Michael Delaney specialises in employment law and associated commercial disputes. He has been listed in the Chambers UK guide and the Legal 500 for a number of years and mentioned for his work on TUPE, executive severance, enforcement of restrictive covenants and all types of contentious employment tribunal and High Court litigation. He is noted in the edition of Chambers for 2011 as being “thorough and robust” as well as “adopting a practical approach” and again has received recognition in the 2012 edition.
Michael has given a series of seminars to City based clients on the impact of the abolition of the default retirement age on employee terms and benefits. He has also, during the past 12 months, regularly lectured to businesses at the University of Hertfordshire, and the CIPD at Middlesex University, as well as spoken at a variety of conferences and seminars on the impact of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010. A number of articles on this topic have been published in various retail magazines including Bar Magazine, Eat Out and Workplace Law. You can follow topical issues by looking at his blog, Employment Upload.
Michael advises employer clients from a number of sectors including the pharmaceutical, property, care and professional sports clubs. He regularly appears before the employment tribunal dealing with a range of disputes involving unfair dismissal, all aspects of discrimination and whistleblowing.
Michael also sits as a director on the Board of the Watford Chamber of Commerce, and is a committee member of the Law Professional Advisory Committee at the University of Hertfordshire. He was previously the Chair of the Lawnet Employment Committee.
Michael has devised an employer helpline subscription based product offering unlimited services to businesses.
The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill received Royal Assent on 25 April 2013 and became an Act. The new Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 makes important changes to employment law and employment tribunal procedure, and will be implemented in various stages in 2013 and 2014. Employers should be aware of the following impending changes: 25… Learn more
Earlier in the year, I wrote about the Government’s plans to introduce new legislation that would make it illegal for employers to ask prospective employees whether they are a member of the reserve armed forces (click here). Following a consultation on the future of the UK’s reserve forces, which included proposals on incentivising and rewarding… Learn more
Acas has published six new step-by-step guides that will help small and medium-sized business owners understand the basics of how to hire, manage and get the best from their staff, whilst ensuring that they comply with the law. The guides deal with the following key employment issues: Recruiting an employee – click here. Settling in a… Learn more
The Government has published a revised timetable for its employment law reforms. I have listed below the main changes that are expected to take place this year. Spring 2013 Collective redundancy consultation. The 90 day consultation requirement for redundancies involving 100 or more employees was reduced from 90 days to 45 days on 6 April… Learn more
Acas has published new guidance on collective redundancies, which reflects the statutory changes that came into force on 6 April 2013. On 6 April 2013, the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (Amendment) Order 2013 made several changes to the rules governing collective redundancy consultations where 100 or more employees at one establishment… Learn more
The Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 received Royal Assent on 25 April 2013 and, amongst other things, introduces a new ‘employee shareholder’ employment status, under which employees can give up some of their traditional employment rights in exchange for shares in their employer’s business. Section 31 of the Act inserts clause 205A into the Employment… Learn more
In the recent Queen’s Speech, the Government has announced details of new Bills that include measures that will have an impact on employment law: 1. National Insurance Contributions Bill. The Bill aims to reduce the cost of employment and to help small businesses grow. It will reduce employer national insurance contributions (NICs) bills each year… Learn more
Krista Bates Van Winkelhof, a former equity partner at City law firm Clyde & Co, has been granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court against last year’s Court of Appeal ruling that she was not protected under whistleblowing legislation. Ms Bates Van Winkelhof had been seconded to work for a Tanzanian law firm, Ako… Learn more
On 12 March 2013, I spoke at a HR Forum organised by Deloitte to discuss issues that employers are beginning to find themselves confronted with following the removal of the compulsory retirement age in April 2012; and “age” becoming a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. If you haven’t already begun to do so,… Learn more
Acas has launched a consultation on its draft statutory Code of Practice to help employers deal with the new extended right to request flexible working and the replacement of the current statutory procedure with a new duty on employers to consider requests to work flexibly within a reasonable period. The Children and Families Bill, which… Learn more