HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will be targeting 6,000 Swiss bank accounts for further enquiry following the completion of the preliminary review resulting from the co-operation agreement in the area of taxation between Switzerland and the UK, which was...
There has recently been a further case on long-term sickness and a worker’s right to accrue untaken annual holiday leave ( Fraser v Southwest London St George’s Mental Health Trust ). Mrs Fraser was on long-term sick leave after she injured her...
We know that where either an employer or employee uses unambiguous words of dismissal or resignation, they are deemed to have dismissed or resigned unless "special circumstances" apply, such as words said in the heat of an argument. In CF Capital...
The complex issue of employment status has been considered again, this time in Johnson-Caswell v MJB (Partnership) Ltd. The issue was whether the training and supervision of a worker necessary to comply with FSA regulations results in a degree of control...
Creating a commercial database and keeping it up to date is an expensive business and owners of such databases often take precautions to make sure they are not used without permission. One method of doing this is for the owners of databases to plant...
Dunn v Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management Mrs Dunn raised grievances about changes to contractual sick pay provisions in her contract. Her grievances were rejected and during the appeal process, the company’s Chief Executive made...
Virgin have just been found to have unfairly dismissed four former employees after they were sacked for gross misconduct on the grounds that they allegedly distributed links to a video clip claiming to show a Taliban fighter having sex with a donkey. One of...
If an employer sets out the wrong reason for dismissal on a Tribunal Response Form (known as an ET3), can the tribunal overlook this and make up its own mind about what the reason for dismissal may be? In Screene v Seatwave, the reason for the summary...
Will pre-trial publicity affect the likelihood of an award of costs being made against a claimant in the EAT? Yes, according to Iteshi v OFWAT. The Claimant had sent a letter to his MP, copied to the EAT, in which he made unsubstantiated allegations of...
In Cordell v Foreign Commonwealth Office a deaf employee was supported by a team of lip speakers in her role in Warsaw. An offer of another role in Kazakhstan was withdrawn after an assessment of the costs of providing a similar team there. Not only...
When a supplier to a marquee company was not paid for goods it had supplied, the directors told the supplier that the company was waiting for an insurance claim to be settled, after which payments would be made as usual. In reality, there was no insurance...
First Conviction Under the Bribery Act The Bribery Act 2010 came into force on 1 July 2011. Under Section 2 of the Act, it is an offence for a person to request, agree to receive or accept a financial or other advantage intending that, in...
Clear Edge v Elliot Springboard injunctions have traditionally been used as a way of stopping former employees using information they’ve obtained improperly. A company might apply to the courts for this special sort of injunction when it looks...
The complex issue of employment status has been considered again, this time in Johnson-Caswell v MJB (Partnership) Ltd. The issue was whether the training and supervision of a worker necessary to comply with FSA regulations results in a degree of control...
An important decision for all employers of workers who don’t follow a standard working pattern. The employees worked on offshore oil and gas installations, spending two weeks offshore and then two weeks onshore. Each period of time onshore was known...
The proposed changes in 2012 are.. 31 January - closure date for calls for evidence on the effectiveness of TUPE and the scope of the collective redundancy rules - may result in a formal consultation later in the year 1 February - ...
When a supplier to a marquee company was not paid for goods it had supplied, the directors told the supplier that the company was waiting for an insurance claim to be settled, after which payments would be made as usual. In reality, there was no insurance...
An employment perspective of the Costa Concordia disaster (and what to learn from it). Most people will be familiar with the terrible events recently occurred aboard the Costa Concordia and the fact that it is still ongoing. As part of this some are...
The Supreme Court has denied HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) the right of appeal in a tax case involving a series of transactions that were carried out for no commercial purpose but which led to a tax saving by the taxpayer. The decision represents a blow for...
Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (now superseded by the Equality Act 2010 ), when deciding whether or not an employer took sufficient steps to comply with its duty to make reasonable adjustments to remove a disadvantage faced by a disabled...
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have announced that the Mortgage Verification Scheme (MVS), which was developed in co-operation with the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies Association and run as a pilot scheme in March 2010, is now fully...
The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 , which came into force on 26 May 2011, made changes to the rules that apply to websites using cookies and similar technologies to remember a user’s preferences....
The Bribery Act 2010 came into force on 1 July 2011. Under Section 2 of the Act, it is an offence for a person to request, agree to receive or accept a financial or other advantage intending that, in consequence, a relevant function or activity should be...
In Williamson & Soden Solicitors v Briars , the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered the employment status of a solicitor who was described as a partner of the firm and whose remuneration was by way of a ‘guaranteed profit share’...
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have announced that, from 1 January 2012, supplies made by employers under salary sacrifice schemes (schemes whereby an employee accepts a lower salary in return for receiving certain benefits) will be treated as taxable...
The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has reported a noticeable increase in calls to its helpline from businesses that inadvertently included on their websites images that are protected by copyright and subsequently received demands for payment from the...
It is common for service charges to be paid ‘on account’ of the annual cost, based on estimates, and a final account to be made up some time after the year end, based on the actual costs incurred. However, not all landlords are diligent about...
There are generally strict time limits that apply when presenting a claim for unfair dismissal to the Employment Tribunal (ET). Normally, a claim must be lodged before the end of a three-month period beginning with the effective date of termination (EDT)....
The penalties for engaging in anti-competitive behaviour are very substantial but, recognising that cartel (price-fixing) behaviour is difficult to detect, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has a ‘leniency programme’, which operates to give...
The Government is proposing to integrate the operation of the Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions systems, as announced in the 2011 Budget. Following an initial consultation with businesses and other interested parties, to gather evidence on the...
When an elderly woman passed away, her daughter, who was her personal representative, realised that some of her late mother’s land was occupied unlawfully by three people. She brought an action against them , seeking to recover possession of the land...
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has issued for consultation proposals for introducing fees for those wishing to lodge a claim with an Employment Tribunal (ET) or an appeal with the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). Currently, the system is free to use and in...
In July, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) announced that it had applied to intervene in four cases due to be heard by the European Court of Human Rights, all of which were brought by Christian employees who claimed to be victims of religious...
When one business uses the trade marks of another, an action may be able to be brought for trade mark infringement and possibly also for ‘passing off’ – the term given to the situation in which a business attempts to profit by presenting...
Company liquidations have edged up in the first quarter of 2011, with 4,121 companies being subject to winding-up orders. Compulsory liquidations fell by more than 10 per cent compared with the same quarter in 2010, but creditors’ voluntary...
Every year the firm's Christmas party presents employees with the chance to relax and enjoy the holiday season. However, it is easy to forget that an employer owes its employees certain obligations, even outside work, when the employer has organised the...
If you are used to taking part of your company income by way of dividends (a common tax planning device, the main advantage of which is savings on National Insurance Contributions), but you require time to pay your taxes because of cash-flow problems,...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published provisional fatal injury statistics for the year April 2010 to March 2011 . These show that the number of workers killed in Britain was 171, compared with an all time low of 147 deaths in the previous...
When does a commercial property become vacant under a lease agreement? This was the question considered in a recent hearing in the Court of Appeal . The appeal was brought by haulage and storage firm NYK Logistics (UK) Ltd., a former tenant of Netherlands...
An advertising and media company run by a Mr Casey sought to register the trade mark ‘Carbon Virgin’. The application was opposed by Richard Branson’s Virgin Enterprises Ltd. (VEL) on the grounds of the similarity of the proposed trade mark...
A recent survey of businesses carried out by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has found that, in general, the availability of finance for business from banks and other providers of external finance has eased slightly but is still...
Following its Resolving Workplace Disputes consultation and the Red Tape Challenge review of employment law, the Government has announced its proposals for reform. The aim is to replace overly burdensome regulation whilst safeguarding workers’ rights,...
Operators of Amusement With Prizes (AWP) machines who receive VAT refunds as a result of a review carried out by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the wake of a court reverse in 2009 are advised to ensure that they are able to repay the refund if necessary,...
Under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR), which came into force on 1 October 2011, agency workers are entitled to have the same basic terms and conditions of employment as if they had been employed directly by the hirer once they have completed a...
MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) founder Martin Lewis has won summary judgment in the High Court – against a cold calling company – for infringement of his trade marks. This means that Mr Lewis does not have to run to the expense of a full trial on...
A developer who completely demolished a property when he only had permission to demolish part of it has landed himself with a fine and legal costs totalling more than £120,000. The developer has been given a year to pay the £80,000 fine and the...
Two companies have been fined a total of £450,000 and ordered to pay costs after health and safety failures led to a maintenance worker falling to his death. Christopher Booker, 49, was working at Aberthaw Power Station when the accident happened in...
The law relating to the fiduciary duties of directors is stricter than many company directors might think, as a recent case illustrates . The director of a company was given the loan of ‘a second-hand excavator and dumper’ for his personal use,...
News that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are to create a dedicated team of investigators to ‘target’ restaurants suspected of evading their tax liabilities is no real surprise: the sector offers them rich pickings in terms of under-declared...
The Supreme Court has handed down its decision in a case concerning the employment status of 20 valeters who provided car-cleaning services to motor retailers and auctioneers ( Autoclenz Ltd. v Belcher and others ). The valeters had written contracts with...
On 1 October 2011, changes to the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (normally called the Construction Act) came into force. The changes are contained in Part 8 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 ...
