Category: Corporate & Commercial
Mar 2022
The Spring Statement 2022: At a glance
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has just delivered his long-awaited Spring Statement, with many holding out hopes for a brighter future as the cost of living continues to increase.
Mar 2022
Spring Statement is the chance for Sunak to step up
The country really is in quite a predicament. The cost of living is skyrocketing, taxes have been raised to their highest point in 70 years, thousands of pounds are being added to heating bills and more people than ever are facing the choice between eating and heating.
Feb 2022
What does “Living With Covid” mean for employers?
The Government has now released plans as to how society needs to move forward from the Covid-19 pandemic, including the relaxation of isolation rules and charging for covid testing. But what will it mean for employers?
Feb 2022
Company Directors: The Problems caused by Informality and Lack of Records
A recent case in the Employment Appeal Tribunal illustrates the type of dispute that is so often seen within small companies, frequently but not always family-owned ones. Such disputes occur where there is a complete lack of documentation recording the nature of the relationship between the directors and the company.
Feb 2022
Meet our Corporate Team - Charmaine Dudman
How long have you worked for Downs?
Jan 2022
Vaccination status controversy reaches new levels after JLP says it will pay staff regardless
As Plan B restrictions lift in the UK once again, there’s been a few headlines surfacing about how employers are treating unvaccinated staff - and it’s a bit of a legal minefield.
Jan 2022
Holiday Entitlement and Holiday Pay – Key points for Employers
Holiday entitlement and pay is a notoriously difficult area for HR practitioners. Typical challenges include calculating holiday entitlement for casual or zero hours workers, accounting for bank holidays for part-time staff and trying to keep up with the constantly evolving case law regarding what aspects of employee remuneration are deemed “normal pay” and therefore must be included in holiday pay. We summarise the main questions and answers below. However, legal advice should always be taken on a specific scenario. The below should only be treated as guidance.
Jan 2022
IKEA cuts sick pay for unvaccinated staff who are self-isolating due to Covid exposure
A significant social media backlash followed the announcement by IKEA that only staff fully vaccinated against Covid-19, or those who have mitigating circumstances, will receive enhanced company sick pay in the future when self-isolating due to Covid-19 exposure. Self-isolating workers who are unvaccinated and do not have any mitigating circumstances will only receive Statutory Sick Pay ("SSP"). Unvaccinated workers are still required to isolate for a period of 10 days following exposure. In contrast, fully vaccinated staff are not.
Jan 2022
Are you breaching Data Protection Laws and GDPR with your video doorbell?
We can see the increase in popular home CCTV devices through the likes of “Ring Doorbell” and “Google Nest” as homeowners wish to protect their properties. However, individuals with such devices must be cautious as the recent case of Fairhurst v Woodard [2021] 10 WLUK
151 passed judgement that the Defendant, Mr Woodard had breached both the UK Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (GDPR) through the use of his home video surveillance.
Jan 2022
Can staff who are afraid of catching Covid-19 refuse to return to work in the office?
Is fear of Covid -19 a protected belief under the Equality Act 2010?
The Manchester Employment Tribunal has recently held that employees cannot use a fear of catching Covid-19 as a reason not to return to working from the office on grounds that it is a philosophical belief protected by the Equality Act.
