The government has published new guidance for landlords to protect tenants from being exposed to poor living conditions. From 1 October this year, landlords who let a property to five or more people – from two or more separate households – must be licensed by their local housing authority. The move will affect around 160,000
Company directors could be held personally liable for nuisance calls and face fines of up to £500,000 under tough new measures being put forward by the government. Currently, only businesses are liable for such fines. This has led to cases where some directors try to escape paying penalties by declaring bankruptcy – and then start
The Court of Appeal has provided useful guidance on when an employee can claim constructive unfair dismissal based on a “final straw” event following a series of related grievances. The issue arose in the case of Harpreet Kaur who worked for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. There was an altercation between Ms Kaur and another
A cycle courier with a taxi firm was a ‘worker’ rather than a self-employed contractor and so was entitled to holiday pay. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in a case involving Addison Lee Ltd and one of its riders, Mr C Gascoigne. Addison provided a taxi and courier service. Mr Gascoigne’s
HMRC is continuing to clamp down on firms that fail to pay the National Minimum Wage and is urging underpaid workers to come forward and complain. The latest figures show that the number of workers getting the money they’re owed has doubled over the last year. In 2017 to 2018, HMRC investigators identified £15.6m in
A police force discriminated against a male officer by paying him less while he was on shared parental leave than a woman would have received while on maternity leave. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in a case involving Leicestershire Constabulary and one of its officers. The officer’s claim relied on the
A meat company has been granted an injunction preventing a former employee misusing its confidential information about customers and product prices. The court heard that the company supplied fresh meat to commercial catering customers. One of its employees resigned after working as a sales executive for two-and-a-half years. During his employment, he had direct contact
A sole trader has won a long running battle against a bankruptcy order after his business got into difficulties due to a cash flow crisis. The trader, Mr Rafferty, bought and sold packaging machinery. Some his customers were late settling invoices, so he was unable to pay £14,000 to a company called Sealants International Ltd.
The Government Equalities Office has published new guidance for employers on how to avoid sex discrimination when implementing workplace dress codes. The document, entitled Dress codes and sex discrimination – what you need to know, stresses that while policies on clothes can be a legitimate part of an employer’s terms and conditions of employment, the
The Supreme Court has ruled that an oral agreement to vary the terms of a licence for serviced offices was ineffective because the contract specified that all changes had to be in writing to be valid. The long running dispute involved Rock Advertising Ltd, who rented premises from MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd. The contract