Website reviews

www.emplaw.co.uk/topinfo/portal.htm
This site, which is part of www.emplaw.co.uk, dubs itself a “super portal” for employment law. It is. This is the single best starting point, aimed at practitioners, for all research on UK employment law. It contains links to all matters in this area, categorised in a fairly basic manner such as free employment law information, official guidance, caselaw, European aspects, forms and ‘precedents’ etc. There is a series of basic guides to employment law issues (though many will prefer those provided by other suppliers: see below). Pay for more detail. A news section highlights recent legislative changes which will be sent free to all on registration. Access to parts of the site (including an updated version of the Employment Rights Act 1996) is available for a fee (starting at £5.00). Pretty it ain’t: but everything is there somewhere.

Subjective Rating (where 5 is excellent and 1 is poor and no rating indicate that that category has not been assessed)

Usefulness 5/5
Site design 3/5
Updating frequency 5/5

www.employmentappeals.gov.uk
The site of the Employment Appeal Tribunal. There are two particularly useful aspects to this site. The first concerns procedure. The site contains the latest EAT procedure rules, available in both pdf  and html format which is very helpful. There are also practice directions. The second useful feature is judgments of the EAT. Confusingly, some judgments are contained in an “archive” section and some in another, unnamed, section. The first is for cases from 1999 to about the middle of 2001. The second is for later cases. These can be searched by category (e.g. breach of contract), name of the appellant, judge etc.. Beware, cases take around a month to be added. There are pdf versions of the  main EAT forms included (though you’ll have to print them out to use them). Site design is rather austere.

Usefulness 4/5
Site design 2/5
Updating frequency 3/5

www.thompsons.law.co.uk/ltext/lelindex.htm
This firm knows well that if you want people to come back again to a site, one has to provide fresh useful information. It does so here in a well-organised collection of its regular newsletters updating viewers about employment law developments: albeit from the perspective of the employee and trades unions. The newsletters are available in chronological order (including the latest one). Very helpfully, the individual articles are also organised into over 20 categories so one can easily check for developments since July 1996 in any given area: though it should not be assumed that the updates are necessarily comprehensive.

Usefulness 4/5
Site design 4/5
Updating frequency 4/5

www.incomesdata.co.uk/brief/law.htm
Incomes Data Services is one of the major authoritative sources of information on a wide range of employment related issues. This site gives access to a small selection of free offerings comprising principally updates on employment law and five “special zones” containing concise briefs on issues such as employee e-mail policies, maternity and parental leave, working time regulations, data protection and disability discrimination. Those with a thirst for more can sign up to a low cost trial of the associated www.idsbrief.co.uk site. There are several other parts of the main site with content on other employment related issues. Ratings are for free content.

Usefulness 2/5
Site design 3/5
Updating frequency 4/5

www.dti.gov.uk/er
The DTI employment relations directorate, which is responsible for developing legislation on employment related issues has produced this appropriately rather busy but informative site. All the major issues in employment law are referred to here. Of most use to the newcomer are its comprehensive series of guides to a large number of employment law issues. The publications list also includes consultation documents. There is a whole section on policy issues and another on “hot topics”. Meaty stuff. Its site map should be de rigueur.

Usefulness 5/5
Site design 4/5
Updating frequency 5/5

www.cre.gov.uk and www.drc-gb.org and www.eoc.org.uk
These are the websites of the three equality commissions (perhaps to be merged into a super equality  commission  next  year?).  Anti-discrimination law is never long out of the headlines: important legal developments have taken place recently and more are in the offing. The law bites most frequently in the employment area: these sites are a must for those wishing to keep up to date.

Usefulness 5/5
Site design 4/5
Updating frequency 5/5