Latest Employment News Blog 2016

NEW: National Living / Minimum Wage - 1st April, 2016 The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2016 have been made, and come into force on 1 April 2016. The new minimum wages from 1 April 2016 will be:- age 25+ - £7.20ph (the National Living Wage) 21-25 - £6.70ph 18-21 - £5.30ph <18 - £3.87ph apprentices - £3.30ph   If you have any questions please contact our Employment Law Solicitor Gillian Reid on: 01904 716050 or Gillian.Reid@warekay.co.uk   Employment Advice articles

How To Evict A Commercial Tenant

As a landlord of commercial premises there are many reasons why you may want to take back possession of your premises, the most common being where your tenant is in breach of their lease terms; such as, not paying rent, not keeping the premises in good repair, being a nuisance to neighbours or assigning or subletting the premises without your consent. David Hyams (Head of Commercial Property) & Jacky Burton (Commercial Property Solicitor) at Ware & Kay Solicitors in York & Wetherby advise landlords on their options for claiming back possession of their property. Claiming possession Taking back possession of your premises when occupied by a tenant is called 'forfeiture'. However, you can only forfeit the lease if there is a specific clause in the lease enabling you to do so. It is advisable for…

Solicitors Cycleathon Challenge In Aid Of Sport Relief 2016

Ware & Kay Solicitors Ltd and Pearsons & Ward are delighted to be taking part in a Cycleathon for Sport Relief covering a full circuit of their three offices. Sprint Cyclist, David Kershaw (Residential Property Solicitor) will be setting off from the York office in the morning, heading to Wetherby and then on to Pearsons & Ward at Malton before accelerating to the finish line back in York.   At the same time over 30 members of staff have volunteered to take up the indoor sprint cycling challenge, the aim being to race the same distance as David Kershaw on a static bike but beat him in terms of miles covered and time taken to complete the route (approximately 65 - 75 miles).  Once again, there will be a sprint finish as the indoor cyclists compete to…

Focus On The Long Game

A New Year brings a fresh mindset - an opportunity to take stock and re-focus for the year ahead, in both our personal and financial lives. The year starts with the Winter Olympics in South Korea and in February we enter the Chinese New Year of the dog, symbolising loyalty and honesty. With a royal wedding and Commonwealth Games in the springtime - anticipation hangs in the air, before the World Cup in Russia kicks off in June - exciting times ahead. TAKE STOCK It's also a time for reflection. Geopolitical and economic uncertainties have become consistent features that will not dissipate overnight, as Brexit negotiations continue. Despite uncertainty being the order of the day over the past year, all major stock markets have generated healthy positive returns. The performance of the UK stock market…

Claims Against A Deceased`s Estate

Do you think that you have a claim against the estate of someone who has died? If you believe that you should have been included in their Will, or received more from their estate than you did, then you may be entitled to make a dependency claim.  Head of Litigation at Ware & Kay in York, Wetherby & Malton, explains how: "Where the deceased died without a valid Will, the intestacy rules govern the automatic manner in which their married, or civil partner, and other close relatives, inherit their estate. If you are not provided for under the intestacy rules or, under their deceased's Will if they had one , or you consider that the amount you will receive is not sufficient, you might be able to bring a claim against the estate to ensure…

The Exclusivity Terms In Zero Hours Contract (redress) Regulations 2015

EMLOYMENT LAW UPDATE - FEBRUARY 2016 These regulations came into force on 11th January 2016. S27A(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 provides that a provision in a zero hours contract which prohibits the worker from doing work under any other arrangement is unenforceable. In other words the employee cannot be prevented from doing other work for other employers. If an employee is dismissed for taking on other work that dismissal will be automatically unfair. Even if the employee is not dismissed but is subjected to a "detriment" (e.g.  being denied work that would otherwise have been allocated to them), that detrimental treatment is unlawful. There is no qualifying period of employment before an employee is protected, so this is another exception to the "2 year rule" which applies to "ordinary" unfair dismissal and protects…

Sdlt Additional Rates On Acquisitions Of Additional Residential Property

On 1 December 2015, HMRC clarified to Practical Law Tax the additional rates of SDLT that will apply to acquisitions of additional residential property (for example, second homes and buy-to-let properties) with effect on and from 1 April 2016. If the total chargeable consideration provided for such a property exceeds £40,000, the entire consideration will be subject to SDLT at the following rates on a progressive basis: 3%: £0 - £125,000. 5%: over £125,000 - £250,000. 8%: over £250,000 - £925,000. 13%: over £925,000 - £1.5 million. 15%: over £1.5 million.   The announcement in the 2015 Autumn Statement was unclear and it transpired that practitioners and commentators had interpreted the announcement differently. Consequently, following an update published by the Law Society (see Law Society, Autumn Statement: changes to SDLT), Practical Law Tax contacted…

Whistleblowing What Constitutes The Public Interest

Since the qualifying period for claiming unfair dismissal was raised to 2 years, dismissed employees without the 2 year qualifying period will only be able to make claims if they can show that their dismissal was for a reason which is covered by a category deemed to be automatically unfair and does not require a qualifying period of employment. One of these categories is dismissal for making a "protected disclosure." The law is specific on what counts as a qualifying disclosure and to whom the employee must report it to. 1.    It must be a disclosure of "information" (an opinion alone is not enough) 2.    It must normally be made to the employer (although there are exceptions) 3.    It must in the reasonable belief of the worker "tend to show" either that:- (a)  a criminal…

The National Minimum Wage

Changes to the National Minimum Wage from 1st October 2015: £6.70 for those 21 years and over; £5.30 for those aged 18-20 years; £3.87 for those above school leaving age but under 18; £3.30 for apprentices. National Living Wage In April 2016 the "National Living Wage" will be introduced. For workers age 25 or over the national Living Wage will become a new legal minimum for workers aged 25 or over and will be set at £7.20 per hour. The government has published a policy paper explaining this at www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-living-wage-nlw/national-living-wage-nlw Comprehensive Information & Guidance on the NMW HMRC has published an extremely comprehensive collection of guidance, forms and case studies with information for employers on how to check that they are paying their employees the national minimum wage correctly. www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/nmwmanual/index.htm The application of…

Why Is It Important That You Make A Will

Because you work hard all your life to build up your assets, it is very important to be confident that, upon your death, these assets go the people you would want them to go to. If you do not make a Will (or if your Will is incorrectly drafted or executed, which is always a risk if you have, for example, made a "do it yourself" Will), then there is a chance that assets will not go where you want them to. The story below gives an example of what can go wrong, and the outcome of that. Chris was aged 60, a widower with no children.  Chris had a brother, Martin, to whom he was very close.  Martin had a family and was in financial difficulty because he had recently been made redundant.  Chris…