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 sending time-critical notices to employees should ensure they know when the notice will be deemed to have arrived, taking into account any express provisions in the employee's employment terms or relevant rules and laws, following a recent ruling.
Divorcing spouses must provide full and frank disclosure of their assets when negotiating their financial settlement, otherwise the court may decide the amounts negotiated are not in full and final settlement, and the settlement can be re-opened, following a recent ruling.
Organisations considering how much effort to put into responding to a 'subject access request', including any human involvement and whether they need to supply documents as well as information, will benefit from recent Court of Appeal guidance.
Employers should review their policies, criteria and procedures (PCPs) to ensure they do not indirectly discriminate against particular groups of employees on the basis of a protected characteristic, following a recent case. The ruling makes it easier for employees to bring indirect discrimination claims in those circumstances.
Landlords planning to exercise a break option should consider whether any tenants or sub-tenants may become entitled to serve notice requesting a new tenancy, even if the new tenancy's starting date will be before the contractual expiry date under their lease, following a recent ruling.
Businesses negotiating contracts should check carefully that they contain no ambiguities - or risk the courts applying a complex combination of factors to decide what the contract means, following a recent ruling.
Employers presented with fresh evidence indicating a possible return to work by a disabled employee on long-term absence, should reconsider a decision to dismiss them if the evidence shows dismissal may no longer be justifiable, a Court of Appeal ruling makes clear.
Inventors with pending patent applications at the EPO, who may want their patents to operate as new unitary patents when granted, should take advice on whether and how they can defer the granting of their patents until the new unitary patent is available.
Organisations should be identifying and preparing to implement necessary changes now, ahead of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), due in force in May 2018.
Directors operating a 'no dividends' policy risk shareholders claiming the policy is 'unfairly prejudicial' to them under company law, particularly if the directors pay themselves high salaries relative to what they do, unless the company can justify the policy.
Disclaimer: This article from Atom Content Marketing is 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.
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