Monthly Archives: July 2012

Redundancy: headcount reductions

An Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision clarifying the statutory definition of redundancy will be welcomed by business owners. The EAT confirmed that it is not necessary to have a reduction in the number of employees carrying out work of a … Continue reading →

Staff on sick leave can reclaim lost holiday

The Court of Appeal has ruled that workers who have been on sick leave for more than a year are entitled to reclaim their holiday allowance in the next leave year, regardless of whether they have formally requested it. The … Continue reading →

A Smell By Any Other Name

A case brought by a group of residents who live near a tip was recently heard by the Court of Appeal. The residents complained that the smell of the tip was a nuisance that blighted the everyday enjoyment of their … Continue reading →

Bond or Guarantee?

The High Court has refused summary judgment in a claim to enforce a document which the claimant argued was a performance bond. The court held that the defendant had an arguable case that the document was a guarantee, not a … Continue reading →

Chancel Repair Liability: Registration

A recent case in which the owners of a farm faced ruin because their property was saddled with an ancient responsibility to maintain the local church received a great deal of publicity, and has prompted a change in the applicable … Continue reading →

First to File Gains Trade Mark

When an agricultural equipment manufacturer found that another company had registered a Community Trade Mark (CTM) that was similar to one of its own brand names, it opposed the registration, arguing that the company that had registered it had only … Continue reading →

iPhone is Not a Computer

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have accepted that smartphones supplied by employers are not computers and thus a 2006 statement of practice that these would be subject to the benefits in kind regime that applies to computers is not applicable. … Continue reading →

Fatherhood and Child Contact

The Court of Appeal recently ruled in a case which asked whether fatherhood is sufficient to warrant contact with a child and decided that the answer is ‘no’. The case was unusual. It involved a married couple who wanted to … Continue reading →

Flood Insurance Ending

In 2009, the Government and the Association of British Insurers entered into an agreement, the Statement of Principles on the Provision of Flood Insurance, which committed home insurance providers to making flood insurance as widely available as possible. This agreement … Continue reading →

Health and safety: parent company liable

Businesses with subsidiaries should be notified of the first reported case in which a parent company was found liable to an employee of its subsidiary on tort law principles. The Court of Appeal held that the parent company owed a … Continue reading →

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