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Illegal working civil penalties due to triple from 13 February 2024
25 January 2024The civil penalty an employer may receive for employing an illegal worker will rise from £20,000 to £60,000. This significantly increases the financial risk to employers of failing to carry out rigorous and compliant right to work checks.
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Acas Code of Practice on handling requests for a predictable working pattern: Lewis Silkin’s consultation response
25 January 2024We have submitted a response to Acas’ consultation on its draft statutory Code of Practice on handling requests for a predictable working pattern. The draft Code helpfully recognises the similarities between this new regime and the more familiar one of flexible working. However, there are new concepts and processes in the legislation which may be challenging for employers to navigate without further clarity and detail.
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Ambush Marketing and the Law: A look ahead to the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games 2024
24 January 2024The biggest sporting event of 2024 will undoubtedly be the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games held in Paris. As ever when it comes to big sporting events of this nature, we expect ambush marketing (where a brand piggybacks on an event to promote their products without an official association with that event) to be a key concern.
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Does the ASA need to revisit its gender stereotyping rules? - Brinsley Dresden comments for Campaign UK
Press
23 January 2024The ASA has come under scrutiny for banning a poster ad for Calvin Klein which features an image of singer-songwriter FKA twigs with a denim shirt draped over her naked body. Brinsley suggests the need for a light-touch approach from the regulator, which provides clarity but doesn't stifle creativity.
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Lewis Silkin expands IP practice to Leeds with legal director appointment
Press Release
22 January 2024Lewis Silkin has today announced the appointment of Aaron Trebble as legal director in the firm’s Intellectual Property practice group. Based in Leeds, Aaron’s appointment marks the expansion of Lewis Silkin’s IP360 service to the city, further enhancing its offering to creative and innovative businesses in the north of England.
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Zero hours contracts
Inbrief
19 January 2024Zero hours contracts allow organisations to hire individuals without guaranteeing them any work.
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The Working Time Regulations 1998
Inbrief
19 January 2024The Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) were originally introduced to implement the European Working Time Directive in the UK. They remain in force (with some amendments) now that the UK has left the EU.
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Redundancy
Inbrief
19 January 2024This Inbrief looks at how employers can minimise the risk of legal claims when dismissing employees by reason of redundancy. The starting point is making sure that there is a genuine redundancy situation. The crucial thing then is to follow a reasonable procedure, including consulting the affected employees, applying a fair selection process and considering alternative employment. Finally, those dismissed should be given their correct redundancy pay.
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M&A employment law support - top ten questions
Inbrief
19 January 2024In mergers and acquisitions (M&A) navigating the legal requirements and ramifications of the deal can be tricky.
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Are Smart Buildings becoming trendy?
19 January 2024Before we dive into the trends surrounding Smart Buildings, we should take a step back and look at what the Smart Building market is doing, and it’s safe to say it’s growing. In fact, it’s predicted that the market for Smart Buildings is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.5% from 2023 to 2030. That’s an impressive rate – as a comparison - Netflix had a compound quarterly growth rate (CQGR) of 27.5% between 2016 and 2021.
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M&A employment law support: TUPE clauses in a business transfer agreement
Inbrief
19 January 2024If the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) apply to a business sale, it has significant ramifications for both the buyer and seller. This Inbrief examines how the business transfer agreement can best cater for these issues.
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NYT v OpenAI: The Publishing Sector’s AI Content-Scraping Conundrum
19 January 2024Text and Data Mining (TDM) – and “web scraping” more generally – has been thrust into the spotlight with the recent explosion of Generative AI. At the heart of the issue lies a tension between AI companies on the one hand and publishers on the other.
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How careful attention to warranties can avoid transfer nightmares
18 January 2024This article outlines the importance of warranties in football transfer agreements.
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Immigration Health Surcharge due to rise imminently
18 January 2024Substantial rises to the Immigration Health Surcharge have now been approved by Parliament to come into effect on 6 February 2024. Individuals hoping to avoid these should submit their UK immigration application by 5 February 2024 to be sure they are not impacted.
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Protected disclosures in Ireland – new statutory Guidance published and more employers now required to comply
18 January 2024With more Irish employers now caught by the requirement under the protected disclosures legislation to have whistleblowing procedures in place, and the introduction of new statutory Guidance towards the end of last year, we look briefly at what employers should be considering in 2024 when dealing with protected disclosures in the workplace in Ireland.
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Cold weather working and snow days: the legal position
18 January 2024Following on from one of the mildest Decembers on record, we’re now into the colder months with parts of the country experiencing temperatures as low as -14°C. What should employers be doing during these months to keep their staff safe, warm and productive?
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Explainability and AI: the silver bullet?
17 January 2024Lawmakers faced with rapid advances in AI are turning to the safeguards needed to protect individuals whose interests are affected by AI systems and to build trust in automated decision-making. Building trust in automated outcomes will be much more of a challenge for many years following the revelations which are emerging from the Post Office scandal. Common among these safeguards are auditing, human oversight, effective contestability, transparency and explainability. But what is most likely to be effective?
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Explainability and AI: how can a decision be unpicked at an individual level?
Case Study
17 January 2024To accompany our article on explainability in AI, we have put together an example illustrating how an employment related decision generated by an algorithm could be explained at an individual – or local – level.
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Ads & Brands Law Digest: December 2023
16 January 2024Welcome to the latest 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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Double trouble: is dual employment a recipe for disaster?
16 January 2024Double the employers means double the trouble according to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, which, in a decision last year, cast doubt on the legal possibility of dual employment. However, although there might be a presumption against this arrangement, there are situations when the law allows for this.