Key employment cases regarding coronavirus and Supreme Court decisions

Despite the success of the vaccine programme, the impact of the pandemic on businesses will continue for some time. For example, when the furlough scheme ends in the autumn, it is expected that the number of employment tribunal claims will rise and case law will take even longer to filter through to policies and practice. ‘Meanwhile, we are starting to see tribunal cases relating to the Covid risk in the workplace and, so far, the outcomes are generally encouraging for employers,’ says Gillian Reid, a Solicitor in the employment team with Ware & Kay. ‘Although these are only tribunal decisions and other tribunals do not have to follow them, they offer some reassurance to those employers who have brought in Covid-secure measures.’ In our latest round-up of key employment law cases, Gillian Reid also looks at…

The future of the workplace and hybrid working

The official government message encouraging people to work from home is expected to end with the final step out of lockdown. For many employees though, homeworking is here to stay. According to a recent BBC survey, 43 of 50 big UK employers will not bring staff back to the office full time. Instead, employees will mix homeworking and coming into the office. For businesses considering hybrid working, Gillian Reid, Head of Employment with Ware & Kay explains how to build on the lessons learned during the pandemic, as well as practical and contractual issues to consider and pitfalls to avoid. Feedback and reflection A really worthwhile exercise is to find out from employees about their experience of homeworking. This can be done through an anonymous survey, team meetings or employee representative groups. Important questions include which…

Do adult children living at home have rights over the matrimonial house in a divorce?

Recent research by Loughborough University shows a sharp rise in the so-called ‘boomerang’ generation of young adults returning to live at home until their late twenties or early thirties.  This trend has continued as a result of the pandemic causing job losses, furlough, and university closures.  ‘With the shape of family life changing, we are seeing an increase in queries about whether adult children living at home have any rights in a divorce,’ says Robert Bellhouse, a Solicitor in the family law team with Ware & Kay in York & Wetherby. ‘The law makes a number of provisions to ensure minor children continue to be cared and provided for following divorce, but more recently the children living at home are older.  Unlike a tenant or lodger, there is unlikely to be any legal formalities in place…

Assured shorthold tenancies: recent rule changes

As we emerge from lockdown and things slowly begin to return to normal, many farmers may be considering renting out part of their property, raising much needed cash to counter the devastating economic effects inflicted by the coronavirus and Brexit. Most private properties are rented out on an assured shorthold tenancy basis, but as Andrew Little, commercial property law and agricultural specialist at Ware & Kay Solicitors in York & Wetherby warns, some restrictions on such rentals have been introduced recently which potential landlords should be aware of.  The Tenant Fees Act 2019 Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, landlords and agents are now banned from charging fees to tenants other than those specifically permitted by the Act. A cap is also placed on the amount of security deposit a landlord or agent can collect and…