Insights & News

Introductory guide to using data to market to customers

Inbrief

11 April 2017

The development of new technologies has significantly enhanced the ability of organisations to collect and process information about individuals, often with wide-reaching benefits. From a marketing perspective, it is now far easier to know more about your customers. This has also highlighted the importance of safeguards being put in place, particularly given concerns about that information being used in unwarranted and intrusive ways.

Workplace privacy: 11 ways to prepare for GDPR

Inbrief

31 March 2017

Significant changes are on the horizon; The EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) comes into force on 25 May 2018.

Corporate social responsibility

Inbrief

22 March 2017

Despite the growing trend of academic and business interest in the subject, there is no single accepted definition of Corporate Social Responsibility.

Disciplinary and grievance procedures - the ACAS Code

Inbrief

21 March 2017

The Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures is designed to provide clear, practical guidance on how to carry out disciplinaries and grievances fairly.

Equal Pay

Inbrief

02 March 2017

Equal pay law first developed in the UK in the 1970s after a campaign by trade unions and women’s groups. It is now a basic principle of European law that men and women who do equal work should receive equal pay. This principle is implemented in the UK today through the Equality Act 2010.

Gender pay gap reporting

Inbrief

02 March 2017

The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 (the “Regulations”) require employers to report on the gender pay gap in their organisation.

An agency guide to trade mark searching

Inbrief

20 January 2017

Whenever a new launch is proposed, whether it is for a product, brand, business name or an advertising campaign, there is always a risk that someone else is already using an identical or a similar name or design.

An agent’s guide to athlete trade marks

Inbrief

20 January 2017

Sportsmen and women invest massive amounts of time and energy into perfecting their sporting prowess. As an agent, your role is to invest your time and energy into their well-being, to nurture their income generating potential, and protect their image and reputation.

Contracts of employment

Inbrief

12 January 2017

A contract of employment can be a written document, a verbal agreement, or a mixture of the two.

TUPE

Inbrief

11 January 2017

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 and previous versions of the regulations (which have been in force in the UK since 1981) implement the European Acquired Rights Directive, the general purpose of which is to safeguard employee rights in the transfer of a business.

Corporate manslaughter

Inbrief

15 December 2016

Under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (the Act), an organisation is guilty of an offence if the way in which its activities are managed or organised by senior management causes a death and this amounts to a gross breach of duty of care owed by the organisation to the deceased.

Race discrimination

Inbrief

15 December 2016

The European Council Directive (2000/43/EC) prohibits direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation in the workplace in respect of race (which includes colour, nationality, ethnic origins and national origins). This is implemented through the Equality Act 2010.

Image rights

Inbrief

27 November 2016

Famous sportspeople, entertainers and other celebrities derive substantial incomes from allowing themselves to be commercially associated with brands. It is big business, very big business, and because of this celebrities are faced with two very different problems.

Sexual orientation discrimination

Inbrief

25 November 2016

Sexual orientation is a particularly sensitive personal issue, and also involves the right to privacy under the Human Rights Act 1998. An added complication is that individuals can choose whether or not to be ‘out’ in the workplace, so employers are unlikely to know the sexual orientation of all of their employees.

Alternative dispute resolution in the workplace

Inbrief

24 November 2016

Workplace disputes are disruptive and, in many cases, expensive for businesses, particularly if they result in litigation.

Any more BIDs

Inbrief

20 November 2016

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are partnerships between local businesses and local authorities which aim to improve defined commercial trading areas by providing additional services funded collectively by business rate payers.

Converting to an LLP

Inbrief

18 November 2016

Originally conceived as a vehicle for use by professional practices to obtain the benefit of limited liability while retaining the tax advantages of a traditional partnership, limited liability partnerships (LLPs) have a far wider use as is evidenced by their increasing popularity as an alternative business vehicle in a wide range of sectors.

An introduction to trade marks in the UK

Inbrief

17 November 2016

A trade mark registration provides the most effective form of protection against improper use of a business name, brand, logo or slogan by a competitor.

Bring your own device

Inbrief

16 November 2016

According to a global study in 2011 by the Aberdeen group, 75% of the 415 companies surveyed allow their employees to use their own device e.g. laptops, tablets and smart phones, for business purposes. Similarly, a survey by BT in 2012 of 2,000 IT users and managers in 11 countries found that more than four out of five companies surveyed permit their employees to connect their own device to the corporate network or will do so within the next two years. This trend is commonly referred to as ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD).

Protect against Defamation and Privacy actions

Inbrief

15 November 2016

The law of defamation and also the law of privacy is at a watershed. Since the beginning of 2010 the media have stepped up their campaign for a change in our laws, for more flexibility and a greater ability for freedom of expression to be paramount. This has been much more evident since the Human Rights Act 1998 incorporated the European Convention of Human Rights. This inbrief is intended to show how best to try and avoid a letter before action and a claim, when legal advice is appropriate and what to do when you get a complaint.