Shared Parental Leave For New Parents

Members of staff announcing that they are soon to be parents will be entitled to take shared parental leave. This applies to pregnancies with a due date on or after 5 April 2015. Under this new right, expectant parents will be able to choose how they share time off work for the first year of their child's life so that they can both retain a link to their workplace.  Gillian Reid, employment law expert at Ware & Kay Solicitors in York & Wetherby, explains how the new right will work in practice. The new legislation will allow a woman to return to work early and share the remainder of her leave and pay with her partner, if she wishes. The current entitlement to 52 weeks' maternity pay and 39 weeks' maternity pay will remain the…

10 Common Debt Recovery Mistakes

This article looks at the ten most common mistakes business owners make when it comes to tackling debtors, and advises on the best course of action. 1. Failing to have a credit policy When a company provides goods or services before receiving payment, it is essentially the same as handing over cash.  For this reason it is vital for cash flow and ultimately the survival of your businesses to be able to predict when you are likely to get paid and the cost of ensuring that this happens.  This begins with having a credit policy. By gathering the same types of information from each customer, it is possible to attribute different risk levels to each and adjust your payment terms accordingly.  Your credit policy provides uniformity of terms for each type of customer you have…

The Importance Of Making A Will

Making a Will is very important if you care what happens to your money and your belongings after you die, and most of us do.  Most of us have younger relatives who we want to benefit from our estate, or we have charities maybe that we want to support. If you do not make a Will, the law decides who gets what, and what the law decides may well not be what you want. Everything does not always go to your spouse, for example. If you're not married everything certainly does not go to your partner; it will go to blood relatives. Although many people make a Will to ensure their affairs are taken care of after they die, there are many others who make no such provision believing that, even without a Will, their…

Can Your Business Survive A Partnership Dispute

Being in partnership can be a great way to do business: the pooling of capital, talent, skill and common purpose to drive a business to success. However, as with the best of relationships, things can go wrong. Trust can evaporate as differences in personalities emerge. Ethics, business direction, control issues, underperformance and money woes can dominate partnership meetings, instead of the wellbeing and growth of the business. Firm foundations Before setting up or entering into a partnership, take advice from a specialist solicitor. Their role is to protect your interests and ensure you have a clear picture of your responsibilities, management, expectation and risk. Establishing your legal status can help avoid pitfalls later.  Factors such as capital input, profit share and management powers are all relevant in determining whether you are a true partner or…