Read our latest articles, news briefs and legal updates across all our different services.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that a company’s childcare voucher scheme did not discriminate against a woman on maternity leave. The case involved a company that operated a scheme that enabled employees to forego part of their salary in exchange for childcare vouchers. Entry to the scheme was conditional on employees accepting that
A doctor who was dismissed by the NHS after raising concerns about how a hospital was treating patients has been awarded £2.5m compensation. Dr Raj Mattu was a cardiologist at University Hospital Coventry in Walsgrave. He became alarmed that overcrowding was leading to patient deaths. He raised his concerns with the University Hospitals Coventry and
The Court of Appeal has ruled that an NHS Trust failed to protect a mental health nurse from abuse from his colleagues because it wanted to deter him from taking part in his trade union activities. The nurse was a leading member of the Workers of England Union (WEU). He was also a member of
A software developer has been granted an injunction to prevent a former employee passing on confidential information to a rival business. The developer specialised in computer gaming software for use in non-gaming industries. The employee had joined the company as a programmer and later moved to the sales department. There were restrictive covenants in his
Families inheriting estates valued at more than £2m will have to pay probate fees of £20,000 under new proposals being put forward by the government. The move would also see the beneficiaries of much smaller estates paying no fee at all. Under the current system, all estates worth more than £5,000 pay a standard probate
A quarter of a million first time buyers have opened a Help to Buy ISA since they became available last December. More than half of them are aged 30 or under. Some people have already claimed the bonus offered by the ISAs and are using them to help buy their first home. Help to Buy
A husband has lost his appeal against an unequal divorce settlement that gave his wife a greater share of the marital assets. The couple had separated after 15 years’ of marriage due to difficulties caused by the husband’s addictive behaviour. The wife remained in their London flat and the husband moved to a rented flat
A woman has won her legal battle to keep the home she shared with her partner despite opposition from his estranged wife. The court heard that Joy Williams and her partner Norman Martin had owned their home as tenants in common for 18 years. Mr Martin had separated from his wife but they had not
The government has announced that 600 acres of publicly owned land is being made available to build new homes. It has identified 80 sites that will be put up for sale over the next 18 months. It is estimated these sites will support more than 5,000 homes as well as land for industry and business.
284,000 landlords risk being fined over tenant deposits New research has revealed that 284,000 landlords are at risk of being fined because they have failed to protect tenants’ deposits in an approved scheme. The survey by the Centre for Economics Business Research (CEBR) suggests that more than £500m worth of tenancy deposits are being held