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 that where a disciplinary hearing leads to a finding against an employee, an appeal is always offered – otherwise they risk a legal claim, a ruling has clarified.
Residential landlords must give new assured shorthold tenants a copy of the gas safety certificate before they move in, even if none of the gas equipment is actually in the flat. If they don’t, they will lose their entitlement to terminate the tenancy without giving a reason, a recent decision makes clear.
Employers should check their employees do not have to put in unpaid extra time outside their contractual hours to do their job, otherwise they may be able to make a claim for unpaid wages, a recent ruling has clarified.
Parties negotiating a proposed agreement should consider whether it could be a ‘relational contract’, so a duty to act in good faith is automatically implied; and if so, whether they wish to expressly exclude an implied duty of good faith.
Employers considering reasonable adjustments for disabled workers should follow relevant recommendations in their disability policies, otherwise they will be more likely to be found to have failed to make reasonable adjustments, according to a recent ruling.
Employers should ensure workers are taking at least the minimum rest breaks required by law or risk being liable for any personal injuries suffered as a result, a recent ruling makes clear.
Parties negotiating a contract cannot always rely on what was said in pre-contract negotiations as evidence of what they intended a particular clause to mean, so they must ensure every clause in the final contract is clear and unambiguous, a recent ruling makes clear.
A director’s failure to avoid a ‘situational conflict’ or to get authorisation for it was a breach of his company law duties, and amounted to unfair prejudice to minority shareholders - but the victims’ failure to complain at the time meant their claim failed.
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.