A recent Court of Appeal decision underlines how useful restrictive covenants in employment contracts can be in protecting an employer’s business. The court dismissed the appeal of a former employee and director who had been ordered to pay at least £50,000 in damages, following a breach of his post-termination restrictive Read more…
Employers should take note of what appears to be the first case to consider the effect of a successful internal appeal on a prima facie case of indirect sex discrimination. The EAT held that an employee had not suffered indirect sex discrimination when her flexible working request, which was initially Read more…
The Department for Communities and Local Government has introduced a new empty property rate relief scheme for newly built commercial property. Relief will be available for new properties completed after 1 October 2013 and before 30 September 2016 that are unoccupied for the first 18 months after completion of their Read more…
Welcome to this month’s insolvency update. I have set out below some recent cases and changes to the legislation which may be of interest relating to both corporate and personal insolvency. We would also like to invite you to our new series of Insolvency updates, the first one taking place on Read more…
This month’s update sets out the exemptions from business rates for non-domestic properties. Retail property Retail properties enjoy 100% relief for a continuous period of three months only. Changes of ownership during the three-month period do not trigger a fresh three-month exemption. The exemption applies to the property, not the Read more…
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that an employer’s failure to provide an impartial grievance appeal process (by allowing an employee to appeal to a different manager than the one who had heard the original grievance) could amount to a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence. Read more…
A recent Court of Appeal decision highlights that the question of whether an employee’s refusal of suitable alternative employment is reasonable will depend on the circumstances of the particular employee. The decision also underlines the importance, when considering a particular employee’s reasons for refusal, of identifying what those reasons were Read more…
A recent EAT decision highlights that even an admission of gross misconduct from an employee is no guarantee that dismissal will be fair. The EAT agreed with an employment tribunal that an employee was unfairly dismissed and victimised when he was summarily dismissed, ostensibly for knowingly using non-kosher jam to Read more…
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that an employer breached section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 when it refused an employee’s request to be accompanied at a grievance hearing by a certified union officer. The employee’s right to choose a companion was an absolute right, subject only Read more…
Landlords and managing agents should be made aware of an Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) decision in favour of a residential tenant who challenged water charges recovered through her service charge. In this case, the landlord had been put on notice that the water charges were excessive and that something was Read more…