Licensing Law Changes Expected To Boost Crisis Recovery
Pubs, restaurants and cafes are expected to be allowed to provide food and drink outdoors in a change to licensing laws designed to support businesses through the coronavirus crisis. The changes would see every pub, bar and restaurant automatically given permission to serve alcohol for people to drink on the pavement and in the street. […]
Supreme Court Rules Against Visa & Mastercard Over Swipe Fees
Two of the world’s largest credit card companies have suffered another defeat in a long-running legal dispute with supermarket chains over interchange fees. The UK’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc., affirming a lower court ruling that the mandated payments restricted competition. The Court was unanimous in upholding the decision […]
New Deal Expected To Simplify & Speed Up Planning Process
MPs are said to be considering the introduction of new development zones with relaxed rules and further permitted development (PD) rights as part of a ‘New Deal’ for planning. In a publication launched by the Policy Exchange think tank, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick laid out a vision to “rethink planning” and “speed up and simplify […]
Late Author’s Family Win Back Watership Down IP Rights
The family of the late Richard Adams have been awarded the rights to the author’s novel Watership Down. The High Court has ruled found in favour of Watership Downs Enterprises, the estate and family of Adams, against the US director of the 1978 animation, Martin Rosen. Rosen, who owned the motion picture rights to Watership […]
Coronavirus: Government Help For Employers
The UK Government has set out a range of schemes to help employers deal with the coronavirus crisis. This includes a package of measures to support businesses including: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme The coronavirus job retention scheme aims to help employers who would otherwise have to lay off workers due to the Covid-19 outbreak. HMRC […]
Wide-Ranging Employment Law Changes From 6th April 2020
The following changes in UK employment law will be taking effect on 6th April 2020. These are in addition to annual increases to minimum wage, statutory sick pay and statutory family pay. Employment contracts Employers will be required to provide all employees and workers with a statement of employment particulars, including their main terms and […]
IR35 Off-Payroll Tax Rules: Changes Affecting Private Sector
This article was published before the Government announced it would postpone the reforms from 6 April 2020 in light of the Coronavirus crisis. A new implementation date is yet to be confirmed. New IR35 rules are coming into force that apply to private sector companies in the UK. Under the new regime, private sector organisations, […]
Changes to Anti-Money Laundering Regulations Now in Effect
Changes to the Money Laundering Regulations came into force on 10th January 2020. The Money Laundering and Terrorist Finance Amendments Regulations 2019 (Regulations) update the UK’s anti-money laundering (AML) regime to incorporate international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and implement the EU’s 5th Money Laundering Directive (5MLD). UK businesses are being […]
New Bereavement Rights for Parents
Bereaved parents who have suffered the loss of a child will be entitled to two weeks’ statutory paid leave from work from 6th April 2020. The new Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Regulations extend existing provisions under the Employment Rights Act 1996, which only allow employees to take ‘reasonable’ time off work, unpaid, for emergencies […]
Martyn’s Law Set to be Adopted Early by Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council is preparing to introduce new licensing rules for public venues to support counter-terrorism policing. Sports and music arenas, cinemas and other public sites will be asked to adopt new measures to assess the threat of a terrorist attack, take steps to prepare for it and devise emergency measures to deal with an […]
£4 million Government Funding Pledged to Tackle Rogue Landlords
More than 100 councils in England are to receive new funding from the Government to take on criminal landlords and letting agents and improve standards in the private rental sector. More than £4 million is being made available to fund enforcement initiatives against a minority of private landlords and agents who are breaking the law […]
UK Home Office Criticised for Refusal to Reveal ‘High Risk’ Countries
The Home Office has faced stark criticism from campaign groups for its decision not to reveal details of the algorithm used to filter UK visa applications. In response to a legal challenge brought by immigrants’ rights campaigners over use of its artificial intelligence programme, the Home Office provided a redacted list of countries in different […]
£500,000 data breach fine for Dixons Carphone
The parent company of Currys PC World has been fined £500,000 after the tills in its shops were compromised by a cyber-attack that affected at least 14 million customers. Between July 2017 and April 2018, hackers were able to install malware onto 5,390 computer systems and tills located at Currys PC World and Dixon Travel […]
2020 Planned Closures of USCIS Field Offices
USCIS is continuing with the planned closure of 13 US international field offices and 3 district offices by August 2020. USCIS operated 23 international offices in 20 countries around the globe. While it had previously advised of plans to close all of its international offices by March 2020, USCIS confirmed in a statement last summer […]
New H-1B Electronic Visa Registration Process
A new registration process takes effect for the forthcoming H-1B cap selection process which, according to USCIS, will deliver overall cost savings to petitioning employers. Following completion of a pilot testing phase in 2019, USCIS has confirmed it will be implementing the new electronic registration process in the next H-1B visa lottery for the fiscal […]
Ethical Veganism is a Belief Protected by Law, Tribunal Rules
A dismissed employee has been told by an employment tribunal that his ethical veganism is protected against discrimination by UK law. The Employment Tribunal in Norwich held that the beliefs of an ethical vegan qualify as religious or philosophical beliefs and that the employee is entitled to equality protections under the Equality Act 2010. The […]
Overhaul of US Immigration Regulations Ahead of Election
2020 is set to bring wide-ranging reforms in US immigration regulations as the Trump Administration moves ahead with planned changes against a deadline of this year’s Presidential election. The proposed rules, as outlined in the Government’s Unified Agenda for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will, if enacted, profoundly affect employers, H-1B and L-1 visa […]
Companies House Reforms Consultation Launched
The government has launched a consultation on wide-ranging reforms of the Companies House register, aimed at tackling misuse and ensuring accuracy. The proposals, set out in detail in an 80-page consultation document, are aimed at providing businesses and consumers with increased protections from fraud, misuse of information and criminal activity. The reforms also include specific […]
Employer Round-up of Latest Employment Law Changes
A number of UK employment law changes have come into force in recent weeks. Employers should take careful note of these new rules and respond accordingly. Increase in the national minimum wage The new national minimum wage rates came into effect on 1st April 2019. Employers must now pay workers at least: Aged 25 and […]
61% of Businesses have Suffered a Serious Data Breach
61% of IT professionals have experienced a data breach at their organisation, according to research by McAfee into today’s global security landscape. With responses from IT professionals in the UK, US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India and Singapore from a number of different industries, the survey results suggest organisations are struggling across the board to […]