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Non-competition covenants can be a helpful way to protect your business by restricting an employee’s ability to set up a rival company and poach some of your customers. They have to be drawn up with great care, however: if the restrictions are not tight enough they may not be effective; but if they are too
The economic downturn has made both landlords and tenants extra keen to minimise potential losses when leases come to an end. A recent case in the High Court involved a dispute over the condition of a set of roof lights on a single-storey warehouse. The lease had required that the tenant should “keep the whole
The number of FTSE 350 firms signing up to the prompt payment code (PPC) has tripled in the last six months. Business Minister Michael Fallon wrote to businesses in November 2012 asking them to sign up to the code which requires large firms to pay small firms promptly. Mr Fallon said that firms that failed
The Government has amended company law in an attempt to increase the number of firms offering direct employee ownership schemes. UK employee owned companies have a turnover of £30bn a year and employ more than 130,000 people. Ministers say these firms are more productive, profitable and more resilient to economic shocks than other businesses. The
A new code designed to prevent local authorities making unnecessary health and safety checks on low risk businesses came into effect on 29 May. The Health and Safety Executive’s statutory National Enforcement Code for local authorities will instead shift the emphasis to a more targeted approach. Councils will now be required to concentrate on higher
Employment minister Jo Swinson has referred 100 companies to HM Revenue & Customs for allegedly breaching minimum wage regulations by employing unpaid interns. Internships, which encourage young people to work for nothing to gain experience, have become more common in recent years but they remain controversial. Ms Swinson was given the names of the 100
A woman who divorced her husband when they both had no money has failed in her bid to share in the fortune he earned after the marriage ended. Dale Vince and Kathleen Julie Wyatt separated in 1984 when they were both in their early 20s. They divorced in 1992. Mr Vince was penniless at the
The number of tenants buying their council homes under the Government discount scheme, Right to Buy, has more than doubled over the last year. Right to Buy offers eligible tenants discounts of up to £100,000 in London and up to £75,000 in other areas. The latest figures show that the number of homes sold between
A father has won an appeal against a court order that rejected the recommendations of childcare experts and reduced his contact with his children. The local authority and child welfare officers recommended that the father should be allowed contact once every three weeks. This should begin immediately with his two younger children and then three
A bus driver has been awarded nearly £60,000 compensation after an employment tribunal found that he was unlawfully dismissed when he developed diabetes. David Hoggett had worked at Abellio London Ltd for eight years. In April 2012, he was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and took several months off work as he responded to his