The Court of Appeal held in Office Equipment Systems v Hughes that even where a party is debarred from contesting liability at a hearing, they should normally be permitted to contest remedy....
The amount of energy generated by renewable energy sources is on the rise. The BEIS reports that renewable sources now account for approximately 30% of all electricity generated.[1]...
The Supreme Court recently held that employers sued on the basis of vicarious liability for acts of their employees do not owe those employees a duty to defend the proceedings in a manner that protects the employees’ own economic or reputational interests. In James-Bowen & Ors v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, a terrorist suspect alleged that he had been seriously assaulted in the course of his arrest and brought a personal injury claim against the Police Commissioner for vicariously liability for the police officers’ actions....
In Haydar v Pennine Acute NHS Trust, the Claimant had brought claims against his employer which included unfair dismissal and discrimination. His claim for discrimination was dismissed and, although, the unfair dismissal claim was upheld a finding of contributory fault was made. The claimant alleged that he sent an appeal against this judgment to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) prior to the relevant deadline, however, there was no record of this being received by the EAT. ...
Head of Corporate, Ashan Arif supported by Kirstin Parker, Caroline Lendrum and Martha Craven, advised BMW Group UK on its recent acquisition from H.R. Owen. Details of the transaction are confidential. ...
Now we are into the second half of 2018, it is time to look back in overview at the key court decisions that have changed the shape of the adjudication legal landscape....
Many construction disputes involve delay claims. The ‘prevention principle’ operates so that an employer cannot hold a contractor to an agreed completion date if the employer prevented contractor from achieving the date. In such circumstances time becomes at large and the contractor is instead obliged to complete within a reasonable time....
Before a strike can be lawful, unions have to hold a secret postal ballot of the union members who could take part. Earlier this year, the government offered civil servants a pay increase of 1%....
Following a consultation progress, the government has decided that specific legal protection against caste-based discrimination is not required. It says that it has not been able to identify a legally workable definition of caste and that it would be difficult to differentiate between caste and social class....
In Barclays Bank v Various Claimants, the Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court’s decision that the bank was vicariously liable for the deliberate criminal assaults of a contractor on its employees. The case concerned historical sexual assaults of a doctor (who was an independent contractor of the bank) on female bank employees when conducting medical examinations on behalf of the bank. ...
Technology’s impact in the workplace is unquestionable- the increased use of remote working, mobile devices and new technologies in the workplace all designed to improve employee and company performance is clear for all to see. However, the debate continues on whether this impact is positive or negative on employees’ wellbeing. ...
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has recently found that a belief held by only one person, cannot give rise to an indirect discrimination claim on the ground of philosophical belief. The claimant worked for Mulberry as a Market Support Assistant: a role which gave her access to some of Mulberry’s designs ahead of their launch to market. ...
Over the last few years, UK’s immigration rules have provided greater flexibility to non-EEA nationals wanting to visit the UK as business visitors. Whilst there is no specific business visit visa, the Standard Visitor visa allows visa nationals to undertake a wide range of business activities including attending non pre-arranged meetings and working in the UK office of their overseas employer (providing they do not deal with clients directly)....
On 5 July 2018, the Government announced its Construction Sector Deal worth £420 million to transform the UK construction industry by improving productivity through greater investment in innovation and skills....
Will EVs overtake traditional internal combustion engines as our default mode of transportation? Recent data suggests so and perhaps very quickly if the current pace of adoption persists....
In the recent case of Patel v Folkstone Nursing Home Ltd, the Court of Appeal held that an employee had not been dismissed by his employer as his internal appeal against dismissal had been successful; thereby effectively erasing the earlier dismissal. The claimant had been dismissed for gross misconduct for falsifying records and sleeping whilst on duty. ...
The ICO has announced that Facebook will be fined the maximum possible amount of £500,000 for its breaches of the Data Protection Act in relation to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, an amount that pales in comparison with the new fines introduced under GDPR. We previously blogged on the scandal here....
In Flowers v East of England Ambulance Trust, The Employment Appeal Tribunal has confirmed that voluntary overtime should be included when calculating holiday pay, if it is paid over a sufficient period of time. The ambulance crew members in this case did both mandatory but non-guaranteed overtime (shift over-run) and voluntary overtime, both of which were irregular. However, the voluntary overtime was not included in their holiday pay calculations. ...
In Ali v Torrosian and others (t/a Bedford Hill Family Practice) the EAT confirmed that when determining a claim for unfavourable treatment arising in consequence of a disability, Tribunals must consider whether the employer’s pursued legitimate aim could be achieved by less discriminatory means. Discrimination arising from disability (“unfavourable treatment”) was a new ground of claim created under the Equality Act 2010. ...
We are often asked by commercial clients whether there is any legal right to go on to land owned by another commercial property to carry out repair and maintenance works where it is not possible to carry out such works from the landowner’s own property and there is no legal right in place allowing access to the land....