The recent case of Barbulescu v Romania hit the national press with headlines suggesting that the law had changed and that employers could do whatever they wanted in relation to the interception and monitoring of employees’ emails. These headlines were not correct. The law in this area has not changed but some clarification has been
A court has ruled that a local council was entitled to terminate a contract with a communications company following a number of service failures. The agreement between the two sides covered services such as health, transport communications and public safety. The contract contained a clause entitling the local authority to waive key performance indicator scores
The government says it wants the new penalties for employers who fail to pay tribunal awards to come into force from April this year. The penalties relate to awards made in employment cases. If an employer fails to pay the award or settlement, they will receive a warning notice. If they still fail to pay
A company had not discriminated against an employee by telling her that she had to speak English while at work. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal in the case of a Russian born woman who started working for a company involved in testing products on animals. The company became concerned at the woman’s
Landlords in England now have to carry out Right to Rent checks on potential tenants to make sure they are entitled to stay in the UK. The new regulations came into force on 1 February. They will affect you if you are a private landlord, have a lodger, are sub-letting a property or are an
Nearly 60% of employees say the new National Living Wage (NLW) will help to increase their motivation at work. More than 70% say it will make them feel more positive for themselves and their families. The NLW comes into effect on 1 April and will be set at £7.20 per hour for workers over the
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that an employer had been entitled to dismiss an engineer who used the company’s email system to communicate with his family. However, businesses should not see that as a green light for casual monitoring of staff emails. The case involved a Romanian company that set up
Businesses can expect to face major financial difficulties over the coming year, according to research by the insolvency specialists, Begbies Traynor. The company’s Red Flag Alert, which monitors the financial health of UK companies, found that 268,898 businesses ended the final quarter of 2015 suffering significant financial distress. That was a 17% increase on the
Ministers have urged employers to start preparing now for the National Living Wage (NLW), which comes into effect on 1 April this year. Research carried out on behalf of the government suggests that 93% of businesses support the move but many haven’t yet started to prepare. They’re being urged to follow four simple steps. •
The government decision to end the special arrangement that helped to fund insolvency litigation has met with widespread criticism from business and legal professionals. The trade body R3 said it would amount to a “half-billion-pound pay day for rogue directors”. The controversy arose when the government confirmed that from April this year, insolvency litigation will