Staff

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to nearly 1 in 10 workers being told to re-apply for their jobs on worse terms and conditions or face the sack, according to research by the TUC. Joanne Stronach Director & Head of Employment & HR reports. Almost a quarter say their working terms, such as pay or hours, have been downgraded since the first lockdown in March. The TUC commissioned an online survey of…

There has been a sudden surge in personal and corporate insolvencies, due mainly to the effects of the Covid pandemic. Sam Lyon Associate Solicitor and Head of Corporate & Commercial reports. Figures released by the Insolvency Service show there were 1,228 business failures in December 2020 compared with 891 in November. That’s a rise of 37.8%. It’s also 9.2% higher than in December 2019, when there were 1,125 insolvencies. There were…

Three members of Team Cartmells have signed up to take on the Step Up for Dementia challenge. The challenge to raise funds for Alzheimer’s Society is to complete 850,000 steps in three months – that’s the same number of people currently living with dementia in the UK. The team members that are taking part in the challenge are: Zoe Calway Director specialising in wills, probate and inheritance work and is…

The government is strengthening the Prompt Payment Code to ensure large companies pay small businesses on time. Carly Davies Debt Recovery Manager reports. Companies that have signed up to the code will be obliged to pay invoices within 30 days – half the time outlined under the current agreement. Despite almost 3,000 companies signing the code, poor payment practices are still rife, with many payments delayed well beyond the current 60-day…

There are so many pressures on parents just now. Home-school projects, internet speeds and on-line lessons all add to the stress of working parents. For many of us, ‘survival’ is the main aim of the game. By Amy Fallows Head of our Family law team. If you add tension between separated parents to the mix, it is easy to see why child arrangements might break down in lockdown. The government has…

Thinking it over with Carol Fish Director & Head of Serious and Catastrophic Injury… DURING lockdown many of us will have been relieved that elite sport has not ground to a halt – and has kept us entertained on our televisions. Even with no crowds able to attend it has given many people interest and joy and at least some sense of normality. Whether it’s top flight football, Test cricket, horseracing, or…

The widespread administration of the vaccine in the UK is good news for many employers to help working life slowly return to normal in time. But what if one of your employees refuses to have it? The big question being considered by Joanne Stronach Head of Employment Law and HR is – can an employer require its employees to have the COVID19 vaccine? The quick answer is that the Government…

A woman has won the right to inherit her father’s estate after a “DIY Will” supposedly signed on his deathbed was ruled invalid. Rebecca Armstrong Solicitor in our specialist Will Claims team reports on this recent case. Terri Tibbles had been the sole beneficiary of a Will her father William wrote a year before he died. In a letter of wishes attached to that Will, Mr Tibbles said that Terri’s…

We are deeply concerned about the plight of the smaller businesses across the UK including the c. 3m self-employed directors of limited companies, who are not eligible for the government’s existing grants, and have therefore been excluded from the financial support measures thus far during COVID-19.  And this is one of the reasons that we are working ‘behind the scenes’ to try and influence the government to look at introducing more support…

A TEAM of colleagues from a leading legal firm have successfully completed a fell walking charity challenge. Staff from Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors hiked up a total of 50 Lake District fells between them to raise money for Hospice at Home West Cumbria, which provides palliative and end of life care. The challenge was part of the charity’s 50 Faces for Hospice campaign in which supporters pledged to raise £500 each…