe), Caroline Walker, Managing Director of Cavendish Employment Law, comments on how firms are preparing for the new normal as office work returns. Caroline's comments from the article are noted below:

In a recent Financial Times article, Caroline Walker, Managing Director of Cavendish Employment Law, comments on the traditional view of absence in the workplace and how this view has undergone a transformation in the wake of Coronavirus. Caroline's comments are noted below.