Directors Banned for Accepting Orders They Couldn’t Fulfill
George and Williamina Hay, directors of DWH Trading Ltd, were banned after continuing to accept orders they couldn’t fulfill, despite knowing the company was insolvent.
Business Services
Employment Bill to usher in major reforms to employment rights: Protections for Workers
The new Employment Bill brings significant reforms to strengthen protections for workers. From day-one dismissal rights to enhanced sick pay and flexible working, these changes aim to improve workplace standards and security for employees across various industries. Discover how these updates could impact your rights and responsibilities as both employers and worker
Race discrimination: Black employees awarded £95k compensation
Two Black employees received £95,000 in compensation after a tribunal found that London and Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) discriminated against them during a promotion process. The Equality and Human Rights Commission supported the case, which highlights the importance of fair hiring practices.
Employment updates you may have missed in the election scramble
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
Government publishes new guidance on workers receiving tips
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
New rights for workers including extra protection for pregnant women
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
New minimum salary for skilled worker visas comes into effect
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 starts rolling out new powers to tackle fraud
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
Flexible working rights for millions of employees come into effect
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,
Fixed Recoverable Costs – so what’s been fixed?
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