The courts have taken firm action against a husband who failed to comply with the terms of his divorce settlement with his former wife. The couple had been in a relationship for 17 years and had two children. The financial provision order had been made by consent in December 2018. One of its provisions was
The case involved Oxford Said Business School v Heslop. Heslop had made protected disclosures to her manager concerning the lawfulness of the school’s actions in a procurement process, and potential over-charging and breach of contract in relation to a key client. The manager felt that the allegations were misconceived. Shortly after making those disclosures, Heslop
A teacher who locked a misbehaving pupil in a store cupboard, that was rumoured to be haunted, has won his claim of unfair dismissal. Mr Mohammad Basit taught maths at Pleckgate High School in Blackburn from 2012. He had an unblemished record and was known for his self-professed ‘love of his job’. However, an incident
UK law may still treat separated partners as a couple for adoption purposes. Learn what this means for prospective adopters.
The Land Registry has introduced a new online service to provide estimated completion dates on property sales. It will enable our solicitors to keep clients better informed on when their sale or purchase is likely to go through. Estimated Completion Date is the latest enhancement to the View My Applications portal operated by the Land
Employees are advised to think carefully about the wording used when writing a grievance to their employer, after the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that an employee’s allegations in her written grievance that the employer’s conduct “may amount to discrimination” would not constitute a protected act under the Equality Act 2010. The employee in question was
In an employment relationship, the identity of the employer is usually very clear; however, where an employee works for a group of companies, it can sometimes be trickier to identify which of the group companies is the true employer. This can sometimes cause issues, particularly from a tax perspective, when it comes to identifying where
In recent months separated parents have found themselves in unprecedented times trying to navigate child arrangements whilst complying with COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. In March 2019 the President of the Family Court, Sir Andrew McFarlane, made it clear that where parents do not live in the same household, children under 18 can be moved between their
In the recent case of Kathryn Hopkins v The Commissioners for her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) [2020], an employee was arrested by the police for serious criminal offences including a serious sexual offence. She disclosed the fact to her employer and was immediately suspended on full pay pending disciplinary proceedings for possible gross misconduct, with
A pharmaceutical company was within its rights to dismiss an employee who failed to complete mandatory online training courses. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in a recent case involving a medical sales rep Mr Barongo. who was employed by Quintiles Commercial UK. In January 2016, Mr Barongo was dismissed for failing