“1 in 10 children suffer some form of neglect”. That’s the awful statistic I heard on breakfast TV this morning. It seems hard to believe and I guess it covers the smallest oversight to the most horrific child abuse cases we all sometimes have the misfortune to hear about. Then Read more…
The law in relation to “whistleblowing” in the UK was introduced by the Government in 1998 to protect genuine whistleblowers in the workplace and thereby encourage a culture of openness and good governance. In practice many threatened “whistleblowing” claims tend to be more about an individual seeking to maximise their Read more…
This month’s commercial property update highlights the practical issues that a tenant should consider when exercising a break clause in a commercial lease. What is a break clause? A break clause can be included in a fixed-term lease allowing either the tenant or landlord to terminate the lease early. Exercising Read more…
In a further sign that the Government believes that the economy is in full blown recovery, the first real terms increase to the National Minimum Wage for a number of years has been announced (previous rises were largely in line with inflation). As a result, the adult NMW rate will rise Read more…
The increasing impact of the introduction of fees for Employment Tribunal claims has become even more apparent following the publication of the statistics for the latest quarter. The full report can be viewed here at httpss://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/289342/tribunal-stats-oct-dec-2013.pdf. Interestingly, this set of statistics has been published far later than in recent years, Read more…
The Office for National Statistics has published its figures for sickness absence levels across the UK in its annual report for the period October 2012 to September 2013. Employers may be surprised to note that according to the latest statistics, a total of 131 million days were lost last year due Read more…
Visitors to Sheffield’s Taylor&Emmet LLP could have been forgiven for seeing red on Friday, as employees donned their best rosy attire for a special Valentine’s themed dress down day. Staff at the firm’s four offices made an extra special sartorial effort to show how much they love raising funds for Read more…
Following on from my blog last month, I can now confirm that increases to the maximum compensatory award and a week’s pay have been announced. From 6 April 2014, a week’s pay (used for calculating statutory redundancy entitlement and certain tribunal awards) will rise to £464 (currently £450) and the Read more…
The Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 came into force on 31 January 2014 following a lengthy Government consultation. These Regulations have sought to simplify, clarify and reform the TUPE Regulations; the first major change since 2006. I previously blogged on these changes last Read more…
In this month’s property update we look at the potential penalties and other implications for a business if it breaches environmental legislation. Understanding the regulator’s approach to the enforcement and prosecution of environmental offences should enable businesses to minimise their risk of being prosecuted. It should also help: Reduce the Read more…