The Government’s plans to change Sunday trading rules (see our blogs in August last year and February this year) have been rejected by the House of Commons. ...
Commercial contracts often include obligations carrying the qualification “as soon as reasonably practicable”. A case earlier this month has given some insight into how the courts will interpret and apply such obligations. ...
Over the last year the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) received over 100 complaints in respect of job and services advertisements appearing to discriminate against persons with ‘protected characteristics’ including on their age, race, sexual orientation, disability and sex....
UK Visas and Immigration have confirmed that later this month (or next month in the case of the Isle of Man) there will be a rise in the cost of visa application fees for many migrants wishing to come to the UK....
The National Minimum Wage is currently paid at four different rates depending on the category of worker, however, from 1st April 2016 a fifth rate will be introduced for workers over the age of 25 years, referred to as the National Living Wage....
Below are a few things to look out for on the corporate/commercial horizon. We’ve got the ICO taking data protection more seriously than ever before, the UK calling for transparency over who owns the businesses running our economy, and working towards a simpler, fairer way of trading with UK consumers. ...
According to the Federation of Small Businesses, SMEs account for 99.9% of all private sector businesses in the UK, employing 15.6m people (60% of UK private sector employment) and generate £1.8 trillion in annual turnover (47% of UK private sector turnover). It is no wonder that SMEs are a vital part of any economy, disproportionately impacting job creation and economic growth....
Protecting cash flow is often a key way to enable growth of a business and in the real estate sector there are a number of ways this can be done, particularly where you are occupying business premises by way of a lease...
For all growing businesses, and for start-ups in particular, one concern which often appears at an early stage is the risk of dilution of the ethos of the organisation as new employees join who may lack buy-in to the founding concepts....
The Immigration Bill 2016, which is working its way through Parliament, contains a requirement on public authorities to ensure that their workers (including agency workers) who are in customer-facing roles speak fluent English (or Welsh in Wales). Customer-facing roles are described as those which require workers to speak to members of the public (both face to face and on the telephone) as a ‘regular and intrinsic’ part of their role....
Figures released by the Office of National Statistics last week, show that annual net migration to Britain (i.e. the number of individuals immigrating to Britain less those migrating from Britain) was at a figure of 323,000 for the year ending September 2015, 13,000 less than the figure reported three months prior. When compared with figures for 2014, net migration is on the increase, however this drop is the first time the net migration figures have fallen in 2 years. The small drop predominantly arose through a reduction in the amount of non-EU individuals immigrating to Britain....
In the conjoined cases of Cox v Ministry of Justice and Mohamud v WM Morrison Supermarkets plc, the Supreme Court had to consider two aspects of vicarious liability. Firstly, whether an employment relationship is necessary for vicarious liability to apply and secondly, whether an employer can be held liable for the criminal acts of its employees. ...
In October 2015 the Government consulted on proposed changes to the “Conduct Regulations”, which govern the recruitment sector. The response to the consultation was published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) last week and confirms the Government’s intention to proceed with the majority of the proposals within the consultation....
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has found that an employment tribunal was wrong in finding that TUPE did not apply where there had been a lay-off of employees as a result of a commercial dispute with the main contractor leading to termination of the contract before the new contractor took on the services (Mustafa v Trek Highways Services Ltd and others UKEAT/0064/15)....
When selling a property, a standard procedure is for the seller to provide replies to enquiries raised by the Buyer and its solicitors. ...
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld the employment tribunal’s finding in the case of Lock v British Gas that the Working Time Regulations (“WTR”) can be interpreted so as to be compatible with the EU Working Time Directive, with the effect that results-based commission payments should be included in the calculation of holiday pay....
The Court of Appeal has allowed the appeal in Sugar Hut Group –v- AJ Insurance, thereby allowing parties more confidence in predicting the consequences of a Part 36 offer. The case concerned a claim for damages arising from a fire at a nightclub that had featured prominently in “The Only Way is Essex”....
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has today handed down its judgment in the case of Lock v British Gas and found in favour of Mr Lock....
In August 2015 we blogged on the launch of the Government’s consultation into whether Sunday trading rules should be devolved to local areas in England and Wales. ...
In the recent case of Khan v HGS Global Ltd, the employment contract of an employee who had opted to take redundancy over relocating was found to have terminated by mutual consent and, as such, there had been no dismissal. ...