The Government has confirmed that it is making changes to the unfair dismissal rules in an attempt to encourage employers to take on more staff. The qualification period for being able to bring a claim of unfair dismissal is to be extended from one year to two years. The change will come into effect from
A stonemasonry business which was featured on television has been prosecuted after a viewer raised concerns about staff being exposed to dangerous dust. Atelier 109 Ltd from Etton nearPeterboroughfeatured in a BBC2 series called Mastercrafts, presented by Monty Don. Afterwards, a viewer contacted the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and said the firm didn’t seem
A firm of surveyors must pay £18m in compensation after giving negligent advice to clients involved in a major property deal. The surveyors were hired by a consortium of developers to assess the commercial prospects of a factory outlet shopping centre. The centre was in a listed building on two floors. The developers acquired the
The importance of keeping accurate written records of directors’ dealings and activities was highlighted in a recent case before the Court of Appeal. It involved five directors of a property company that had gone into liquidation. The liquidator began proceedings to make the directors repay money owing on loan accounts and to pay compensation for
When buying a business it’s important to ensure that the seller doesn’t try to entice away clients or customers once the sale goes through. For this reason, most firms will insist on a covenant preventing the seller from setting up a rival business or soliciting his former customers for a specified period. The value of
Relationships between shareholders in small companies are often tense, but what happens if they refuse allow meetings to take place that could determine the future of the business? The issue arose in a case involving a taxi firm that had two shareholders who were also both directors. The minority shareholder played no active part in
Four supermarkets and five dairy processors have been fined a total of £49.51m for co-ordinating prices. The action follows an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). It found that Arla, Asda, Dairy Crest, McLelland, Safeway, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, The Cheese Company and Wiseman infringed the Competition Act 1998 by co-ordinating increases in the prices
The Government has clarified when forfeiture action can and cannot be taken for non-payment of rent and other charges. The move comes after ministers were made aware that the Notes for Leaseholders, which are part of the Landlord and Tenant (Notice of Rent) (England) Regulations 2004, SI 2004/3096, could be misleading. To avoid any confusion,
There is to be a new Unitary Patent providing protection across 25 countries in the European Union. The move is designed to help European firms protect themselves against the growing problem of copyright piracy. One of the difficulties at the moment is that there is no single patent covering the whole of Europe. Firms have
A director has been found guilty of wrongful trading after taking money for services his company could not provide. The director was the sole shareholder of a company that tried to provide a DX mailing service. He allowed an employee to market the business and take advance payments from customers who entered into contracts for