Tips and the Minimum Wage The Government has announced its intention to amend the law so that tips can no longer count towards payment of the National Minimum Wage (NMW). All workers are entitled to receive the minimum hourly wage.…
Ten Point Plan for Health & Safety Compliance The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published a ‘ten point plan’ for businesses for protecting the health and safety of workers and others. The key recommended actions are: Register a…
Age Descrimination - Young Workers The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 make direct and indirect age discrimination illegal in an employment context, unless the treatment can be objectively justified. The legislation applies to discrimination against young as well as older…
New Minimum Wage Rates Announced The Government has announced increases in the national minimum wage rates in line with the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission. These will apply from October 2008. The adult national minimum wage will rise…
Noise at Work in the Music and Entertainment Sectors – A Reminder As of 6 April 2008 the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 are extended to the music and entertainment sectors. For other industry sectors these Regulations…
Manual Handling The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has reminded employers of their legal duties with regard to manual handling, after an employee was injured when a 50kg sack of basmati rice fell onto the back of his neck.…
The combination of a deathbed marriage, a millionaire and a new will was always likely to end in a court battle, and so it proved recently when a family challenged their late father’s will, which left everything to his new…
When an obvious error is made, the courts will sometimes be willing to correct the mistake – but not always. In a recent case, the court was asked to consider wills executed by an elderly couple. Each will was a…
The newspapers have recently reported several incidences of the exploitation of vulnerable elderly people. In one such case, Stevenage care worker Jo-ann Tharle has been jailed for the theft of savings of more than £10,000 from an elderly man in…
A double-taxation agreement between the UK Treasury and the Cayman Islands was signed last month. Described as ‘an arrangement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion’, the agreement spells bad news for tax evaders who…