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How will the Brexit endgame play out?
10 December 2018This week is a crucial one for the Brexit process, with Parliament due to vote on the draft Withdrawal Agreement negotiated between Theresa May’s government and the EU. Even so close to the projected date for the UK’s departure on 29 March 2019, there are many imponderables and it is impossible to predict how Brexit will unfold. This article provides an employment law perspective on the current situation.
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Brexit – the “no deal” scenario
10 December 2018On 5th December 2018, the UK Government published its latest policy paper setting out what rights EU citizens will have to reside in the UK in the event the UK exits the European Union without a deal in place.
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Smart Floorspace Digitalising Retail Experience
06 December 2018Media coverage this year for the retail sector has been saturated with reports about the decline of the nation’s high streets.
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Tier 1 Investor category suspended with immediate effect
06 December 2018The Home Office has suspended the Tier 1 (Investor) immigration category for new applications from midnight on Thursday 6th December 2018 as part of a crackdown on organised crime and money laundering in the UK. The move follows a 46% rise in applications under the route from July this year, to over 400 applications.
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Lewis Silkin appointed to Crown Commercial Service wider public sector legal services panel
06 December 2018Lewis Silkin is delighted to announce its appointment to the Government’s Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Wider Public Sector Legal Services agreement (RM3788) to provide a full range of legal services to public bodies in the UK.
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IR35 tax changes – what you need to know
06 December 2018The Chancellor announced in the Budget the latest measure to combat what HMRC calls “false self-employment”, aimed at those who supply their services via their own company.
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Gender pay gap reporting in Ireland
05 December 2018Gender pay gap reporting laws are coming soon to Ireland.
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Trade union’s Deliveroo judicial review challenge fails
05 December 2018The High Court (“HC”) has dismissed a judicial review challenge to a finding by the Central Arbitration Committee (“CAC”) that Deliveroo riders are not “workers”. The HC ruled that the riders are not in an “employment relationship” for the purposes of European law.
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New in-country UK immigration processes contain a potential pitfall for travellers
30 November 2018On 5 November 2018 the Home Office launched a new process for immigration applications submitted in the UK, in commercial partnership with Sopra Steria. The new partnership affords access to a range of new user pay services, including access to a premium lounge, on-demand mobile application services for both small and large groups of applicants and priority processing on a next working day or 10 working day basis.
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Sports Q&A - How might Brexit affect sports immigration?
28 November 2018As things stand, the UK will leave the EU on 29 March 2019. The UK will adopt a new immigration system post-Brexit, under which free movement of European nationals and their family members will cease. There will be a period of transition until the end of 2020, during which free movement will continue, and a new “settlement scheme” will be rolled out for European migrants. Free movement will end completely from January 2021. All British businesses will be affected by these changes. However, Brexit poses some particular challenges to the sports sector.
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Economou v de Freitas defamation case: appeal dismissed
28 November 2018In what the leading judge called a case with “unusual and tragic facts”, the Court of Appeal has dismissed Alexander Economou’s appeal against the first instance decision that his defamation claims should fail.
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Brexit and GDPR: What should you do now about EU to UK transfers of personal data? (And other related issues)
28 November 2018There has been much discussion about the impact of Brexit on a company’s personal data flows in and out of the European Union post Brexit.
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Ireland: Recent case law on an employer’s duty of care in PTSD/psychological injury cases
27 November 2018Cases from the courts continue to emphasise the duty of care on employers to take reasonable steps to protect their employees from the reasonably foreseeable harm which may arise as a result of treatment by other employees, even where such behaviour might not amount to bullying in the workplace.
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New regulation requiring fairness and transparency from the platform economy
26 November 2018The EC is proposing to introduce new legislation to govern the provision of online intermediary services.
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Brexit flowchart
23 November 2018Withdrawal terms have now been negotiated, but the future of Brexit is far from clear. Will Parliament approve the deal and what might happen if it doesn’t? Will the EU approve the deal? If a future trade agreement is reached, what would happen next if this were rejected by Parliament? Our latest flowchart sets out all of the future possibilities that may arise.
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Major overhaul to disclosure coming: are you ready?
23 November 2018Yesterday our commercial dispute resolution specialists Mark Lim and Paula Barry hosted a discussion about fundamental changes to the disclosure process that are due to come into force on 1 January 2019 as part of a two-year pilot scheme that will run in the Business & Property Courts across England and Wales.
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MAC calls for evidence on labour shortages in the UK
20 November 2018On 13 November the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) launched a call for evidence from employers and other interested parties to feed into its full review of the shortage occupation list. Jobs on this list are currently exempt from resident labour market testing requirements and from meeting the minimum salary otherwise required at the point of applying for settlement (currently £35,500).
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Transgender Day of Remembrance – what employers can do to make a difference
20 November 2018Today, 20 November, is Transgender Day of Remembrance - observed annually to honour the memory of those whose lives have been lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. It is part of Transgender Awareness Week, which aims to help raise the visibility of transgender people and address the issues trans people face.
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The gig economy and employment law in Ireland
19 November 2018The origins of the “gig economy” can be traced back to the worldwide recession in 2008/2009, when people began to take on shorter term freelance “gig” type roles (involving personal service) which went outside the normal parameters of the employer/employee relationship. Very quickly, internet applications to host those services and put users in touch with the service providers came into being. These applications are now called platforms. While technology has kept up with the increase of these platforms, employment law has not, particularly in Ireland.
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International Men’s Day - should employers be doing anything special for their male staff?
19 November 2018International Men’s Day is a good opportunity to consider the particular issues faced by men and how employers can support their male staff.