Bob qualified as a solicitor in 2002 and joined Matthew Arnold and Baldwin in May 2006 from Fennemores solicitors in Milton Keynes. His practice covers all aspects of contentious and non contentious employment work, acting mainly for employers and senior executives.
Examples of recent and current work include advising a telecommunications engineering company on a restructuring exercise involving a number of redundancies, representing an international logistics company on a complex multi-claimant unfair dismissal claim under the TUPE regulations and advising a senior executive at a FTSE-100 listed group of companies in the hotel and catering industry on her exit from the company and severance package.
Bob regularly writes articles for the legal and HR press and speaks at Matthew Arnold & Baldwin and external seminars. Bob was made an Associate in April 2010.
At a seminar I presented recently on social networks and employment law, I made the point that Employment Judges recently have found little difficulty in holding that employees’ posts on Facebook do not attract the necessary degree of privacy to protect them from disciplinary action by their employers. This was the case in the Northern… Learn more
These are uncertain times in the professional practice sector. Nothing illustrates this more dramatically than the recent closures of significant law firms like Halliwells and Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP. However, since the current recession first began to bite there has been a steady trend of downsizing and redundancies across all sectors in the professional practices… Learn more
A survey by Anya Media at the Retail Business Technology Expo 2012 has revealed that many retailers are using discounting to offload large amounts of their stock… because of overbuying or purchasing the wrong products. In the current economic climate – when consumers are spending less, businesses are going under and retailers are having to… Learn more
The latest survey by NatWest and the British Franchise Association has revealed that, despite the challenging economic climate, the franchising industry increased its turnover in 2011 to £13.4bn last year – and increased its economic contribution by 8 per cent. While many sectors have struggled over the past 12 months, incredibly nine out of ten… Learn more
Remember the nursery rhyme, Ring a ring o’ roses, a pocket full of posies, atishoo, atishoo and they all fall down…… Like a pack of cards, the fall out from the phone hacking scandal continues to gather pace and threatens to engulf the UK. Rebekah Brooks arrested and out on bail, Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson… Learn more
No, that is not the opening line of a bad joke for lawyers! Both the existing statutory process for an employee to request a flexible working pattern and the now defunct statutory right to request working beyond a default retirement age involve a highly prescriptive procedure that the employee must follow in order to trigger… Learn more
In a further instalment to the story of Mr Power and his case against the Greater Manchester Police Authority (see part I and part II), Lord Justice Stanley Burnton has, in the Court of Appeal, refused Mr Power’s application for permission to appeal against the decision of the EAT. LJ Burnton also held that the… Learn more
HR Zone, an online resource for HR professionals in business, has published an article I’ve written on the impact of the additional paternity leave provisions, which came into force in April 2011, and the Coalition Government’s proposals for further changes to shared parental leave and flexible working. Please click here to read the article. You may need to… Learn more
Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, today announced the Government’s proposals for reforms of the Employment Tribunal system aimed at reducing the burden of employment tribunal claims on employers. The BIS has published an “Employer’s Charter” reminding employers of their rights and launched a consultation, the stated aims of which are… Learn more
Earier this week, I was interviewed on the BBC Three Counties Radio’s Morning: MK show about the impact of the Government’s confirmation that the default retirement age of 65 will be scrapped from October 2011. During the interview we discussed the likely uncertainty in the near term for employers who wish to retain their own… Learn more