The biggest changes to consumer rights in a generation came into place on October 2015, and now some 6 months later consumers and retailers are beginning to see the effects. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 This landmark legislation finally took hold from 1 October 2015 after years of government debate. Read more…
The First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) has held that two directors were not directly liable for income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) that their insolvent employer failed to pay to HMRC because the tax and NICs had been “deducted” for PAYE purposes. The decision underlines an important distinction between a Read more…
The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 It seems appropriate that Friday the 13th is the implementation date for the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. For some retailers, the consequences of not getting it right could be a horror show. Let’s call them Read more…
The Attorney General has published guidance to help prevent social media users from committing a contempt of court. The notes, which are available on www.gov.uk and on Twitter, have previously only been issued to print and broadcast media outlets on a “not for publication” basis. They are designed to make Read more…
Businesses will welcome recent guidance from the High Court on the definition of personal data. The court’s comments will be particularly useful for businesses faced with freedom of information requests and data subject access requests, where the meaning of personal data is difficult to assess. The court’s decision establishes a Read more…
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has upheld an employment tribunal’s decision that an employer breached its duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, when it chose not to pay for an employee with work-related stress and depression to have private psychiatric counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy. Although a Read more…
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has highlighted the increasing use of personal devices (such as smartphones, tablets and laptops) for work purposes. The ICO suggests that businesses should update data protection policies and provide staff with guidance and training in response to this trend. The Royal Veterinary College (RVS) recently Read more…
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…