While the country and our politicians have been focussing on the General Election, a few employment updates managed to get over the line in the scramble following the dissolution of Parliament. Here are the key developments. Please bear in mind, however, that they all still need some work and fine tuning, so are likely to
According to the Office for National Statistics, 41% of marriages will end in divorce. Frequently, one or both partners will have an interest in a business. Divorce or separation can prove challenging if so. With many business owners following the advice of their accountants to utilise their spouse’s unused tax allowances, it’s commonplace to find
The new Code of Practice designed to protect tips given to more than 2 million workers has been published and laid before Parliament. The updated Code of Practice will have statutory legal effect under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, meaning it can be introduced as evidence in an employment tribunal. The Act and
Parents, carers and pregnant women now benefit from greater employment protections relating to flexible working and redundancy. The changes, which came into effect on April 6, include: This runs alongside new laws that give workers more flexibility over where and when they work, unless there are business reasons not to, as the Employment Relations (Flexible
The new minimum salary required for people wishing to come to the UK on a Skilled Worker visa has increased by 48% from £26,200 to £38,700. The rate is effective from 4 April. The government hopes this new minimum salary requirement will drive down immigration numbers and prevent the undercutting of British workers by employers
Companies House has started the phased roll out of its new powers to tackle fraud and improve the quality and reliability of its data. The new powers are part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), which received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. It aims to tackle economic crime, including fraud
Millions of employees now have the right to request flexible working to determine where and when they work. The new rights are part of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill, which came into effect on 6 April. Flexible working is a broad term and can relate to working hours or pattern including part-time, term-time, flexi-time,
The introduction of fixed recoverable costs (FRC) has been described as the biggest change to civil litigation for a decade. The FRC regime will attempt to fix the amount of legal costs that the successful party can claim from the unsuccessful party in litigation. The aim of the reform is to provide certainty to parties
Business owners, particularly in small businesses, can often wear too many hats. Whether it be as a shareholder, director and/or employee, each of these hats carries very different rights and responsibilities:- Shareholders: investors in the business and their relationship to each other is governed by the Companies Act and any shareholder agreement (if one is
Perhaps it was a slow news day but watching the news over breakfast this morning I was interested in an article concerning local residents who turned out in their hundreds to help thousands of frogs and toads cross a busy road! So what does this have to do with planning decisions for commercial properties? From