Carers’ rights at work

According to Care UK, three million people in the UK are juggling work with unpaid caring for disabled, seriously ill, or older loved ones. NHS England reports that carers are twice as likely to have poor health than those without caring responsibilities. ‘Working carers do have some legal rights. With the number of unpaid carers predicted to increase, employers may wish to go above and beyond these legal rights to support these employees and their wellbeing and to help retain them in the workforce,’ says Gillian Reid, a Solicitor in the employment team with Ware & Kay. Gillian runs through the legal rights, likely changes to the law and steps employers can take to support carers. Flexible working requests Employees have the right, once every 12 months, to request flexible working arrangements like part-time hours or…

Don’t fall out over the fixtures and fittings

A home buyer on an internet forum asked, ‘What is the pettiest thing your seller has removed?’ Most replies are light-hearted: a loo roll holder, the curtain rails, a basketball hoop from above the garage door. Some tell a different story of buyers moving in and discovering missing kitchen units or damage from ripped out features. Others tell of an attic stuffed full of junk. Fixtures and fittings can quickly become a source of irritation for buyers and sellers alike. In some cases, their removal may even result in a costly dispute. I Here we examine the thorny topic of fixtures and fittings and how your conveyancer will stop them spoiling your next home move. What are fixtures and fittings? Generally, fixtures are physically attached to the property and form part of it. In contrast, fittings…

Letting a property to farm workers

When farmers rent out a spare cottage on their land to one of their farm workers it may seem like a win-win all round: the farmer gets to fill their empty property and have a worker on site, and the farm worker gets somewhere convenient to live. However, as Andrew Little, Commercial Property Solicitor and agricultural law specialist at Pearsons & Ward (Malton office of Ware & Kay Solicitors) explains, farmers should ensure they do not inadvertently grant an assured agricultural occupancy instead of an assured shorthold tenancy in such situations as this would give their tenant more rights than they perhaps intended. Unless farmers take specific steps to ensure the tenancy granted to an agricultural worker is an assured shorthold tenancy, an assured agricultural occupancy regulated by the Housing Act 1988 will automatically arise where…

Why married farmers should consider legal protection

The current economic climate, as a result of the pandemic, has put farming families under increased pressure and pushed many to breaking point and even divorce. Divorce is never easy, but for farming families it can be particularly traumatic and complex – particularly when it comes down to the division of assets required by law when a marriage breaks down. Robert Bellhouse, family law specialist at Ware & Kay Solicitors in York & Wetherby, advises farmers about the legal protections they can put in place to ensure the survival of the farming business in the event of a divorce. ‘As the farm is usually the main source of income for the family, changes in your personal relationship may also dramatically affect your working relationships and the future of your livelihood,’ he explains. Under section 25 of…