Insights & News
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Workers denied paid holiday can carry over rights until termination
30 November 2017The European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) has ruled that where workers are not granted paid annual leave to which they are entitled under the EU Working Time Directive (“WTD”), they must be able to carry over and accumulate those holiday rights from year to year and be compensated for them on termination of employment
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The legal sector and #metoo
29 November 2017Sexual harassment is clearly big news at the moment. Not, of course, because it is a new phenomenon, but because it seems that the allegations swirling around numerous big Hollywood names have opened the floodgates and made it OK to say #metoo.
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Immigration in the tech industry - by any measure; a positive immigration story
29 November 2017Representatives from some of the leading companies across the industry joined forces to host a Migration Advisory Committee (“MAC”) roundtable on 13 September, coordinated by Lewis Silkin and techUK.
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Tax on termination - employer NICs charges delayed
23 November 2017Some good news for employers was confirmed in the Chancellor’s autumn Budget.
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Employment status review announced in response to Taylor report
23 November 2017In the autumn Budget, the Government has indicated for the first time how it intends to respond to the recommendations made by Matthew Taylor in his review of modern working practices.
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Extending ‘off-payroll’ worker reforms to the private sector
23 November 2017The Chancellor announced in the autumn Budget that there will be a consultation in 2018 to tackle non-compliance with IR35 rules in the private sector.
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The Damp Squid Budget?
22 November 2017Yes, yes, I know the phrase is “damp squib”. Call it pedant bait if you like. And the Chancellor (like everyone else) seems to be Blue Planet crazy, so you may detect a salty theme in this Budget update. Anyway, let’s dive into the icy waters of the latest Budget and see what monsters lurk beneath.
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Applying game theory to HR
16 November 2017The influence of game theory, developed in the 1950s by Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr, has been huge. It provides a formal modelling approach for decision-makers to explore a variety of interactions among agents, and their potential outcomes.
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Full Employment Tribunal fees refunds scheme now open
16 November 2017After a brief pilot scheme, the full scheme for refunding Employment Tribunal (“ET”) fees is now open for use by both claimants and respondents.
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Our latest Brexit update on immigration
16 November 2017The UK Government published a Brexit update with the notion that it would relieve worried EEA nationals in the UK and let everyone see how lovely the UK Government intend to be over the end of free movement. This somewhat backfired when the European Parliament then said the proposal was “inadequate”.
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Deliveroo defends union recognition application by demonstrating its riders are genuinely self-employed
15 November 2017The Central Arbitration Committee (“CAC”) has rejected an application from the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (“IWGB”) for collective bargaining rights in respect of Deliveroo riders, in a case in which Lewis Silkin acted for Deliveroo.
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Patent Claims to dosage regimes fail to stand up to scrutiny
06 November 2017In Actavis Group PTC EHF & Anor v Teva UK Ltd & Ors [2017] EWCA Civ 1671 the Court of Appeal has found that various dosage regime claims were obvious and invalid, reversing the decision of the of the trial judge.
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Feedback - positivity vs negativity
02 November 2017Feedback is one of the most powerful tools for optimising workplace performance. Getting it right can help a business to constantly improve. Mistakes become learning opportunities; failures and bad behaviours are not repeated. Conversely, getting feedback wrong can destroy motivation, causing productivity to plummet.
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New Welsh Land Transaction Tax
02 November 2017From April 2018, Wales will have a new tax known as Land Transaction Tax (LTT), its own version of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). LTT mirrors much of the SDLT regime and many of the SDLT rules have been incorporated into the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 (businesses and tax practitioners have emphasised the need for consistency between SDLT and LTT), but there are differences which the Welsh Government say make the tax simpler and fairer, and improve its efficiency and effectiveness.
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Penny Newman comments for The Times Student Law: Adding context to recruiting
02 November 2017Penny Newman has commented for Times Times' Student Law magazine which discusses the Contextual Recruitment System (CRS) and how it can assist with recruitment.
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Unsafe property causes death, but still no claim allowed
02 November 2017A man visits a friend at his flat, falls down the stairs of the building (which are unsafe) and is killed. You would expect his widow would be able to sue the owner of the building in respect of her loss wouldn’t you?
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Smart Cities – what does this mean for the Property world?
26 October 2017One of the trending topics in property circles at the moment is the rather confusing term ‘Smart Cities’. Whilst there is a great deal of buzz around the topic the main question is what exactly is a ‘Smart City’?
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New ACAS guidance on mental health in the workplace
25 October 2017Mental illness costs employers in the UK a lot of money – up to £30 billion each year in lost production, absence and recruitment costs according to Acas, which has recently published a guide to “promoting positive mental health in the workplace”.
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Employment Tribunal fees - refunds begin
24 October 2017After an unexpectedly lengthy wait, the Government has launched the first stage of its scheme for refunding Employment Tribunal (“ET”) fees following the Supreme Court’s decision that the fees system was unlawful.
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Progress on the Parental Bereavement Bill
23 October 2017The purpose of the proposed Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Bill (“the Bill”) is to provide a statutory right to paid leave for employed parents who suffer the loss of a child. Previous attempts to introduce paid leave in these circumstances over the past few years have been unsuccessful. However, this Bill - introduced into Parliament in July - has the support of the Government and is likely to become law.