Further changes to Notice Periods and Evictions
Today Robert Jenrick, Housing Secretary made a further announcement that the six-month notice periods and bailiff enforced eviction bans will be extended to 31 May 2021 to protect residential and social tenants as the country moves through the roadmap. The Housing Secretary announced that the Government has - "taken unprecedented action to support both commercial and residential tenants throughout the pandemic – with a £280 billion economic package to keep businesses running and people in jobs and able to meet their outgoings, such as rent. These measures build on the government’s action to provide financial support as restrictions are lifted over the coming months – extending the furlough scheme, business rates holiday and the Universal Credit uplift."
For the Love of Books - Celebrate World Book Day
Every year, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) organises World Book Day on April 23. The day is intended to promote and spread awareness on reading, copyright issues and publishing.
Whether you read online, find an article in a newspaper or magazine, immerse yourself in a comic, the importance of books and reading has always been something so many people find important. When Amazon launched, it had a devastating impact on bookshops. All of a sudden those delightful little bookshops were no longer and their business had already been damaged by the larger, more corporate type stores.
And then things began to change. There was a backlash and buying books rather than using a tablet or device became a novelty once more. Being read to, reading aloud, feeling the pages, immersing oneself in the escapism created by a favourite author was exciting and our imaginations got back to work through the power of words.
Protecting jobs and livelihoods of the British People - The Budget at a glance
Executive Summary
Rishi Sunak’s budget follows a year of extraordinary economic challenge as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Like that of many other countries, the UK’s economy has been hit hard, with both the direct effects of the virus and the measures necessary to control it leading to an unprecedented fall in output and higher unemployment.
In the face of this threat, the government acted swiftly to provide support to protect businesses, individuals and public services across the UK, adapting its economic response as the pandemic evolved. Thanks to people’s hard work and sacrifice, supported by the success of the initial stages of the vaccine rollout, there is now a path to the reopening of the economy.
The Budget sets out how the government will extend its economic support to reflect the cautious easing of social distancing rules and the reopening of the economy in the government’s roadmap.1 Support in the Budget reflects the easing of restrictions to enable the private sector to bounce back as quickly as possible.
As the economy reopens, the Budget sets out the steps the government is taking to support the recovery, ensuring the economy can build back better, with radical new incentives for business investment and help for businesses to attract the capital, ideas and talent to grow.
Myth Buster - Verbal Contracts are NOT Valid Contracts
This is a fairly common myth, but an important one. Why? Because a verbal employment contract, or one that is only ‘implied’, can be legally binding, meaning you can make a job offer without realising it.
If you make any form of promise relating to the individual’s employment, this refers to an ‘implied’ contract. If you discuss contract details with the individual, such as job duties, work hours, or pay & benefits, then this is an explicit verbal employment contract.
A binding agreement can be formed on the basis of verbal statements or via information from an employee handbook or company policy. This is because a large portion of the details in the handbook will be similar to those found in a written contract.
How to avoid an implied contract
Avoid making specific promises during the interview stage, or in the job offer letter should you choose to hire the individual. Such promises can include things like:-
“We’ll never fire you”
“You’re guaranteed to have a job here for the next 5 years”
But they can also be more subtle:
“Your pay & benefit package will be…”
“When your probationary period finishes…”