Read our latest articles, news briefs and legal updates across all our different services.
The Treasury is introducing new rules on how businesses should construct letters sent to people in debt. The emphasis will be on helping customers to better understand and manage their debts, reducing distress and supporting mental health Default Notices are designed to give people who are falling behind on their debts fair warning before lenders
A commercial tenant that left behind asbestos-contaminated materials after having its lease terminated has been ordered to pay the cost of clearing the site. There was a “”yield-up”” covenant in the lease that required the tenant to remove buildings erected on the site and to leave the site in “”good and substantial repair and condition””.
A gender-fluid engineer who endured insults and jibes from fellow workers has won a discrimination claim against Jaguar Land Rover. The case involved Ms R Taylor who had worked for Jaguar for 20 years and had initially identified as male. She began identifying as gender fluid in 2017 and started dressing in women’s clothing. This
The government is introducing a series of changes to increase the flexibility and capacity of the employment tribunal system during the Covid-19 pandemic. The new measures will also allow tribunals to deal with increasing caseloads, following the abolition of employment tribunal fees in July 2017. It means there will be more remote hearings so tribunals
The Administrative Court has made a declaration clarifying that the legal definition of “”employment”” includes people who provide their services on a self-employed basis as an independent contractor. The declaration was made after the Simply Learning Tutor Agency Ltd and eight other similar agencies applied for a declaration that the Employment Agencies Act 1973 does
An employee who was suspended from her work after being arrested for a serious sexual offence has lost her claim for breach of contract. The employee, who worked for HMRC, was arrested in August 2018. In accordance with her employment contract, she disclosed the arrest and the sexual offence to her line manager, who further
The High Court has lifted an interim injunction restraining an employee from working at another company. The case involved Peltrade Ltd, a distributor of energy-producing wood pellets. In March 2018 it had employed Mr Dean Scanlan to trade in premium and industrial quality pellets, but he had worked primarily in the premium pellet sector. His
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a decision to remove three children from the care of their grandparents was mistaken and could cause them emotional harm. The children, aged six, four and three, had lived with their grandparents and maternal aunt since January 2019 after a somewhat chaotic lifestyle in their parents’ care. In
The government has issued guidance on who must pay the higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) when buying a residential property in England. The basic position is that you will be liable for the higher SDLT rates when you buy a residential property (or a part of one) for £40,000 or more, if
A mother has won her appeal against a court order that she should return her two children to Germany to live with their father. The decision means the children can continue to live with her in England. The children and parents had all lived in Germany since the children were born. The parents separated in