Obesity discrimination?

As the debate on continued membership of the ECC hots up and the possibility of renegotiation rises it is always interesting to keep an eye on the activities of the European Court of Justice and its attempts to define and extend the effect of euro law. For many it is euro legislation in areas such as employment law which epitomises the worst over centralisation and red tape that now  seem to surround Europe and which are a long way from the common market ideal that we signed up to. In a recent decision the Court has found that whilst it is not possible to discriminate on the grounds of obesity it is possible that severe obesity might fall within the definition of "disability" if it limits a worker from full and effective participation in their professional life on an equal basis with other workers.

Disciplinary Appeals

In an interesting decision the Court of Appeal has recently upheld the decision of the High Court to the effect that unless the disciplinary procedure in place allows it, an employer cannot increase the penalty imposed on an employee following a disciplinary appeal. I am not convinced that the increase of a penalty in such circumstances is ever a great idea and it does run contrary to the ACAS guidelines on disciplinary procedures but if this is a weapon that employers want in their armoury it is clearly important that they have a written disciplinary procedure which makes this completely clear.