Read our latest articles, news briefs and legal updates across all our different services.
A redundancy package offering different terms to employees based on their age has been ruled unlawful. The issue arose after two civil servants were offered a lower redundancy package than their younger colleagues. The employees were both over 60 and entitled to draw a full pension. On this basis, their employers offered them a redundancy
Employers who fail to pay their employees the National Minimum Wage now face financial penalties of up to £20,000. The penalty was previously a fine of 50% of the total underpayments to a maximum of £5,000. It is now a fine of 100% of total underpayments to a maximum of £20,000. The new limits came
A woman has been ordered to pay her ex-husband £1.2m, even though the couple had a pre-nuptial agreement that her wealth would be protected in the event of a separation. The case involved the daughter of one of Britain’s wealthiest men. She received an annual allowance of £81,000 from her father and lived in a
A man who said his former employers gave him a bad reference because he had brought a discrimination case against them has won his victimisation claim. The man worked for a car sales and repair company but was dismissed because he was over 65 years old. He began proceedings for unfair dismissal and age discrimination.
More than 100,000 people have used various government schemes to buy a home over the last four years. Households have taken advantage of schemes such as Right to Buy and Help to Buy. The Right to Buy scheme gives people who have lived in a council property for at least five years the right to
Ministers say children will be better protected and family disputes will be less stressful following changes to legislation relating to divorce and separation. The main changes are that separating couples will be obliged to attend mediation sessions to try to reach agreements regarding childcare and finances, before they can take their disputes to court. If
A woman’s will has been declared invalid after a court ruled that it had been forged by her son. The woman originally made a will in 1999, stating that she intended to split her estate equally between her two children. The son claimed the mother made a new will while she was dying from cancer
A court has ordered that a six-year-old boy should live with his father because the mother had constantly ignored contact orders over several years. The two parents separated before the boy was born and the mother became the primary carer following the birth. The father tried to establish contact with his son but the mother
Divorcing couples are being urged to use mediation to settle their disputes instead of engaging in lengthy court battles. The latest figures released by the Office of National Statistics show that more than 100,000 people get divorced each year. Family Justice Minister Simon Hughes says mediation can help settle disputes over issues such as money
On 6 April 2014 a major part of the Government’s programme of employment dispute reform will come into force with the introduction of ACAS Early Conciliation. The new scheme will require an employee who believes that they have a claim against their employer to notify ACAS of the dispute before they can issue a claim