The overlap of the laws of succession in different countries (e.g. in the country which you live and the country in which you own property) has caused a great deal of confusion and resulted in property owners putting two Wills in place - one in the country which they live in and the other in the country where they own property. Succession to property in Europe is now set to change
EU Regulation No 650/2012 (commonly known as "Brussels IV") was passed in 2012, but
Following on from our previous blog, the second instalment in our disciplinary series looks at the disciplinary hearing.
If, after a reasonable investigation, the employer takes the decision to proceed to a disciplinary hearing, the employee should be notified in writing of this. The notification should contain information about the time and venue of the formal meeting and advise the employee of their right to be accompanied. The letter is likely to state who will conduct the disciplinary hearing, and it should not be carried
The Summer Finance Bill sets out the changes to Inheritance Tax which were announced by the Chancellor in his Summer Budget. The Bill introduces an additional Main Residence Nil Rate Band (the Band) which will be introduced in stages from April 2017 until the full Band of £175,000 comes into force in April 2020. The Band will be in addition to the existing Nil Rate Band of £325,000.
When is the Band available?
The Band will apply when a qualifying residence (the qualifying residential interest)
It is likely that most managers will have to deal with a disciplinary matter at some point in their career. It is important that a fair procedure is followed otherwise they risk any subsequent dismissal being classed as unfair. In our two-part blog series we look at the factors to be considered by employers when dealing with a disciplinary matter. Here we look at how a disciplinary investigation should be conducted.
The first thing employers must do is familiarise themselves with the Acas Code of
The Long Leases (Scotland) Act 2012 will come into force in Scotland on 28 November 2015, a tenant's interest under a qualifying lease will automatically convert to outright ownership of the property and the landlord's title to the property will be extinguished. Essentially this will mean the end of long leases. It is estimated there are around 9000 long leases that will be eligible to convert.
Qualifying Leases
To qualify, a lease must be:
The ability to manage cancer in the workplace is becoming increasingly relevant for many employers and employees. More than 100,000 people of working age are diagnosed with cancer each year, in addition to the 700,000 people of working age living with cancer. There are also an estimated 500,000 carers of people with cancer working in the UK. This means that employers should understand their obligations to these employees, helping them through a difficult and stressful time.
People with cancer are protected from discrimination by law.
Another week, another football story which gives rise to some interesting employment law questions, including employee demotion. This time, it involves Jose Mourinho and his public criticism of the Chelsea team doctor and physiotherapist after they ran on to the pitch during stoppage time of a match against Swansea to treat a player. After the criticism by Mourinho, it was widely reported that both employees would have their role substantially changed so that they would no longer be on the bench during matches. This made
Parts 7 and 8 of the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 are currently coming into force and are being implemented in three stages.
Changes will occur in respect of the Companies Act 2006 as a result of this.
What does it mean for you as a company?
Phase 1 - 26 May 2015
Companies will no longer be able to issue bearer shares. Share warrants to bearers are abolished with any existing share warrants to be surrendered within 9 months.
Phase 2 -
From 1 December 2015, the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 will introduce changes in relation to the requirement for provision of carbon monoxide alarms in private rented housing.
The 2014 Act introduces an amendment to the Repairing Standard, which applies to all private rented housing. The Repairing Standard will be amended to include the additional requirement that "the house has satisfactory provision for giving warning if carbon monoxide is present in a concentration that is hazardous to health." The Act also says that regard must
The recent Bankruptcy and Debt Advice (Scotland) Act 2014 came into force on 1st April 2015 and has brought about important changes to the way debts can be enforced. We look in particular at two changes to bankruptcy procedure below:
Moratorium on Diligence
Prior to 1 April 2015, a person with debts could only receive protection from creditors once they were sequestrated, had a Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) in place or a protected trust deed. The 2014 Act now gives the debtor an additional
In June 2014 the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) confirmed that the Environmental Information Scotland Regulations applied to Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) based on the level of supervision/direction exercised by the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) and RSLs responsibilities to providing/managing etc. social housing including the requirements of the Social Housing Charter, SHQS and EESH in matters such as noise, energy efficiency, heating installation, and use of appropriate building materials.
The decision was challenged earlier this year but was again upheld by SIC. Accordingly like local and
On 1 July 2015, the Legal Writings (Counterparts & Delivery) (Scotland) Act 2015 came into force marking a significant change in the way that residential leases can be signed.
Although there have been arguments within the legal profession regarding whether or not counterpart signing has always been possible, this point has not been widely accepted. Prior to 1 July 2015, the general consensus was that all parties to a lease must sign one principal document. This caused issues, for example, when joint tenants resided abroad
Do you have a social media policy for employees? Employee use of social media is on the increase and so too are the number of cases going to employment tribunals on this area! The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held in a recent judgement that it was fair for an employer to dismiss an employee that made derogatory comments about his employer on Facebook.
In the recent case of British Waterways Board v Smith, the EAT considered whether it was fair to dismiss an
Registered Social Landlords are 'contracting authorities' for the purposes of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2012. When awarding a public contract - what happens next? The Regulations apply to:
- works contracts with a value of £4,322,012 or more;
- supplies and services contracts with a value of £172,514 or more.
Contracting authorities must ensure that when advertising public contracts in excess of these thresholds, evaluating bids and selecting the successful party, they follow the rules set out in the Regulations.
Having identified a contractual
On the 14th July, the Government launched a consultation on the implementation of gender pay gap, 'Closing the Gender Pay Gap'. This gender pay gap consultation is important for a number of reasons.
Section 78 of the Equality Act 2010 contains a power for the government to require private and third sector employers with more than 250 employees to publish information relating to the differences in pay between male and female employees.
Guidance on the "Think, Act, Report" framework has also been re-published. This
The Budget announcement saw the Chancellor George Osborne unveil inheritance tax changes to the current regime. George Osborne confirmed that the inheritance tax threshold is set to increase from £325,000 to £500,000 for a single person and from £650,000 to £1million for a married couple or civil partnership.
What is the current Inheritance Tax regime?
Inheritance tax is currently charged at a rate of 40% on the value of an estate above the tax free threshold of £325,000 per person.
Married couples and civil partners
The Chancellor George Osborne delivered the first Conservative Budget in almost 20 years this week and there were some interesting announcements which will have employment implications.
Here is a summary of the main points:
The Tribunals (Scotland) Act 2014 received royal assent on 15 April 2014. The Act essentially creates a framework for housing tribunal reform, and will be implemented in three phases. The first phase sees the creation of a new housing chamber, which will incorporate the current work of the Private Rented Housing Panel and Home Owner Housing Panel, as well as transferring work which is currently dealt with in the Sheriff Court system into the new chamber.
The housing tribunal will have a two tier structure.
In January 2015, Sheriff Wood heard three rent arrear actions in which clients sought decree for eviction, payment and expenses. Despite the tenants being represented and submitting various explanations for non-payment, Sheriff Wood was satisfied that it was reasonable to grant decree in all three cases. All three cases were appealed to the Sheriff Principal. Here is why eviction appeals are not second chances!
Glasgow West Housing Association Ltd v Danuta Harasimowicz, was one of the cases appealed to the Sheriff Principal and concerned the
What are parental rights and responsibilities? Parents have the responsibility to look after their children:
- to help them to be healthy
- encourage their growth, development and welfare
- to ensure attendance at school and an opportunity to develop to their full potential
Parents have the responsibility and the right to say how their children should be brought up. This includes:
