Covid has impacted working life in the UK more than any other event in recent memory. The application of restrictions regarding how employees perform their duties have fluctuated over the last 20 months. In order to accommodate the changing nature of the workplace restrictions and also to try and protect employees from exposure to Covid,
Dismiss and re-engage, or fire and rehire, has been a practice for decades but recently has been receiving coverage in the press as a result of its use by high profile companies such as BA and British Gas, who have seen the coronavirus pandemic having a dramatic impact on their cash flow. An employer who
The Covid-19 pandemic has presented a plethora of challenges for restauranteurs, and many businesses have struggled to pay their rent whilst they have been forced to close in several national or localised lockdowns. The Coronavirus Act 2020 was introduced as emergency legislation to prevent commercial landlords from re-entering and taking back their premises based on
Local authorities are to receive extra funding to tackle landlords who fail to comply with energy rating standards on their properties. Since April last year, privately rented homes have had to meet a minimum energy performance rating of EPC Band E, making it illegal to rent out homes below that unless landlords have a limited exemption. Landlords
A phone supplier has been told it cannot enforce a cancellation clause in a contract with a customer because the terms are “too onerous”. The case involved Blu-Sky Solutions Ltd and Be Caring Ltd. Be Caring, a social care provider, had a contract for a mobile network service (MNS) to provide mobile telephone handsets for
A cinema has been told that it cannot defend a claim for payment of rent arrears and service charges on the basis that it was required by law to close during the Covid pandemic. The case involved London Trocadero (2015) LLP and Picturehouse Cinemas Ltd. Under the lease with the landlord, Trocadero, Picturehouse covenanted not
The High Court has ruled that a telephone conversation between the managing directors of two companies amounted to a binding agreement and had to honoured. The case involved Mansion Place Ltd v Fox Industrial Services Ltd. Mansion had engaged Fox to refurbish and extend student accommodation. There were delays in the performance of the works.
A rise in the number of creditors taking court action to recover debts has led to fears of a surge in insolvencies in the New Year. There were 21,764 County Court Judgments lodged against companies in the three months to the end of September – a rise of 51% on the previous quarter. Between July
An employee at a biscuit factory who threatened a colleague while in a diabetic rage has won his claim of unfair dismissal. Mr Dytkowski began working for Brand FB’s biscuit factory in 2009. He was diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes in March 2018, which he described as a “difficult diagnosis to accept and manage”. Occupational Health
The government is introducing new laws and a Code of Practice to resolve commercial rent debts accrued because of the pandemic. Commercial tenants are protected from eviction until 25 March 2022. It’s hoped this will provide time for landlords and tenants to negotiate how to share the cost of rent debts. These negotiations will be