Clarkslegal Law Bites

On 15 February 2021 HMRC published its policy paper explaining how it intends to help and support organisations which must comply with changes to the off-payroll working rules (IR35). The IR35 rules will apply to all medium and large sized businesses in the private sector with a UK connection from 6 April 2021.   The policy paper sets out HMRC’s compliance principles and when HMRC is likely to inv...

Major changes are happening this April as businesses become responsible for deciding the employment status of the contractors they engage through an agency or the contractor’s own limited company, known as a Personal Service Company or PSC. Businesses will assume PAYE liability on the payments it makes for the contractor’s services – if it decides the contractor is really a ‘disguised employee’ ra...

On 31st January 2020, the United Kingdom formally left the European Union. The UK has now entered into a new trading partnership with the EU under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. New rules now apply on exports, tariffs, data and employing people from within the EU.   Although this meant that No Deal was averted, most observers on both sides of the political debate would recognise that i...

The COVID-19 pandemic was probably the most significant disruptor of the world of work since the Industrial revolution. The first development was the move to home working, in April 2015  4.3% of people described themselves as working from home, in 2019 this has grown to 5.1%. Due to COVID-19, in April 2020 49.2% of adults were working from home, with evidence that this remained high during the yea...

In many ways the pandemic has exposed the enduring inequalities in UK society. The poorer sections of our society have been more exposed to the worst effects of the virus than more affluent people. Blue collar and less well- paid employees are more likely to have been in jobs where they have had to continue to attend their workplaces during the pandemic, exposing themselves more to the virus. Thei...

The year 2020 will always be a stand-out year in our personal and professional lives. COVID-19 brought so much suffering to so many across the globe and created a level of uncertainty that we had never experienced before. Businesses were forced to adapt at breakneck speed. Public Health suddenly became the major economic issue, overshadowing even Brexit in terms of its impact on macro- economics,...

Deborah Scales discusses the implications Brexit will have on UK employment law, and covers key points for employers.  Deborah also covers the immigration law for businesses employing from the EU applying for the EU settlement scheme which ends on 30 June 2021. Applications are also open for frontier worker permits. Our immigration team can assist with your business immigration queries. 

During Christmas often business clients and providers of goods and services exchange gifts (food hampers, chocolates, bottle of bubbly). There adds festive cheer and when these gifts arrive they are given and received in a transparent manner.  However, during COVID when working at home - the line can be blurred if given a gift sent to a personal address with a lavish gift with the specific expecta...

With employees working from home during COVID, employers need to ensure they are protecting employees wellbeing. Under section 2 of the health and safety at work act 1974, employers have an obligation to protect their employees during work including at home.  Employers need to consider new risk assessments to take into consideration additional stresses the employee may be considering and protect h...

Many businesses may sadly have to start selecting some employees for redundancy. Alternatively, managers and HR departments may have to pick up those outstanding performance or conduct issues as furloughed employees return to work.  This October 2020 saw two and half times more compared to October 2019. Amanda Glover, Employment Solicitor at Clarkslegal  gives top 10 redundancy tips for employers,...

December Christmas work parties take on new meaning over Zoom during COVID, Deborah Scales an employment associate at Clarkslegal includes a reminder of sexual harassment during virtual parties can still take place, and employers remain liable for discriminatory conduct that takes place during a work related virtual party.    The podcast also discusses pay gap reporting and obesity reporting, remo...

Deborah Scales, Employment Associate at Clarkslegal discusses the legal difference between positive discrimination and positive action, and warning employers about consequences of confusing them.  The CBI is launching a campaign to increase racial and ethnic participation in British businesses.  This change the race ratio is to be welcomed and long overdue but how do such commendable objectives fi...

This is a series of podcasts designed to bring you right up to date with TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006), from updates on the latest developments in case law to discussions on common issues and myths that surround the area.  In this podcast, Louise Keenan, Associate in the employment team at Clarkslegal discusses recent Belgium case which looks at what h...

This is a series of podcasts designed to bring you right up to date with TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006), from updates on the latest developments in case law to discussions on common issues and myths that surround the area.  In this podcast, Louise Keenan, Associate in the employment team at Clarkslegal looks at 5 of the most popular myths surrounding TU...