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While the country and our politicians have been focussing on the General Election, a few employment updates managed to get over the line in the scramble following the dissolution of Parliament. Here are the key developments. Please bear in mind, however, that they all still need some work and fine tuning, so are likely to
Father’s Day is a special day to be enjoyed with children and family however unfortunately the day can be difficult for some fathers who are unable to spend the day with their child. Whilst it is hoped that most separated parents would be able to agree the arrangements for special dates such as Father’s/Mother’s Day,
According to the Office for National Statistics, 41% of marriages will end in divorce. Frequently, one or both partners will have an interest in a business. Divorce or separation can prove challenging if so. With many business owners following the advice of their accountants to utilise their spouse’s unused tax allowances, it’s commonplace to find
The Family Procedure Rules have been updated to improve the level of attendance by divorcing couples at mediator initial assessment meetings (MIAMs). The government has introduced the changes because the previous rules were not applied to the extent expected and did not divert couples away from court proceedings and towards mediation to the degree that
The Law Society has warned that the severe backlog in probate applications is having a detrimental effect on those mourning the loss of their loved ones. The warning is part of the Society’s evidence to the Justice Select Committee’s probate inquiry. A Law Society spokesman said: “We are aware of significant delays to the probate
The government has announced a clampdown on parents who refuse to take financial responsibility for their children and fail to make maintenance payments. Ministers are consulting on proposed reforms of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to improve the system so more children get the financial support they are due. The reforms include ending the option
The new Code of Practice designed to protect tips given to more than 2 million workers has been published and laid before Parliament. The updated Code of Practice will have statutory legal effect under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, meaning it can be introduced as evidence in an employment tribunal. The Act and
Parents, carers and pregnant women now benefit from greater employment protections relating to flexible working and redundancy. The changes, which came into effect on April 6, include: This runs alongside new laws that give workers more flexibility over where and when they work, unless there are business reasons not to, as the Employment Relations (Flexible
From 29th April 2024, there are significant changes to the Family Procedure Rules, promoting the court’s powers to encourage parties to attend non-court dispute resolution at every stage in proceedings, for matters involving children and/or a financial dispute. The court will require parties to file and serve Form FM5, setting out their views on
It has been widely reported this week in the mainstream media that a couple had their divorce finalised in error following a mistake by solicitors which a senior judge has refused to overturn. The couple were separated and had applied for a divorce which had reached conditional order stage of the divorce. It would appear