News
The Government has today announced that it is extending the qualifying period for claiming unfair dismissal to two years from 6th April 2012
The Bribery Act 2010
This is a serious and far reaching piece of legislation which applies to companies, its directors and the individuals involved. A bribe is an inducement or reward offered, promised or provided in order to gain any commercial, contractual, regulatory or personal advantage. If convicted there could be an unlimited financial penalty, reputational damage, and up to ten years in prison.
The prevention, detection and reporting of bribery and other forms of corruption are the responsibility of the company and its directors. Therefore, if you want to have any change of mitigating exposure to prosecution under the Bribery Act you must put in place an Anti Corruption and Bribery Policy, provide training on the policy and enforce it!
The policy must state there is a zero tolerance attitude to any form of bribery or corruption and that it is strictly forbidden to participate in or turn a blind eye to any form of corruption in your business or those you do business with. It should identify what particular risks the business faces and detail the steps taken to diminish the risk. It should also set out what your staff should or should not do, for example:
- Staff should know they are responsible for their own actions and make it clear that the company will not take reasonability for their actions and regardless of any criminal action taken against them they could also face dismissal. They should know that if they break the law, they alone will face the consequences of a large fine, imprisonment, or both.
- Staff must conduct themselves with the utmost integrity and good faith at all times especially when representing the company and conduct business in professionally and in an ethical and honest manner.
- To protect themselves and the company, staff must report anything they think is suspicious.
- Only pay a fair price for any product or service. State that it is not acceptable to give or accept money or money’s worth incentives or "kickbacks" to secure a deal. That it is strictly forbidden to give or promise to give, a payment, gift or hospitality if the intention of that gift or hospitality is to influence a third party to obtain or retain business or a business advantage.
- Staff must always keep complete records of any transaction (including all invoices and receipts) of everything that you do, especially in relation to the payments you make and what they are for.
If you need any help or advice on putting an anti corruption policy in place, please contact us.
The Equality Act 2010 Many provisions now in force http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2010/plain/ukpga_20100015_en
The Act is being implemented in stages from 1st October 2010 and will replace the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, much of the Equality Act 2006, the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, and the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 (all as subsequently amended), plus other ancillary pieces of legislation.The Act has detailed explanatory notes which can be found at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2010/en/ukpgaen_20100015_en.pdf
Will Aid - 2010/11
The Firm is proud to announce that due to the efforts of our Wills team who give their time free of charge, the firm has donated £8,930 in 2011 to Will Aid. Will Aid incorporate 9 major charities, including Help the Aged. To find out more about the good causes Will Aid supports please see their website at http://www.willaid.org.uk/
Certainty National Will Register
As a founder member of Certainty, our Partner, Angela Carroll, who heads the Wills team was recently featured in the legal press. The interest is due to this firm's commitment to the scheme and the dedication of the Wills team in contacting over 6000 clients who had Wills stored with us. For more information on Certainty please see their website at http://www.certainty.co.uk/
