Now the dust has settled on this year’s hugely influential SCV2UK Summit – which brings together global entrepreneurs, investors, and tech leaders the UK and Bay Area - Partner James Klein reflects on another successful event which the firm has again supported ...
On 20 April 2022 the FCA published its final rules requiring the disclosure of data in relation to diversity on listed company boards and executive committees. Policy Statement On 20 April 2022, the FCA published its final rules requiring the disclosure of data in relation to diversity on listed company boards and executive committees. The rules will apply to financial years beginning on or after 1 April 2022, so the first reporting will be in 2023 ...
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has recently published its most recent Financial Services Survey, the results of which demonstrate the effect that Brexit is having on immigration of employees and expertise in to the UK in the financial services sector. There are an estimated 1.1 million UK jobs in the financial services sector. Historically, the sector obtained one fifth of its workers from outside of the UK ...
July was a busy month for the FCA in publishing guidance, policy and rules which have a significant impact on a firm’s relationships with its senior managers and staff. On 30 June, and towards the beginning of the “crypto winter”, Sarah Pritchard, Executive Director of Markets at the FCA gave a speech to the City UK Annual Conference entitled “Finding Opportunity in a World of Uncertainty” ...
Employers will be familiar with the desire to settle a Tribunal claim before it reaches a final hearing, in fact the Tribunal itself actively encourages mediation and settlement. Swiss Re Corporate Solutions Ltd v Sommer EAT is an excellent example of why it is important to be careful in all without prejudice communication so that if a settlement is not reached, the without prejudice communication does not end up disclosed as part of the Tribunal proceedings ...
How can an employment disciplinary investigation findings determine fitness and propriety? Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SM&CR) firms are under a duty to consider fitness and propriety on an ongoing basis ...
Direct marketing by email is a keystone for many businesses. It can be efficient and effective: but are you confident you are getting it right? Getting it wrong can cost customer goodwill and see the regulator knocking at the door. On 17 October the UK data regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), issued new guidance on electronic mail for direct marketing purposes which should be helpful for companies trying to do the right thing ...
Tackling rising prices within the parameters of public procurement. One of the main symptoms of the current economic crisis is rising prices, for individuals and businesses. Brexit and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are just two contributory factors in fuelling increases in prices across the supply chain in the UK, particularly the cost of raw materials, labour and transport ...
In our final quarterly case law update of 2022, we discuss four of the most significant employment law cases since August 2022 and the lessons that employers should take from them. Whistleblowing In the case of Kong v Gulf International Bank, Ms Kong made protected disclosures to the Head of Legal, Ms Harding ...
A breakdown of the ICO’s recent guidance on how to comply with the UK’s data protection regime when making live marketing calls. The ambiguous lyrics from this popular song have left me confused ...
Making variations to planning permissions as a scheme evolves is rarely a straightforward process, particularly where the changes go beyond the scope of non-material or minor material amendments. One tool that has been used extensively to achieve variations is the ‘drop-in’ planning application where a new consent is granted for an area that overlaps with the original permission ...
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that legal privilege does not apply retrospectively to an original version of a report produced before legal advice was sought ...
Shoosmiths’ specialist construction and regulatory teams have provided a detailed response to the government’s consultation on implementing the new building control regime for higher-risk buildings under Part 3 of the Building Safety Act 2022. The firm’s response draws on its expertise working with key stakeholders in the construction industry and first-hand experience of the issues that are relevant to the proposed regulations ...
When we talk about discrimination, most people think of those with protected characteristics such as disability, race or sex being treated less favourably. Should we be considering people being treated less favourably because of their height? What is heightism? The general premise of heightism is the act of forming beliefs subconsciously about someone’s mental and physical qualities because of their height ...
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill is currently making its way through Parliament but what do we currently know about the Bill, which may have an impact on over 2,400 pieces of legislation on the UK statute books? You may be forgiven for not spotting the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (or the Brexit Freedoms Bill as it is affectionately known) slip in front of the House of Commons on 22 September 2022 as all eyes were on Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini budget at the time
The UK data regulator the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a clear warning to organisations that the biggest cyber risk they face is not from hackers themselves but from complacency towards internal data protection compliance. Such companies may face a double whammy of a cyber-attack and subsequent enforcement action. The ICO has fined Interserve Group (a UK based construction company) £4.4 million for breaching data protection law ...
With increased cost of living and ongoing economic uncertainty, more and more workers are being forced to take on two (or more) jobs to cover soaring energy bills and pricey food shops. What do employers need to know and watch out for when this happens? Is having a second job permitted? It is not necessarily unusual for employees to have more than one job at the same time ...
On 13 October 2022, Shoosmiths hosted a webinar on the UK Covid-19 Inquiry (the ‘Inquiry’). The webinar took a closer look at the structure and progress of the Inquiry, alongside the commercial and legal considerations that any potential witness or party should be aware of, including the role of a Core Participant (‘CP’). The webinar was hosted by Paul Eccles (Partner) and included talks by Alex Friston (Associate) and Charles Arrand (Partner) ...
All employers in the UK have a responsibility to prevent illegal working which is done by undertaking simple right to work checks before an employee commences employment. 1. Why do employers need to know what IDSPs are? All employers in the UK have a responsibility to prevent illegal working which is done by undertaking simple right to work checks before an employee commences employment ...
A recent Supreme Court decision has clarified the position on how holiday pay for irregular workers on permanent contracts should be calculated. But practically, where does this leave employers and what options are available to them? Background Under the Working Time Regulations, workers are entitled to be paid a minimum of 5 ...
In the recent case of R v Andrewes [2022] UKSC 24, the Supreme Court considered whether stripping the Defendant of their earnings would be disproportionate when considering the financial benefit obtained by CV Fraud. This article takes us through the facts of the case and Lauren Bowkett, a Principal Associate in the Business Crime and Compliance team, comments on the recent Supreme Court Judgement ...
The European Council of the EU gave formal approval to the Digital Services Act (DSA) on 4 October 2022, which is the most significant update to the legal framework on digital services since the adoption of the E-Commerce Directive in 2000. The focus of the DSA is to improve user safety online by regulating online content, advertising and product sales ...
In another helpful judgment for defendant organisations handling large amounts of personal data, Driver v CPS provides guidance on the quantum of data breach claims where the claimant has suffered distress but not provided medical evidence. The court awarded £250 as the data breach was at "the lowest end of the spectrum", which may indicate where the de minimis threshold for such cases lies and is often a hotly contested point in data breach claims ...
Investment Zones are a lot like Freeport tax sites, arguably with more benefits, so are they friend or foe to Freeports? Background Liz Truss pledged to boost growth with “full-fat” Freeports as part of her leadership campaign in July 2022 and it sounded like all systems were finally go for Freeports ...
It is generally accepted that hybrid working is here to stay, along with all the challenges that managing a remote workforce presents. Here we focus on how an employer can effectively manage absence when employees are working remotely. As we discussed in our previous article, The Future of Work: Performance management in a hybrid working world (shoosmiths.co ...
