The government is strengthening the Prompt Payment Code to ensure large companies pay small businesses on time. Companies that have signed up to the code will be obliged to pay invoices within 30 days – half the time outlined under the current agreement. Despite almost 3,000 companies signing the code, poor payment practices are still
Car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover dismissed one of its employees without following its own absence management procedures. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal in a case involving Mr V Rumbold who had worked for the car manufacturer since February 1999. In 2018, Rumbold was diagnosed with avascular necrosis disease, which caused his hip
A disqualified director has been granted leave to run a company again after showing that he had overcome his drug and alcohol abuse issues and was a reformed character. The director had been disqualified for failing to pay VAT following the sale of a plot of land. The company went into liquidation without any assets
A commercial tenant has been refused permission to re-amend its defence to a service charge claim four weeks before trial. The court ruled that although the new defences had reasonable prospects of success, they could have been pleaded earlier and there was no good reason for the delay. The issue arose because the tenant refused
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
On 07 January 2021 the Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick announced proposals that mean leaseholders will be able to extend their lease by 990 years instead of the current 90 years allowed by the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, and for those with lease lengths below 80 years, removal of marriage value which
As we enter Lockdown 3 and the closure of schools, there has been a lot of talk in the media about options that are available to parents who have childcare responsibilities including the possibility of furlough on either a full-time or flexible basis. The guidance on furlough confirms that employees can be furloughed for this
A woman who found offensive remarks about her in a WhatsApp group used by work colleagues was the victim of harassment due to her sex, race and religious belief. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal in a case involving Ms Muna Abdi and Deltec International Courier Ltd. Ms Abdi, who is black of
As we enter into the New Year with a new Covid variant leading to increasing social restrictions and rising case numbers and sadly deaths, it is tempting to be drawn into the cycle of despondency that confronts us all as soon as we open a paper or watch the news or click on social media.
Network Rail has won a £13m contract dispute that centred on the meaning of the word “default”. The issue arose after Network Rail engaged ABC Electrification Ltd to carry out some major works. Under the contract, ABC was entitled to payment based on the “”total cost””, which was defined to exclude “”disallowed cost””. ABC had