In England and Wales, there are two primary types of property: leasehold and freehold. The difference between the two essentially all boils down to who owns the land on which the property is built.
Let’s take a look in a little more detail: More...
With the World Cup set to kick off with this week, it’s not surprising that a recent statistic has suggested that nearly 1 in 10 employees would consider calling in sick during the tournament.
As a result, it should go without saying that such events can cause headaches for businesses, especially in the HR Department!
Here are 5 of my top tips for businesses to consider during the excitement of a World Cup:
1. Circulate the dates and times of scheduled matches and explain that any holiday requests will be approved on a ‘first come first served’ basis. Remember, employers are not obliged to accept all holiday requests, especially if there is a business need to turn it down.
2. Due to the time delay between the UK and Brazil, most games don’t kick off until late. So employers need to be mindful that this may result in some employees turning up late for work or not at all. Remind staff of their duties and what’s expected of them. This should reduce the chances of lateness and unauthorised absences – and thus minimising the risk of disciplinary action taking place.More...
Howells Solicitors was recently delighted to have the honour of sponsoring the fifth annual Future Entrepreneur Awards to celebrate the success of some of Cardiff’s brightest young business brains.
Howells are dedicated sponsors of the awards having taken part for the past 3 award ceremonies and form part of the Future Entrepreneur Awards judging panel.
The event, presented by the University of Glamorgan and Cardiff Vale and College, and held at Cardiff City’s Hall, hosted the great and good of Cardiff’s media and business communities.
The winner of the Best Bright Idea and the Overall Best Enterprise award was LJM Photography, run by Lisa-Jane Meates, pictured above. After graduating from the Photography for Fashion & Advertising degree at the University in 2012, Lisa-Jane decided to start her own fashion and wedding photography business.The awards were established by the University of Glamorgan in 2009 to encourage entrepreneurship and enterprise among the university students and graduates in Wales. The deserving winners were the recipients of the much coveted Future Entrepreneur Award trophy along with a cheque for £1,000. More...
How does your business deal with employment contracts? This essential part of employment law is often neglected or underused – particularly by busy, cash-strapped businesses.
But the right employment contracts, drafted in a way that’s specific to your company, can save you thousands.
The importance of contracts for employers and employees
For employees, contracts are very important. They will state many of the benefits to which they will be entitled, as well as the money that they can expect to earn. In the event of an employment tribunal, if a business is found to have not issued a complete contract then it could be fined up to a month’s pay.More...
In recent years, the easy accessibility of recording devices has created a minefield for employers wishing to conduct grievance or disciplinary hearings with employees.
This has been caused in part by the wide discretion given to Employment Judges regarding the admissibility of evidence. The consequence of this is a body of case law allowing the introduction of evidence obtained by covert methods.
An early example is the case of Chairman and Governors of Amwell View School v Dogherty where it was held that while covert recordings from a disciplinary hearing were admissible, the recordings of the private deliberations of the disciplinary panel were not.
The distinction between the two seems to have been made on public policy grounds – specifically, to ensure their decision would not have a detrimental impact on the free deliberation of the facts by a panel. More...
