Stamp Duty Land Tax Changes
By Amy Cornelius Stamp Duty Land Tax: Important changes to timescales for filing returns From 1 March 2019 the period of time to file a Stamp Duty Land Tax (“SDLT”) return, and pay any SDLT due, will reduce from 30…
RICS Service Charge Code for Commercial Properties
By Amy Cornelius RICS has recently published the latest edition of its service charge code for commercial properties. The Service Charges in commercial property (1st Edition) comes into force on 1 April 2019 and affects commercial property only. The new…
How should annual leave entitlement be calculated for a “casual” worker with irregular hours?
How should annual leave entitlement be calculated for a “casual” worker with irregular hours? The fact that the Working Time Regulations (WTR) 1998 entitles all workers to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday complicates matters when dealing with workers who work irregular…
The benefits of entering into conciliation via ACAS
There are a number of ways in which the parties can attempt to resolve an employment dispute and reach a settlement, either before or after it becomes the subject of an Employment Tribunal claim: They may negotiate directly and enter…
If an employee is “on call” over a day that they would otherwise be on annual leave (e.g. a bank holiday or shut-down period), are they entitled to a day off in lieu, even if they are not called in to work?
For the purposes of this article we are assuming that an employee has an entitlement to 5.6 weeks holiday and although they receive overtime payments (at a rate of pay higher than their basic pay) for any work done outside of normal working…
Calculating holiday for casual and part time workers – public holidays
We are often asked questions about how best to calculate the holiday entitlement of workers who do not work the “traditional” full-time working pattern of 5 days per week with set hours. In a series of forthcoming articles we will consider how…
TUPE Transfers Do Not Set Obsolete Terms and Conditions in Stone
Staff who are shifted between one employer and another have a right to work under the same terms and conditions as before – but what happens if such provisions become obsolete? A tribunal tackled that issue in a guideline case…
Evicting Nuisance Tenants – What Happens If They Are Disabled?
Social landlords sadly often have to evict nuisance tenants – but what are the correct procedural steps that have to be taken if they are disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010? The Court of Appeal addressed that issue…
Employee Disloyalty – A Well Drafted Contract Makes All the Difference!
Every sensible business owner is aware that today’s trusted employee may become tomorrow’s competitor. However, as a High Court ruling showed, with the right legal advice and professionally drafted employment contracts, powerful steps can be taken to discourage disloyalty. The…
Spent Money on Business Logos and Artwork? Get Trade Mark Protection!
Registering your original business logos and artwork as trade marks really is the only effective means of protecting them and reliably maintaining your brand. The point was clearly made by a High Court case in which a small sportswear company…