Commentators have noted a few contradictions here between the EAT's view and the Equality Bill! The EAT accepted that support of a political party would not meet the description of a philosophical belief, but noted that that does not mean that a belief in a political philosophy or doctrine, such as Socialism, Marxism, Communism or free-market Capitalism, would not qualify; the notes to the Equality Bill state that political beliefs cannot fall within the definition of 'philosophical belief'. The EAT also accepted that a belief is not disqualified from being a philosophical belief simply because it is based entirely on scientific conclusions and quoted Darwinism as an example; the Equality Bill's explanatory notes take the opposite view!

Mr Nicholson's case, above, was allowed to proceed. He is claiming that his dismissal was discriminatory under the Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003; his former employer, Grainger plc, claims the dismissal was fair by reason of redundancy. Mr Nicholson now has to prove both that he held a genuine belief (rather than just an opinion or viewpoint) and that his dismissal was on the grounds of that belief.

Discrimination: religious beliefs

In McFarlane v Relate Avon Ltd, Mr McFarlane was a Christian counsellor who asked not to work with same-sex couples where sexual issues were involved. His request was turned down by Relate who required all counsellors to work across the full range of duties, and in accordance with their Equal Opportunities and Professional Ethics policies.

The EAT considered the previous case of Ladele v London Borough of Islington and decided that a dismissal because of the way someone has manifested his/her beliefs is NOT the same as a dismissal "on grounds of" those beliefs. They also decided that Relate's actions were justified - irrespective of whether Relate could have reorganised the employee's workload, if doing so would have compromised its principles.

Discrimination: sex and race awards

The following two cases are mentioned really because of the size of the claims!

Two female City bankers, Maureen Murphy and Anna Francis are suing Japanese investment bank, Nomura, for race and sex discrimination. They claim they were forced to resign by sexist bosses who withheld work and forced them to leave because they were female and non-Japanese. They are claiming compensation of £3m. Nomura maintains that the two were dismissed for redundancy as part of a wider re-organisation following the Lehman Brothers acquisition.

And former employee, Jordan Wimmer, is claiming £4m compensation from Mark Lowe, owner of City investment firm Nomos Capital, for alleged sex discrimination, unfair dismissal and disability discrimination. Lowe denies all the accusations.

If either of these claims are successful, they will be amongst the highest discrimination awards this year.

Discrimination: disability - no protection for volunteers

In X v Mid-Sussex CAB, X was a volunteer part-time advisor, who, when the CAB told her her services were no longer required, lodged an employment tribunal claim, alleging discrimination on grounds of her disability. The original employment tribunal found that X was a volunteer; there was no legally binding contract between her and the CAB; and there was no obligation on her to provide services. They therefore said they could not hear her claim.

X then appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), where she argued that the Equal Treatment Framework Directive had not been properly implemented by the UK government, and that her volunteering arrangement with the CAB fell within the protection afforded by that directive. As the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) did not comply with European law, the relevant clause (section 4(2) should be changed to allow her to bring her disability discrimination claim.

The EAT confirmed that X was not entitled to claim disability discrimination under the DDA, and also did not agree that the government had not complied with the directive, or that sections of the DDA needed to be rewritten to extend protection to voluntary workers without a contract. Mr Justice Burton could find no express reference anywhere in the directive extending the protection to unpaid voluntary workers. Therefore he declined to refer the matter to the European Court of Justice, because he felt that the answer was "entirely clear".

However, note that volunteers engaged under contracts may be entitled to protection under discrimination legislation. We reported previously on the Church of Scotland minister, the Reverend Mahboob Masih, who was a volunteer presenter on a state-supported radio station, and who was dismissed following a debate on air about the uniqueness of Christianity. Reverend Masih was allowed to refer his case to the European Court of Justice for a ruling on whether volunteers are protected by anti-discrimination legislation.

Discrimination: disability - reasonable adjustments

Section 4A(3) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 states that employers do not need to make reasonable adjustments in certain circumstances.

In DWP v Alam, the Employment Appeals Tribunal has confirmed that if the employer did NOT know both that the employee was disabled and that his disability was liable to affect him in the manner set out in section 4A(1) of the DDA, OR if the employer would not have been expected to have known both that the employee was disabled and that his disability was liable to affect him in the manner set out in section 4A(1), then the employer is exempt from any duty to make reasonable adjustments.

Dismissal: stigma compensation

In Chagger v Abbey National PLC and Anorl Mr Chagger, a trading risk controller, was dismissed on grounds of redundancy. Mr Chagger alleged that he was scored lower than a white female colleague to whom he was being compared for redundancy selection purposes and that this was due to race discrimination. He made extensive attempts to obtain other jobs in the Financial Services sector, even lower paid employment, but was unsuccessful. He believed his failure to obtain work was because prospective employers were discriminating against him for having brought a discrimination claim.

The Employment Tribunal made him an award of £2,794,962.27 which represented 'career long loss' - assuming that Mr Chagger would not again obtain employment in the financial services industry. The decision to award this compensation was initially reversed by the Employment Appeal Tribunal, however, has now been confirmed by the Court of Appeal! Employees who suffer a stigma when searching for a new job, as a result of having successfully brought a discrimination claim against a previous employer, are entitled to be compensated for that loss by that employer. This will usually feature in the normal loss of earnings calculation of how long it will be before another job at an equivalent salary can be found. The tribunal should however also reduce compensation to reflect the chance that the claimant would have been dismissed lawfully in any event.

National Minimum Wage: unpaid volunteers

In Vetta v London Dreams Motion Pictures Ltd, the employment tribunal ruled that a worker who was engaged on an expenses-only basis was entitled to be paid at least the National Minimum Wage, in addition to paid holiday. The case was brought by union BECTU who were concerned that the film and TV production industry were getting a "bad name" due to its reliance on unpaid labour from willing volunteers who wanted to break into that sector.

A recent report, "Fit for Work Europe", conducted by the Work Foundation, found 49% of all sickness absences in Europe were caused by musculoskeletal conditions such as back pain, arthritis and repetitive strain injuries. The report showed an estimated 1M people in the UK suffer from musculoskeletal disorders, resulting in the loss of 9.5 million working days each year, at a cost to the UK economy of £7bn each year.

The Foundation predicted that these figures would rise due to our ageing workforce, the growth in obesity and the decline in physical activity. It therefore launched a Fit for Work Europe campaign calling for governments and healthcare professionals across Europe to do more to tackle musculoskeletal disorders. For further details see: www.fitforworkeurope.eu/

We've expanded our pensions advice so that it is now four separate pages - a general overview, a page on stakeholder pensions, one on occupational and personal pensions and one on the new Personal Accounts pensions. See: /docs/TPpay.html

We've also added an extra letter to the flexible working suite - an invitation to a flexible working request appeal meeting. See: /docs/lf/flex/index.html

The 2009 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index has confirmed that Nordic countries continue to have the smallest equality gaps between men and women: Iceland was in first place, Finland second, Norway third and Sweden fourth!

The Index assesses countries on how well they are dividing their resources and opportunities among their male and female populations, regardless of the overall levels of these resources and opportunities. The UK was in 15th place (from 13th last year) - below South Africa (6th) and Lesotho (10th).

Full details can be found at www.weforum.org/pdf/gendergap/report2009.pdf

Transport secretary Andrew Adonis is urging employers to encourage staff to cycle to work by offering better cycling amenities, such as bike parks, changing facilities and repair services as well as the tax relief on the cycle-to-work scheme. Just 3% of the working population bike to work, despite the government scheme which enables eligible employees to buy bikes and equipment tax-free.

However, Gordon Brown has announced that the tax relief on childcare vouchers - the most popular benefit offered by employers - will go by April 2015. A survey by Mercer found the most common benefit offered by UK employers was childcare vouchers (84%), followed by private medical care (75%), dental services (69%), cycle-to-work schemes (55%), and health screening (53%).

Two recruitment firms, Time Recruitment Ltd and Aston Baird Solutions Ltd, trading as Hilliards Associates, have ended up paying costs and fines totalling over £2500 following their failure (despite promptings) to register under the DPA - something which would have cost them each just £35.

For more details on registration, see: /docs/legal/dataprotection.html

Research by AXA has revealed a further aspect of the current recession:

• 70% of employees said they spent time at work worrying about their finances
• 35% said it sometimes affected their performance
• 1.4 million workers took time off work in the past year due to anxiety over their personal finances.

AXA has launched a free on-line questionnaire for employers - so if you want to estimate the financial concerns of your workforce go to www.axa.co.uk/mybudgetday

A CIPD poll found that only a fifth of employers were cancelling this year's Christmas party altogether.

If you are planning an event, do take a look at our guide to functions: /docs/guides/functions.html

You might want to reconsider whether your staff appreciate a "Secret Santa" though! "Secret Santa" is where all staff buy a present of a nominal value to a randomly assigned colleague and the practice is still very widespread. A survey by Prezzybox.com revealed that 62% of those questioned said that they would rather not bother and have the money instead. Reasons were dislike of the presents, (21% admitted to giving something they had got free as a gift), and the hassle of finding something suitable.