A monthly checklist from Atom Content Marketing highlighting new and pending laws, regulations, codes of practice and rulings that could have an impact on your business.
Employers should ensure their staff, particularly those in positions of power, are clear they should not do anything that could be construed as imposing their religious beliefs on others, a ruling has confirmed.
Small businesses dealing with consumers will welcome new guides to the most recent consumer protection law.
Employers should review any restrictions in employees' terms of employment, including restricting dealings with former customers, to ensure they protect a legitimate interest and are no wider than reasonably necessary - or risk them being unenforceable.
A landlord wishing to avoid allegations that its conduct inadvertently amounts to accepting surrender of a lease should ensure it has records showing why, for example, it is accepting the return of keys and on what terms; and should respond to letters and record phone calls to make its position clear, a court has ruled.
People seeking to stop noise from neighbouring or nearby land, whether residential or commercial, will welcome clarification from the court on the legal issues affecting their ability to stop or limit the noise.
Businesses taking over only part of the services provided to a client by a previous service provider should check whether TUPE applies, so that they must take on the previous provider's staff on the same terms, a ruling makes clear.
Organisations using Wi-Fi to track the location of employees, contractors or suppliers from their smartphones or other Wi-Fi devices will welcome new guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) on the data protection issues that arise.
Businesses negotiating a settlement of a dispute should ensure that on an objective view, it is clear at every stage whether or not the terms being negotiated are 'subject to contract'. Furthermore, settlement agreements can be concluded by email - whether or not intentionally.
Businesses arguing over the meaning of clauses in their commercial contracts will welcome a High Court ruling summarising the new approach to interpreting contractual terms recently established by the Supreme Court.
Parties to a contract should ensure it contains no ambiguities or they risk the courts looking at draft versions - including any deletions which indicate what the parties did not intend - to help decide what they did intend the contract to say.
Disclaimer: These publications from Atom Content Marketing are for general guidance only, for businesses in the United Kingdom governed by the laws of England. Atom Content Marketing, expert contributors and ICAEW (as distributor) disclaim all liability for any errors or omissions.