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Working time changes in Northern Ireland: here’s what it means for employers
03 January 2024EU rules on holiday pay are being kept, according to new regulations that speedily came into force on 1 January 2024. This article looks at the new laws.
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UK government issues further details on net migration reduction policy
02 January 2024The main new detail for employers to note is that occupation-related going rates of pay will be increased alongside the general salary thresholds. There will be transitional arrangements for Skilled Workers, however users of the system will be required to pay more in salaries and other immigration-related costs throughout the period of sponsorship. Senior carers and carers will be prohibited from bringing dependants from the new year, and the increased minimum income requirement under the five-year Partner route will be raised initially to £29,000 instead of £38,700.
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Lewis Silkin's 12 tech trends and predictions for 2024
02 January 2024Welcome to this year’s technology predictions!
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A big shakeup to Ireland's employment permit system
22 December 2023In a surprise pre-Christmas announcement, the Irish Government significantly expanded Ireland’s employment permit system but also increased the salary requirements for most employment permit types. While this is welcome news, it also means that some employers may need to review and reforecast their budgets for employment costs to ensure any employment permit holders they employ can continue to work in Ireland.
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EU Platform Workers Directive – more changes as political agreement reached
21 December 2023The Platform Workers Directive has taken another important step towards being adopted by the EU, with political agreement on the text being reached on 13 December. This involves some significant changes to the originally proposed draft wording.
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Q&A from What’s happening in immigration law webinar – 7 December 2023
20 December 2023This Q&A covers questions raised in our webinar. This session discussed:
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Redundancy protection to be extended to cover pregnancy and return from family leave
14 December 2023From 6 April 2024, employees who are pregnant or returning from maternity, adoption or shared parental leave will gain priority status for redeployment opportunities in a redundancy situation. We explain the new rights and implications for employers.
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Carer’s Leave – the new law explained
14 December 2023From 6 April 2024, employees will have a statutory right to a week’s unpaid leave to care for a dependant. The Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024 have now been published in draft form and provide the details on how this new right will work in practice.
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Pay Attention Episode 1: What is the EU’s groundbreaking Pay Transparency Directive?
Podcast
14 December 2023In the inaugural episode of our "Pay Attention” series, we delve into the EU’s groundbreaking Pay Transparency Directive.
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Financial promotions regulatory horizon scanner
12 December 2023Our financial promotions horizon scanner (below) identifies regulatory changes and updates that are likely to impact firms who offer financial services and products in the UK. The tracker identifies key current and future developments across numerous areas including, anti-greenwashing, social media, high risk investments and cryptoassets.
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New Immigration Rules expand activities allowed for visitors
12 December 2023On 7 December 2023 the Home Office published new Immigration Rules. These expand the range of activities visitors are allowed to do in the UK from 31 January 2024, including remote work, research, provision of legal services and paid engagements. The Youth Mobility Scheme is also amended to include citizens of Uruguay and to restructure the arrangements for Japanese and South Korean citizens.
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Exiting Office Leases: On the Move
Press
12 December 2023In an article for PLC Magazine, Rachel Francis-Lang, Tom Merrick, Patrick Brown and Kate Davies discuss the key considerations for a business that wishes to exit its leased office space.
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New year new standards: will regulated individuals in financial services need to be “paragons of virtue”?
Podcast
12 December 2023The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) and Prudential Regulation Authority (“PRA”) are looking to re-emphasise the regulators’ position that non-financial misconduct is misconduct for regulatory purposes. On the agenda by Lewis Silkin, we discuss the fitness and propriety and conduct rules requirements, as well as the forthcoming guidance ahead of the consultation closing date on 18 December.
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Is early workforce consultation required for small scale redundancies?
12 December 2023In a decision with potentially significant implications for employers, the EAT has indicated that the lack of ‘general workforce consultation’ at a formative stage in a small-scale redundancy exercise could taint the fairness of the process.
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Ads & Brands Law Digest: November 2023
07 December 2023Welcome to the November 2023 edition of our Digest, covering legal and regulatory developments from the last few weeks relevant to advertising, marketing, and brand-owning businesses. As usual, for each item we provide a succinct summary accompanied by a link to the full text of the relevant official source or our own report.
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The National Security and Investment Act 2021: will it lead to greater certainty and lower burdens for businesses?
07 December 2023Since the National Security and Investment Act (the NSI Act) came into force on 4 January 2022, one of the criticisms levelled at the legislation has been its broad scope and ambiguity over whether a transaction might be captured by the mandatory notification regime or voluntary notification regime.
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Advertising foods high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS)
Inbrief
07 December 2023Advertising of HFSS foods is under a lot of scrutiny in the UK due to the obesity crisis, but recently has been put more on a back burner by the UK government due to the cost-of-living crisis and opposition to proposed legislative measures from some government MPs. Advertising HFSS products is already tightly regulated in the UK, but there are new rules on the horizon.
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How can employers support older employees in reskilling and returning to the workplace?
07 December 2023With an ageing population and a resurgence of over-50s returning to the office, employers are increasingly needing to rethink recruitment and retention strategies in response. This article explores ways employers can support older workers in the workplace, without falling foul of age discrimination legislation.
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Virtual Christmas card tree planting initiative
06 December 2023Instead of printing and posting Christmas cards every year, we have chosen to email virtual cards and plant trees.
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UK immigration policies announced to lower net migration
05 December 2023On 4 December 2023 the UK Government announced a ‘five point plan’ to lower net migration, following on from recent high net migration figures. These include raising the general threshold for Skilled Worker visas, abolishing the salary discount for shortage occupation roles and prohibiting care workers from bringing dependants.