Date set for introduction of Employment Tribunal fees
From that date, subject to the necessary Parliamentary approval, employees wishing to bring a claim to a tribunal will have to pay fees on a sliding scale depending on the nature of the claim and the number of claimants. Level 1 claims include breach of contract, equal pay, holiday pay, redundancy issues and wages. Level…
Levy change could make it cheaper to build your own home
Under the current system, new homes above a certain size are subject to the Community Infrastructure Levy. The levy allows councils to raise funds from developers undertaking new building projects in their area. The money raised is used to fund the infrastructure needed to support the development and to support local communities. Ministers say individuals,…
New minimum wage rates include increase for apprentices
The Low Pay Commission (LPC) had recommended that the rate for apprentices should be frozen following concerns about compliance, but the Government has decided to go ahead and increase it. Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “The independent Low Pay Commission plays a crucial role in advising the government when setting the National Minimum Wage every…
Father wins appeal over contact with his children
The man had originally been granted supervised contact because it was feared that he might abscond and take the children abroad if there was no supervision. The problem arose when he applied to vary the supervision arrangements. The judge held that the state could not be expected to supervise contact and so the best approach…
Company wins compensation from council for loss of business
The case arose after the arcade owners became concerned about the structural integrity of the pier and commissioned a survey. It then provided a copy of the survey to the local authority in the hope that it would tell the owner of the pier to carry out repairs. The council responded by giving notice that…
Dependency and Compensation Claims Following Fatal Accidents
It may not be the first thing that comes to mind after a tragic accident but those dependent on the victim will have a claim for compensation, and this claim could be essential to the upkeep of the dependent. Fatal Accident Compensation A fatal accident claim is usually split into two parts. First, compensation for…
Victim of sexual harassment at work awarded compensation
Noeleen McAleenon says she was subjected to inappropriate contact and degrading comments about her sex life while working for Autism Initiatives NI. She complained to her employer then later resigned because she felt her concerns were not being properly addressed. The employer spoke to the man involved and he admitted that he may have acted…
Contempt of Court and Divorce
Sanctions for contempt of court can even include jail time as one wealthy divorcee has recently found to the cost of his liberty. Contempt of court in divorce proceedings can arise if there is any interference with the administration of justice such as a violation of or non-compliance with a court order, disruption of the…
Company stops former employee soliciting its clients
The case involved an employee who had been a senior manager and associate director of the company. In October 2012, he was told that he was no longer a senior manager but could continue as an associate director. He would keep his salary and receive an enhanced employer pension contribution rate of 4%. He found…
Understanding Commercial Property Leases
Given the ongoing relationship of landlord and tenant, it is also important that both parties are satisfied with the final agreement. The advice of experienced commercial property solicitors is essential, particularly for long-term or extensive leases which may require detailed investigations and legal searches to be carried out. Key Considerations in Commercial Property Leases Although…
Separating Couples: How to maximise your income upon separation
For those going through a divorce or separation it feels like the world has temporarily ended. As well as worrying about what’s going to happen to the house, where you’re going to live and who the children are going to live with, often one of the most worrying things can be how you’re going to…
Divorce settlement acknowledges husband’s extra contribution
The issue arose in a recent case before the High Court. The husband had founded a successful company in the early years of the marriage. Both husband and wife had made a substantial loan to the business and were both receiving repayments at the time of the divorce. The shares in the company were worth…
Prime Minister becomes a ‘Dementia Friend’
The initiative is being promoted by the Alzheimer’s Society, the Department of Health and the Office for Civil Society. The number of dementia sufferers in the UK is set to double in the next 30 years. As well as health issues for sufferers, there are also practical matters relating to how their financial and business…
Man awarded £2,750 after getting food poisoning at hotel
After the meal he started to suffer from diarrhoea and vomiting. It took him two weeks to recover from the illness and he was weak for a further seven days afterwards. A total of 90 people who had been at the charity dinner suffered the same symptoms. The man was self-employed and was unable to…
Separating parents: What are your options?
Imagine therefore, what those parents who are separating have to deal with in addition. They, of course, never imagined when they had children that a separation or divorce would be on the cards. The future looks bleak and most have no idea what to do or how they should deal with the situation. Whilst it…
SMEs struggling with cash flow and using up reserves
The British challenger bank, Aldermore, surveyed 300 SMEs and found that 38% are depending on cash reserves to fund future development. A further 12% said they will turn to a bank loan, and 9% to an overdraft. The remainder planned to use other forms of finance or were not planning to fund any future growth…
Homeowner compensated after house purchase falls through
The buyer had argued that forfeiting his deposit should be adequate compensation, but the Court of Appeal disagreed. The case involved a buyer who agreed to purchase a house and complete by 30 June, 2008. He failed to do so. The seller put the property back on the market but was unable to find another…
Family Mediation, Not marriage guidance
Family mediation is a voluntary process and the mediator is completely impartial. The role of the mediator is to help the couple to reach an agreement without the need for court proceedings. The mediator will not make any judgements about the situation or make decisions, they are there to explore the options and help the…
Confusion over IT contract renewal proves costly
Failure to do so can prove costly, as demonstrated in a recent case before the High Court. It involved an IT company and a bank that had entered into an agreement. There was a clause stating that the agreement would renew automatically for a period of three years on each anniversary of the renewal date…
The D Word: What are your options?
For many people this comes completely out of the blue and the news that their marriage is at an end is absolutely devastating. They haven’t a clue what to do next and the thought of separating from their spouse is terrifying. They have often also heard horror stories about how expensive and acrimonious a divorce…
Budget offers two schemes to help homebuyers
The measures were announced in the Budget. The first scheme is called Help to Buy: equity loan, and applies to new build properties only. It expands the existing First Buy scheme and is now available to everyone, not just those buying their first home. To qualify you will need a minimum deposit of 5%. The…
House sales rise as number of first time buyers hits 5-year high
Its figures show that there were 216,200 first-time buyers in 2012. That was the first time the annual total exceeded 200,000 since 2007. It was also a 12% increase on the 2011 figure of 193,000. In further good news for the housing market, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reports that the number of…
Debts owed to businesses soar past 1bn
It shows that firms are finding it increasingly difficult to stay on top of credit control. The CSA research shows that the amount of debt outsourced by businesses to collection agencies reached £1.145bn in the third quarter of 2012. That was a 12% increase on the second quarter figure of £1.02bn. The total amount of…
Fall in property prices foreseeable so consultants liable for damages
The case involved a farmer who obtained planning permission to build houses on a field next to an A road in 2006. He engaged a firm of consultants to design a service road and drainage system which would meet with local authority approval. It was a requirement of the contract that the work should be…
Warning: Imminent Legal Aid cuts
As from the beginning of April, many areas of family law including advice on a divorce, finances on separation and contact arrangements for children will only be funded on Legal Aid in very limited circumstances. Advice in relation to immigration applications such as visas to enter or remain in the UK for family members, students…
Glass Manufacturer granted injunction to protect design rights
The court heard that Utopia Tableware Ltd had registered and unregistered design rights over its Aspen range of glasses, which were characterised by being tall and having a narrow waist towards the centre. The glasses were used by some major brewing companies. Utopia objected when another manufacturer started producing glasses which were very similar in…
Big companies face naming and sharing over Prompt Payment Code
The code, which was drawn up by the Institute of Credit Management, has been in operation for four years. Its signatories commit to paying suppliers within the agreed time and ensuring that there is a proper process in place to resolve any issues that may arise. A total of 1,182 companies have signed up to…
Woman’s will overturned because of ‘undue influence’
It if later turns out that you were pressurised by someone trying gain a share of your estate then the will may be overturned by the courts. This happened recently in a case involving an elderly woman and her extended family. In 2005, she made a will leaving most of her estate to her two…
Musician receives £73,000 compensation for unfair dismissal
Murray Johnston was principal oboist with the Welsh National Opera for 34 years but was sacked in 2008. The company said his playing had fallen below the high standards required. However, Mr Johnston claimed the dismissal followed 16 years of bullying and harassment by the company’s musical director at the time, Carlo Rizzi. He said…
Estate agents fined for breaching money laundering regulations
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) took action against the Leicester-based IPS Estate Agents Ltd after it breached a number of the requirements of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007. The OFT said the failings related to verifying the identity of customers, keeping appropriate records and ensuring that relevant staff were aware of the law relating…
Woman awarded £11,500 after falling in a Sainsbury’s warehouse
The woman worked for a company that sold sweets to the Sainsbury’s supermarket chain. It had been part of her job to visit the warehouse to check the delivery of the sweets. The warehouse was poorly lit and a spade had been left on the floor in the walkway. As the woman walked past she…
Awards for unfair dismissal to be limited to one year’s salary
Employment relations minister Jo Swinson said the change would be introduced in an amendment to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, which is currently going through parliament. Ms Swinson said: “Employment tribunals are costly for everyone, in terms of money but also time and stress. “We need to tackle unrealistic expectations about the levels of…
Husband jailed for failing to disclose assets in divorce case
Scot Young says he is bankrupt and penniless but his wife Michelle claims he is a multi-millionaire. He has failed to comply with court orders demanding details about his financial circumstances. The case dates back several years. In 2009, Mr Young was given a six-month suspended sentence for failing to provide financial information. High Court…
Agency wins case against former employee’s rival business
The employee had worked for the agency as a booker responsible for hiring models. His contract of employment restrained him from engaging in competition with the agency during his employment. He was also prevented from soliciting the agency’s employees or models for 12 months after terminating his contract, and from disclosing any of the agency’s…
Man injured on holiday wins £4,500 compensation
The injury happened when he opened the wardrobe in his hotel room in Tunisia. The door came off its rail and fell on his foot. His foot was throbbing with pain but it took two hours for the medical assistant to arrive. The assistant didn’t have any equipment with him so was only able to…
Planning permissions for new homes up by a third
The increase followed the introduction of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) last April, which gave local authorities more power over what is built in their areas. There were 33,881 approvals compared with 24,872 in Quarter 2. The HBF says the increase is welcome but is still far short of the 60,000 approvals needed each…
New adjucicator to protect supermarket suppliers
The adjudicator will be responsible for enforcing the Groceries Code, which was put in place by the Competition Commission in 2008. It applies to the 10 retailers with a turnover in the groceries market in excess of £1bn. The code obliges retailers to comply with several requirements including: dealing fairly and lawfully with their suppliers;…
Commercial tenant fails to exercise break clause correctly
It’s thought the economic downturn is putting pressure on both sides to minimise their financial losses. It means landlords are now more likely to scrutinise tenancy agreements as closely as possible to prevent a break taking place. A recent case in the High Court involved a dispute over a break clause in a 10-year lease….
Supreme Court to rule on controversial divorce case
The Court of Appeal shocked many lawyers and legal commentators when it ruled in October that Mr Prest did not have to give his former wife £17.5m worth of assets belonging to some of his companies. The issue began in the High Court which highlighted some properties belonging to companies owned by Mr Prest. The…
Director faced with prison after defying court orders
His fellow director was fined £1,000 for his part in the offences. The two men were directors of a company that leased premises to a business tenant. A dispute arose which led to the tenant obtaining three court orders against the two directors. The first injunction required the directors to provide the tenant with keys…
Premium 90-day patent application service to be introduced
There will also be a faster trademarks service which will provide a full examination report in five days instead of the current 10 days. The changes, which will be introduced by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), were announced in a speech by the Business Secretary Vince Cable. He said there would also be a range…
How legal agreements can help cohabiting couples
Many believe there is such a thing as common law marriage giving them the same legal protection as married couples. Unfortunately for them, this is not true. Cohabiting couples have very few automatic rights and this can cause numerous problems. For example, if your home is in your ex-partner’s name then you will have no…
Death of our colleague
He was a friend to so many and a fearless advocate for his clients in the field of public law and civil liberties. Simon was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2011. He came into work for as long as he was able and then remained at home with his family for as long as could. He went into…
Redundancy reforms designed to help businesses and employees
The main change is to reduce the minimum period before large scale redundancies can take place from 90 days to 45 days. This affects redundancy programmes involving more than 100 employees. The Government will also legislate to make clear that fixed term contracts which have come to an end are excluded from obligations for collective…
Tribunal says 12-month contract was short-term and outside of TUPE
The company, Liddell’s Coaches, had five 12-month contracts to transport children to different locations while their school was being rebuilt. It lost four of the contracts when the time came to re-tender. It therefore laid off one its drivers, assuming that he would transfer to the new bus company under TUPE. However, the new company…
Son fails to overturn his mother’s will
The case involved a woman who decided she did not want her son to inherit any of her estate. The woman and her son had been in business together. At one point, the son was charged with several counts of fraud in connection with the business. He was acquitted of all charges but the incidents…
Reductions in asking prices for homes at a two-year low
Its research shows that 32.8% of properties on sale in November had seen a price reduction since first being put on the market. That was down from 40.4% in November 2011. Lawrence Hall, a spokesman for Zoopla, said: “The proportion of properties that have seen their price reduced and the average amount of the discount…
Government to cut red tape on home improvements
Planning Minister Nick Boles said that for a limited time, red tape will be slashed and unnecessary rules and bureaucracy will be removed in order to make the system more efficient. He said the majority of planning applications are uncontroversial. Nearly 90% of requests are approved every year but the process takes up a lot…
Failure to specify currency exchange rate proves costly
Confusion over these issues can prove costly, as one firm discovered in a recent case before the Court of Appeal. The case involved the sale of various goods together with industrial plants in Manchester and Orleans in France. The contract stipulated that payment was to be made in sterling in relation to products shipped from…
One in, two out plan to cut red tape for business
Business Minister Michael Fallon said that from January 2013, every new regulation that imposes a financial burden on a company will be offset by reductions in red tape that will save double those costs. Currently there is a ‘One-in, One-out’ rule that applies to all domestic regulation affecting business and voluntary organisations. It ensures that…