April 22, 2020 | Hannah Thomas
In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that Morrison Supermarkets was not vicariously liable for a deliberate data breach by a disgruntled ex-employee which exposed the personal data of almost 100,000 of its employees and for which the ex-employee received a prison sentence.
April 21, 2020 | Rianda Markram
In these unprecedented times businesses may be tempted to stop paying their rent. This can have severe implications for tenants. In this blog we focus on the position between a commercial landlord and tenant during the pandemic. Read our blog to find out more.
April 21, 2020 | Hannah Thomas
As we previously reported, in response to the coronavirus outbreak, new Regulations known as The Statutory Sick Pay (General) (Coronavirus Amendment) Regulations 2000 came into force on 13 March 2020. These will remain in force for a period of 8 months from that date, unless extended. A further amendment to the Regulations was made on 16 April 2020 which applies form that date and which extends SSP to those who are shielding in accordance with public health advice due to being notified as being extremely vulnerable.
April 20, 2020 | Hannah Thomas
Employment legislation protects employees by providing that a dismissal shall be automatically unfair, regardless of the employee’s length of service at the date of dismissal, where the reason for the dismissal is covered by one of the automatically unfair reasons for dismissal set out in legislation. This includes where the employee is dismissed for leaving or staying away from their workplace where they do so for a health and safety reason. This protection is particularly pertinent during the current epidemic and employers should tread carefully where any dismissal or disciplinary action could be construed to be for a health and safety reason e.g. following an employee’s refusal to attend work or return to work due to their anxieties around contracting the coronavirus in their workplace. Employers can do this by identifying in the dismissal letter, for example, the actual reason for dismissal or taking disciplinary action that applies.
April 20, 2020 | Hannah Thomas
On 20 April 2020, a month after the scheme was announced, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which enables employers to claim 80% of employee wages plus employer national insurance contributions and auto enrolment pension contributions for furloughed employees and which will help pay the wages of more than a million employees, opened for claims. With the extension of the coronavirus lockdown measures, the Scheme has been extended to 30 June 2020. Read our blog to find out more.
