Contributory fault
Blameworthy conduct by an employee who has contributed to his or her dismissal. This is relied on by the employer as a reason for reducing compensation.
Employment Law Terms
COT3
The standard form on which ACAS conciliation officers record a negotiated agreement.
Cross examination
This is the questioning of a witness to undermine the case of the person who called the witness or to discredit the witness’s evidence. Advocates typically use leading questions designed to limit what the witness will say. The golden rule of cross examination is not to ask questions to which you do not already know […]
Data Protection and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
Data protection law can be used by individuals to obtain copies of their personal information. From an employer this may include the employee’s personnel file. Organisations must comply with GDPR’s (General Data Protection Regulation) rigorous provisions. Basic information about this area of law is available at the Information Commissioner’s website at ico.org.uk
Declaration
A formal binding statement about the legal rights of a party given as a remedy by a court or tribunal.
Direct discrimination
Where a person is treated unfavourably on a prohibited ground because of a protected characteristic.
Directions, hearings for directions
The old term for case management discussions. As mentioned, “case management discussion” is now the old term for “preliminary hearing”. These terms now seem to be revised as often as the names of government departments.
Disability
A disability is defined in section 6(1) of the Equality Act 2010: “A person (‘P’) has a disability if (a) he has a physical or mental impairment, and (b) the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on P’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.” The definition is wide and can include people […]
Disciplinary procedure
A procedure followed by the employer in dealing with disciplinary matters. Employers who do not have written disciplinary procedures are frequently penalised in ETs. We can produce a disciplinary procedure for your business. If you are an employee we can check that your employer is following their procedure.
Disclosure of documents
The formal process of parties revealing relevant documents to each other. The term “discovery” is still sometimes used.