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The government has announced a temporary change to probate applications until a controversial new fee structure comes fully into effect. Probate is the process by which a person’s will is administered after their death. Currently there is a flat fee of £215, or £155 if a solicitor is involved. That is being replaced by a
The government has written to 10,000 businesses to warn them they must pay their suppliers on time or risk being barred from winning public contracts. Officials from the Cabinet Office have written to the businesses – which include all the government’s current strategic suppliers – to remind them of the new rules on prompt payment,
A tribunal has held that Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) was wrong to dismiss an employee who raised questions about health and safety practices. The judge likened its HR process to “a show trial in the former Soviet Union”. The case involved energy trader Donald Nutt who was employed by SSE for 16 years. After
Two company directors have been held personally liable for their company’s failures over minimum wage rates, holiday pay and overtime. The case involved Lithuanian nationals who had come to the UK to work for DJ Houghton Catching Services Ltd as chicken catchers on farms. Their employment was subject to the regulatory regime of the Gangmasters
The Employment Tribunal has ruled that a female finance administrator was discriminated against when her male replacement was paid £3,500 more than her. The case involved Mrs J Broom, who had been employed in various roles by Alternative Care Ltd for nearly two years. At the time she resigned from the company, she was a
A teaching assistant was discriminated against by her employer, who did not take the necessary steps to allow her to work in comfort with her disability. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal in a case involving an assistant who worked at Aycliffe Village Primary School in County Durham from February 2006. Mrs S
The latest figures on the gender pay gap in large businesses show a slight reduction on last year. Legislation introduced in 2017 means that every employer with 250 or more employees has to publish the differences between what they pay their male and female staff in average salaries and bonuses. This is the second year
The government has confirmed that it will introduce new legislation to end the blame game for divorcing couples. It’s hoped the new approach will help reduce family conflict. The move follows a public consultation where family justice professionals and those with direct experience of divorce voiced their support for reform. New legislation will therefore be
The Court of Appeal has ruled that an NHS Trust had not been entitled to withhold the salary of a doctor who was suspended from duty while police carried out an investigation into patient deaths. The doctor began working for the trust in 2003. In 2016, the trust became concerned that he had hastened the
The government says it’s committed to maintaining workers’ rights after the UK leaves the European Union. It says it will not reduce the standards of protection in EU laws retained in UK law and will ensure that new legislation changing those laws will be assessed as to whether they uphold this commitment. It says parliament,