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January 4, 2017
Agricultural Occupancy Conditions
With Government policy typically opposed to the building of new houses in open countryside, it is often difficult to gain planning permission to build houses in such areas. That said, if a house is needed for the proper operation of an agricultural business (e.g. to house workers), planning permission subject to an Agricultural Occupancy Condition […]
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January 3, 2017
Atypical Workers – a quick reference guide
The “gig economy” is here to stay but the queries we deal with seem to indicate that employers still are unclear about the issues that arise once the employer moves away from the full time 9-5 workforce. Atypical work is any pattern of work which does not fit the classic or traditional concept of an […]
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January 3, 2017
Managing Sickness Absence
Employee sickness can put pressure on the ability to provide a continuing service to customers. All employers should make sure each instance is dealt with fairly and consistently. To that end we are supplying below a check list of issues to consider, not all will be relevant to every case, but it should prove a […]
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December 15, 2016
Contractors – who is in control?
Most businesses use contractors to cover their operational needs and keep head count and costs down. However some employers fall into the trap of believing health & safety can be “contracted out” like everything else. That is a recipe for disaster. For example, what if you ordered your contractors not to go on the roof, […]
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December 15, 2016
Contractor health & safety- are you in control?
As a client or a main contractor, would you expect to be liable for an accident to one of your contractor’s employees when they have disobeyed a clear instruction? That is what happened when historic firm Josiah Wedgwood employed contractors at their warehouse in Stoke. They worked on the roof installing barbed wire and replacing […]
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December 1, 2016
Second adjudication valuation allowed for final account
It is long established that a party’s failure to issue a payless notice means that the sum applied for becomes the ‘notified sum’, (see section 111 Construction Act and the case of ISG Construction Limited v Seevic College). An adjudication where the party seeking the payment relies on there being no payless notice is known […]
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November 17, 2016
The cost of making and withdrawing a job offer
A company has been ordered to pay over £3,000 for breach of contract damages, after it withdrew a job offer made by a recruitment agency acting on its behalf. In McCann v Snozone Ltd, Mr McCann had verbally accepted a job offer which the recruitment agency had made acting on behalf of the employer, although […]
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October 3, 2016
Hedge and ditch presumption and its use when determining boundaries
The hedge and ditch presumption can often be used to solve disputes where the boundaries shown on the title documents are inconclusive. This rebuttable presumption states that where two agricultural properties are divided by a hedge and a ditch, the property boundary is assumed to be on the opposite edge of the ditch from the […]
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October 3, 2016
Notary services
If you need the services of a Notary for example to have a document or signature witnessed, then you can make an appointment to visit our Gravesend office at 18 Stone Street or our Maidstone office at 16 Mill Street. A Notary Public is a public officer appointed by the Court of Faculties of The […]
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July 5, 2016
Job sharing and other options for return to work after maternity leave
Juggling the demands of both parenting and a busy career are, in theory, less black and white choices now, as the law provides much greater flexibility for parents. Employees, both full and part-time, with 26 weeks’ service have the right to ask for flexible working. Flexible working is any working pattern other than the normal working […]
