Whether you’re tempted to have a romantic liaison with a new attractive employee or catch your staff sneaking around, you must know how to avoid affairs wrecking your business....
In recent years the rise of new technology has been portrayed as having a detrimental impact on our physical and mental health, as we become more attached to our screens, less active and assess out own self-worth based on the number of followers we have, or the number of likes to our social media posts. However, in some areas advances in technology are being used to create solutions to some debilitating health conditions. ...
The Supreme Court has handed down its decision in the ‘gay cake’ case today, finding that a Christian Bakery had not acted unlawfully in refusing to provide a cake endorsing gay marriage. We have previously reported on the case of Lee v Ashers Baking Company and Others, both at the County Court and at the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal. ...
One of the biggest changes workplaces have seen in recent years has been the greater use of flexibility in the workplace and remote working. A survey by YouGov earlier this year revealed some interesting findings, including that only 6% of those who responded were working the traditional hours of 9:00-5:00. The report also showed a desire for staff to start (and finish) work earlier, with the most popular option being 8:00-4:00....
It has been reported this week that Google’s social media app, Google+, is to close down for consumers after it was revealed that a bug had exposed the personal data of up to 500,000 accounts. In a blog published by Google, it was revealed that a bug in the software meant that numerous third-party applications had access to up to 500,000 accounts. ...
Is one of the innovations of the gig economy the creation of a section of the workforce who can go on strike without risk or consequences?...
The Fourth Industrial Revolution, to use World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab’s slogan, is well and truly on its way. However, the latest report out of Davos (the location of the WEF’s annual gathering of business leaders and politicians) is that whilst 75 million jobs could be displaced by rapid technological advances, roughly 133 million jobs could be created within the next 10 years. ...
It is worth thinking about how your organisation would handle an employee’s bereavement as dealing with this well will ensure that the staff member returns to work and productivity as soon as possible....
We are often consulted by clients wishing to challenge the outcome of tenders which are not governed by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 or Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016, usually because the value of the tender is not high enough to meet the financial thresholds over which the Regulations apply. It is sometimes still possible to challenge the outcome of a below-threshold tender, if it can be shown that there was, or would have been, cross-border interest in the contract. In that case, general EU Treaty principles of transparency, proportionality and non-discrimination will still apply to the conduct of the tender, and a challenge may be possible if it can be shown that the public body has breached one of these principles....
Shared work spaces are designed to accommodate flexible, agile working and are gradually becoming more widespread in the commercial property market. The appeal is obvious; affordable, shared, serviced work-hubs where the Tenant can rent a space, nurture their business and share ideas with like-minded cohabitees from a diverse range of backgrounds. ...
In civil litigation the presumption is that the losing party pays the winner’s costs. However, unless agreed, such costs must be assessed by the Court. This process is of crucial importance because the winning party must pick up the shortfall itself, eating into the proceeds of claim....
There has been a steady stream of high profile cases about employment rights and the boundaries between categories of employment and self-employment in the modern economy, with particular focus on tech platforms providers like Uber. Largely (but not exclusively), the trend has been that those working in the gig economy have been found to be workers, rather than employees or people running their own micro businesses....
Last week saw the launch of a new guide aimed at assisting and supporting those who battle mental health issues in the workplace. The guide has been compiled by the CIPD, the UK’s leading professional body for HR and people development, and Mind, the longstanding mental health charity. CIPD’s recent ‘Health and Well-Being at Work’ report, produced in partnership with Simplyhealth, showed increases in work-related stress and mental health...
The Government recently published a report into off-site manufacturing for construction, exploring how construction industry productivity can be improved through the use of off-site manufacturing. The report is available here. ...
The doctrine of frustration in English Law provides very limited remedy and therefore, it is well established that parties should include a provision in a commercial agreement which governs issues of liability where a contract cannot be performed by virtue of unforeseen circumstances....
On 26 September 2018 and 4 October 2018, we hosted a seminar ‘JCT and NEC: Standard Forms Compared’ which covered the following topics:...
Following a campaign by the Liberal Democrats, suggesting that employers with over 250 employees be obliged to share their parental leave policies, ten major employers (including Deloitte and RBS) have agreed to publish their parental leave and pay policies. The research cited to support this campaign included a survey by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, which concluded that as many as 54,000 women a year lose their jobs due to either pregnancy or maternity discrimination....
As the UK hospitality industry suffers disruption by disgruntled workers it is a timely reminder that there is a large UK population of workers who are feeling exploited by the gig economy and lack of employment rights....
The Financial Times has reported a survey that shows people are working harder and faster, leaving them exhausted every day. This comes from the 2017 Skills and Employment Survey....
The Ministry of Justice has published tribunal statistics for April – June 2018. Readers will be aware that tribunal caseloads have increased steadily since the abolition of tribunal fees in July 2017. That trend continues in the latest report. ...