The Jackson reforms of costs in civil litigation (mostly) came into force on 1 April 2013, including a new test for proportionality. However, in the intervening four years, there has been precious little authority as to what proportionality means in practice. This has changed as a result of the judgment of the Senior Costs Judge, Master Gordon-Saker, in BNM and MGN Limited....
There is no quick way to raise productivity; HR professionals ought to be spending more time transitioning to and developing a sustainable growth pattern. ...
An employers expectation that a disabled employee would work late has triggered the duty to make reasonable adjustments....
Parties should be wary of inadvertently agreeing variations to contracts in the mistaken belief that changes can only be in writing, rather than any message to alter their drafting in this regard. ...
Immigration is never far from the headlines and never has it been so widely discussed as in the lead-up to the EU referendum. There is much debate over whether leaving the European Union would mean that nationals of the European Economic Area (or EEA, being the EU member states plus Norway, Lichtenstein and Iceland) would lose their visa-free access to the UK....
The UK is known as a nation of shoppers. Over the last few decades shopping has become a leisure activity and shopping centres have become the place to spend at least part of each weekend – an opportunity to look at the latest stock and to try out various dining options....
Under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, planning permission is needed for the carrying out on land of any development. Development is defined as including the carrying out of building operations on land or making any material change in the use of any buildings or other land....
Clarkslegal, led by Corporate Partner Ashan Arif, advised on the sale of UniServity Limited to New Era UK Holdings. ...
Many companies are relying heavily on robotics and staff are becoming increasingly concerned about the implications this has on their job security. ...
Employers who receive a “Information Request: Illegal Working Civil Penalty”must provide the necessary evidence within the set time frame if they are to have a statutory excuse against a civil penalty. ...
The case of Santos Gomes v Higher Level Care Ltd has made clear that compensation arising out of an employer’s failure to provide statutory rest breaks under the Working Time Regulations (WTR) does not extend to ‘injury to feelings’....
Early conciliation is a free service offered by ACAS. It was previously available on a purely voluntary basis, however, from May 2014 it became mandatory to contact ACAS before lodging a claim. This was in an effort to encourage early engagement and settlement between the parties, thereby, removing the need to pursue claims in the Employment Tribunal. ACAS conciliation remains open to the parties thereafter, but on a voluntary basis. ...
Focus in many successful companies is concentration on winning business, operational excellence and adding profit. All good, but do human relationships usually get sidelined?...
The Courts now expect that parties who have a dispute will attempt to settle by negotiation before embarking on legal action. Detailed pre-action protocols stipulate how parties must therefore behave, and this will almost always involve sending a detailed letter before action and providing a response to it....
Those of you who attended our property seminar on 11 May 2016 heard about the circumstances in which a Tenant can recover damages from their Landlord where their Landlord has breached terms of the Lease...
The recent High Court decision of Axon v Ministry of Defence and News Group Newspapers Ltd suggests that employers can be held vicariously liable for their employees’ breaches of confidence and privacy....
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have fined Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust £180,000 after it revealed the email addresses of 781 users of an HIV service....
In the case of Pendleton v Derbyshire v County Council, a teacher who was dismissed for remaining with her husband following his conviction of voyeurism and making of indecent images of children successfully appealed a tribunal’s decision to reject her claim for indirect religious discrimination. ...
This week has seen the widely reported story of Nicola Thorp, a temporary receptionist, who was sent home without pay for refusing to wear heels at work. Ms Thorp started an e-petition seeking to give women the choice whether to wear flats or heels at work and, to date, has in excess of 100,000 signatories, triggering the possibility of a Parliamentary debate on the issue. The company concerned has now amended its policy to allow female workers to wear flats. So, in light of this, what is the law regarding high heels at work?...
The recent case of Risby v London Borough of Waltham Forest has arguably further extended the scope of discrimination arising from disability claims by loosening the causal link required between the employee’s disability and the employer’s treatment complained of....