You are hereMonthly archive / August, 2009
August, 2009
Clear the Paper Clutter
If you don’t hot-desk or have a clear-desk policy that works, the chances are your desk can sometimes (maybe frequently!) look like a bomb has hit it. So, before you lose another piece of paper or spend far too long looking for something that’s probably not there, here are the top ten tips to help you clear the paper clutter:
Holiday Accrual During Sick Leave May Have a Devastating Financial Impact
A recent decision by the House of Lords to overturn an earlier Court of Appeal ruling on holiday accrual during sick leave has left the business world and employment law solicitors wincing. On appeal, Keith Ainsworth won his case for the entitlement to holiday pay while he was on sick leave from his employment with HM Revenue and Customs.
Since this ruling was made by the Law lords on 10 June 2009 many people have voiced very strong opinions over the possible consequences. The primary concern would appear to be that the potential financial implications involved here could be the final nail in the coffin for some already struggling employers.
How New Laws Are Made
New laws are needed all the time to reflect the changes in social conventions and what society considers acceptable. The activities or choices of people that may have been intolerable to others 50 years ago may now be widely acceptable, and laws need to evolve to accommodate the changes in society.
Old laws can become outdated and need to be reformed. The Government may bring in new laws in line with its policies, and sometimes new laws need to be made in order to act in accordance with international or European law.
Living with Integrity
What’s the key to living an authentic life that honours your most important priorities? Living with integrity.
The Right to Remain Silent
Before the mid-nineties, when suspects were being questioned by the police in relation to an offence, they had a definite right to remain silent. However, this was changed somewhat with the introduction of s.34 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Although this statutory provision does not usurp this right altogether, it does set out some fundamental criteria that can be relied upon by a magistrate or jury when they may feel that a defendant should have been more cooperative at the time of the police interview. As a consequence, they can then go on to draw adverse inferences from this silence.
The Twitter Phenomenon
Every year it seems some new technology emerges from the depths of the Internet and spreads through our culture like some great bushfire. The late nineties saw the birth of services such as Geocities, Hotmail, Google and eBay, followed by the noughties and the web 2.0 social networking explosion. Suddenly everyone became a blogger, and switched-on, web-savvy youth became micro-celebrities on MySpace. MySpace has now taken a backseat to the mighty Facebook, where people are able to connect friends and family in a way that had never been done before.
Where There is a Will, There is a Way
A review of recent problems in relation to wills, succession and inheritance
In recent years a number of concerning trends have developed in the area of wills and probate. In this article we will consider the latest figures on estate planning in England and Wales. We will also look at the impact untrained and unregulated will writers are having on this area of legal practice.
Will and Estate Planning
Dealing with Complaints
While we all like to think that we meet our clients' needs and that our quality of service is tip-top, there are still occasions when our clients disagree! In the current climate, clients have become very choosy, and feel more confident to say when they are not happy with something. So before it gets to the stage where we start to look foolish, lose our clients or they take matters further, here are some helpful tips for dealing with complaints:
