Welcome to Allen & Overy’s Employment Talk blog, sharing with you our views and insights into the latest trends, risks and developments with HR boardroom issues and employment law and practice.
#MeToo – why education is more effective than legislation
26 November 2019 Rachel Reeves
It is astonishing that, two years on from the inception of the #MeToo movement, the headlines are as prevalent as ever. This past week has seen discussion about one employer using flyers in local pubs and cafes in the vicinity of its office encouraging staff to speak up and report inappropriate conduct. Last month saw › Read More
20 November 2019 David Golubock
Whether it’s the Uber or Lyft driver who gives us a ride home from the office, the bicycle messenger delivering our meal ordered online from Seamless, or the movers we’ve hired on TaskRabbit, anyone living in a major urban center has likely interacted with “gig workers.” These independent, short-term contractors often receive low pay and › Read More
What a man, what a man, what a mighty good man….
19 November 2019 Nicola Bartholomew
There’s a day for everything now: National Pizza Day, International Talk Like a Pirate Day (apparently) and there is even a day for men. Yes. It may surprise you to know that today is International Men’s Day and, perhaps even more surprisingly, it has actually been celebrated for over two decades. Now, my Mum would › Read More
18 November 2019 Sheila Fahy
The short answer is yes, but not in the particular circumstances of this case, Wells and Solari v Cathay Investments and PNC Global Logistics. In this case, the High Court assessed the extent to which a number of incidents of misconduct including obscene WhatsApp messages could be used to justify dismissal for gross misconduct, thereby › Read More
Increased workers’ rights in the United States?
12 November 2019 Brian Jebb
In the U.S., labor laws give employers a substantial amount of flexibility and American employers look at some of the European laws giving individual workers and works’ councils substantial power with concern. Now we are less than one year away from a federal election, could the tide be turning? Some of the policy proposals from › Read More
Gender Equality and Culture: Be the Change
05 November 2019 Rachel Reeves
My 11-year old daughter was one of only two girls when she took part in the MCC Cricket Academy at Lord’s cricket ground during half-term but, even so, it made me realise just how far we have come. I am encouraged and reassured that for her generation there are no barriers and believe that, whatever › Read More
01 November 2019 Abigail Tulino
I have always been a big fan. I’ve seen him on stage and in nightclubs. He even travels with me in the car as I listen to “I Need You Tonight” over and over and over again. And then he turns up at my workplace. My workplace! I was so excited that I had booked › Read More