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The Future of Work Hub’s 2024 report: ‘Strategic priorities shaping the workforce and HR agenda in 2024 and beyond’ is here!
31 January 2024The world of work is undergoing profound and extensive disruption. Large-scale trends are transforming work, workforces and workplaces. The legacy of the pandemic has combined with a tense economic and social landscape, presenting businesses with significant challenges. How can businesses best navigate this increasingly complex environment? And, if you are in HR or have people responsibilities, what are the key strategic issues and areas of priority action for 2024 and beyond?
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How does a leap year impact national minimum wage?
31 January 2024This is a leap year and, with 29 February falling on a Thursday, employers need to watch out for a possible breach of national minimum wage requirements.
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Home Office announces timeline for immigration reforms
30 January 2024The Home Office has issued a new statement outlining the launch dates for major reforms to the Skilled Worker and Partner routes. This, along with other recent announcements confirms a packed timeline of immigration reforms due to be made over the next year.
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Processing delays as changes loom
29 January 2024The Home Office is struggling to cope with a surge of demand for immigration application-related services ahead of an increase in the Immigration Health Surcharge and upcoming changes to the Skilled Worker and Partner routes.
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Lewis Silkin's Data, Privacy & Cyber Team Watch Outs for 2024!
26 January 2024We all know that things move quickly in the world of data and so to celebrate Data Protection Day 2024, or Data Privacy Day 2024 for those across the pond, we’ve selected ten key themes we think will have the most impact for our clients in the year ahead.
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Refusing requests to work remotely in a hybrid workplace
25 January 2024Increasing office attendance remains high on the agenda for many employers, but upcoming changes to the flexible working regime could prompt more requests to work from home. Against this background, we consider a recent Employment Tribunal judgment which provides employers with some comfort that, if handled correctly, they can refuse requests to work entirely remotely, especially from employees in managerial positions where a degree of in-person time may be needed.
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Illegal working civil penalties due to triple from 13 February 2024
25 January 2024The civil penalty an employer may receive for employing an illegal worker will rise from £20,000 to £60,000. This significantly increases the financial risk to employers of failing to carry out rigorous and compliant right to work checks.
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Acas Code of Practice on handling requests for a predictable working pattern: Lewis Silkin’s consultation response
25 January 2024We have submitted a response to Acas’ consultation on its draft statutory Code of Practice on handling requests for a predictable working pattern. The draft Code helpfully recognises the similarities between this new regime and the more familiar one of flexible working. However, there are new concepts and processes in the legislation which may be challenging for employers to navigate without further clarity and detail.
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Ambush Marketing and the Law: A look ahead to the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games 2024
24 January 2024The biggest sporting event of 2024 will undoubtedly be the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games held in Paris. As ever when it comes to big sporting events of this nature, we expect ambush marketing (where a brand piggybacks on an event to promote their products without an official association with that event) to be a key concern.
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Are Smart Buildings becoming trendy?
19 January 2024Before we dive into the trends surrounding Smart Buildings, we should take a step back and look at what the Smart Building market is doing, and it’s safe to say it’s growing. In fact, it’s predicted that the market for Smart Buildings is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.5% from 2023 to 2030. That’s an impressive rate – as a comparison - Netflix had a compound quarterly growth rate (CQGR) of 27.5% between 2016 and 2021.
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NYT v OpenAI: The Publishing Sector’s AI Content-Scraping Conundrum
19 January 2024Text and Data Mining (TDM) – and “web scraping” more generally – has been thrust into the spotlight with the recent explosion of Generative AI. At the heart of the issue lies a tension between AI companies on the one hand and publishers on the other.
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How careful attention to warranties can avoid transfer nightmares
18 January 2024This article outlines the importance of warranties in football transfer agreements.
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Immigration Health Surcharge due to rise imminently
18 January 2024Substantial rises to the Immigration Health Surcharge have now been approved by Parliament to come into effect on 6 February 2024. Individuals hoping to avoid these should submit their UK immigration application by 5 February 2024 to be sure they are not impacted.
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Protected disclosures in Ireland – new statutory Guidance published and more employers now required to comply
18 January 2024With more Irish employers now caught by the requirement under the protected disclosures legislation to have whistleblowing procedures in place, and the introduction of new statutory Guidance towards the end of last year, we look briefly at what employers should be considering in 2024 when dealing with protected disclosures in the workplace in Ireland.
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Cold weather working and snow days: the legal position
18 January 2024Following on from one of the mildest Decembers on record, we’re now into the colder months with parts of the country experiencing temperatures as low as -14°C. What should employers be doing during these months to keep their staff safe, warm and productive?
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Explainability and AI: the silver bullet?
17 January 2024Lawmakers faced with rapid advances in AI are turning to the safeguards needed to protect individuals whose interests are affected by AI systems and to build trust in automated decision-making. Building trust in automated outcomes will be much more of a challenge for many years following the revelations which are emerging from the Post Office scandal. Common among these safeguards are auditing, human oversight, effective contestability, transparency and explainability. But what is most likely to be effective?
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Ads & Brands Law Digest: December 2023
16 January 2024Welcome to the latest edition of our Digest, covering legal and regulatory developments from the last few weeks relevant to advertising, marketing, and brand-owning businesses. As usual, for each item we provide a succinct summary accompanied by a link to the full text of the relevant official source or our own report.
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Double trouble: is dual employment a recipe for disaster?
16 January 2024Double the employers means double the trouble according to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, which, in a decision last year, cast doubt on the legal possibility of dual employment. However, although there might be a presumption against this arrangement, there are situations when the law allows for this.
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Statutory paternity leave: new rules from April
15 January 2024New parents will have more flexibility to choose when to take statutory paternity leave under changes applying from April 2024. Here’s what employers need to know and do.
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Our inaugural Digital, Commerce & Creative Report is here!
12 January 2024We are delighted to announce that we have published our inaugural Digital, Commerce & Creative Annual Report.