Recent noteworthy cases related to employment law

The very nature of healthcare is that it is highly labour intensive and so issues and disputes between employer and employee occur with regularity. With this in mind, the authors discuss three recent cases related to community nurses, who may be employed by social enterprises, voluntary organisations, independent companies, as well as NHS organisations.

The first case the authors discuss is United First Partners Research v Carreras, in which the Court of Appeal held that an employer's expectation and ‘long hours culture’ could amount to a provision, criterion or practice (PCP) under disability discrimination legislation. In this situation, an employer must make reasonable adjustments if a PCP risks putting a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage.

Mr Carreras was an analyst for United First Partners, a special situations investment and advisory Group. He suffered severe injuries in a cycling accident that led to him becoming disabled. After some time off, he agreed with his employer that he would return to work with shorter hours. Over time, he gradually began to work more hours than originally agreed, and his employer did not query this.