The Government announced last week that the full implementation of the Companies Act 2006 will be delayed until 1st October 2009. The news has generated mixed feelings. Some companies will be grateful for the extra year within which to switch from the 1985 Act to the 2006 Act. Others, who have already started the required changes are experiencing uncertainty as to when their changes will come into effect and whether to now wait until 2009.

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In a recent case at the Employment Appeal Tribunal an employee who had been refused sick leave by her employer despite the fact that she had produced a medical certificate signing off work due to stress won a substantial award of compensation. The court rejected the employer’s argument that it could rely on a clause which stated that ‘Payment [of sick pay] may also be withheld if there is any doubt that the absence is due to reasons other than health or personal accident which prevents the employee from undertaking any duty for which they are competent to perform’.

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April 2008 should see the implementation of the “Unfair Commercial Practices Directive” which will result in changes to the existing UK consumer protection laws and will have ramifications on the legal liability of all companies. For a start, engaging in ‘unfair’ commercial practices will become a criminal offence.

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A 51 year old accountant, who claims that he is the illegitimate child of Princess Margaret, applied to the High Court seeking an order that would allow him to see the wills of the late Queen Mother and late Princess Margaret. He said the purpose of his application was to identify whether the Royal wills made any provision for an illegitimate child. Continue Reading »

A recent case in the European Court of Human Rights served to remind employers about the laws concerning the privacy of employees and their web/email/telephone usage.

The Claimant in this case, Lynette Copland, claimed that her employer had breached Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence) by monitoring her activities at work and reading her private emails.

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The status as self- employed or employed will have ramifications on you and your company in terms of your rights and your tax liability.  For example, a person who is self-employed will be able to claim expenses against tax and a company will have to pay for PAYE deductions and NICs for its employees.  In many cases, your status will be clear, and the terms of the contract with your business should be the first place to look for clarification.  In the event that you are uncertain of your legal status (and therefore your tax and statutory rights) here is a list of general guidelines which can assist you.

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A killer, who was one of the victims of the Ladbroke Grove rail crash, sued train operators claiming loss of earnings after his act of manslaughter. Although the train company admitted that they had been negligent the High Court judge ruled that he could not claim any money after the date of the manslaughter.

Kerrie Gray, 47, was said to have had a ‘happy and normal’ childhood. He had no criminal convictions and no history of violence and was also said to ‘avoid confrontation’.

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Lawmate has now updated itself to include a new Questions and Answers service.

If there is a legal question you have, and you feel it should be answered and posted on Lawmate for others to see, please drop us a line to contact@lawmate.co.uk.

If we answer your question we shall post it on our main page. Lawmate heavily relies on its feedback, and it is you, the reader, who will help Lawmate decide on its direction and future.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

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Lawmate Editor

Many companies in the UK are not currently aware of a new law that came into effect on the 1st January 2007, courtesy of the European E-Commerce Regulations 2002 and the The Companies (Registrar, Languages and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2006.

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A new anti-terror legislation came into effect today (21 June 2007), the Electronic Commerce Directive (Terrorism Act 2006) Regulations 2007.

These provisions operate in conjunction with the Terrorism Act 2006 and make it an offence to encourage acts of terrorism or disseminate terrorist publications, including where such actions take place online.

Therefore, if a blogger posts material which is an offence under these provisions (even if inadvertent), the police may notify the blog operator and require them to take the offending material down within two days. Failure to do so without cause could result in the Directors going to prison!