Shoosmiths

In March 2014, the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) issued new guidance for the management of risks associated with the presence of asbestos in soils and made ground. This Practice Note explains the background to the CIRIA report and summarises the main features of the guidance. It also highlights that the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, SI 2012/632 also applies to asbestos in soils. In July 2016, Contaminated Land: Applications in Real Environments (CL:AIRE) and the Joint Industry Working Group (JIWG) issued further industry guidance on the application of CAR 2012 to asbestos in soil and construction and demolition materials and this is also explained in the Practice Note.

This Practice Note covers the impact and development of the Fair Deal guidance introduced on 4 October 2013 (Fair Deal 2013) on outsourcing contracts involving central government public bodies. In particular, it covers the background to, and the scope of, the Fair Deal 2013 protections, how Fair Deal 2013 protects the future service and past service pension benefits of public sector staff, the main differences between old Fair Deal and Fair Deal 2013, employees’ rights on re-tenders of existing contracts, bulk transfers back into and continuity of pensionable service in the public service pension scheme, participation agreements, contribution rates and exit payments as well as the principles of good employment practice for new hires.

This Practice Note focuses on the Climate Change Agreement (CCA) scheme, including what the CCA scheme is, who administers the CCA scheme, the facilities covered by the CCA scheme, the available Climate Change Levy (CCL) discount, how a CCA is entered into, requirements once a CCA is entered into, how to claim relief from CCL and applicable penalties. It also covers the overlap with the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and the closure of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme. This Practice Note also links to related Brexit content.

This Practice Note outlines the requirements for compliance with the climate change levy (CCL), under the Finance Act 2000 and associated regulations, including looking at taxable supplies, taxable commodities, carbon price support, registration requirements, exemptions and consequences of evasion. This Practice Note also links to related Brexit content.

This Practice Note, produced in partnership with Shoosmiths LLP, outlines the employment issues that require consideration when setting-up, running and terminating a corporate joint venture (JV). It considers TUPE transfers, non-TUPE transfers, secondments, the harmonisation of employment terms, collective agreements and trade union recognition, pension issues and immigration issues.

This Practice Note sets out how the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme applies to different corporate structures, including groups, joint ventures, overseas parents, private finance initiatives (PFI)/public private partnerships (PPP), private equity funds, trusts and franchises. It also sets out the rules relating to disaggregation and the changes to an organisation’s structure which need to be notified, known as designated changes.

This Practice Note highlights some of the key issues under the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC Scheme) that should be borne in mind when conducting or advising on corporate transactions. These include qualification for the CRC Scheme, participant equivalents, joint and several liability, disaggregation, CRC Scheme reporting obligations, overseas parents, cash flow and accounting issues, director’s duties, issues to consider on acquisitions and disposals and designated changes occurring other than by acquisitions and disposals.

This Practice Note sets out the key things to think about when a crisis happens. It provides guidance on the first 12 hours, including assembly of a crisis team, consideration of external reporting, dealing with staff and communications management.

This Practice Note, produced in partnership with Philip Ryan and Joanne Sear of Shoosmiths LLP, provides high-level guidance on dealing with the Environment Agency, formerly known as the National Rivers Authority. It sets out the role, powers and strategy of the Environment Agency, the sorts of events that can trigger a visit, what to do in the event of a visit and also covers self-reporting.

This Practice Note, produced in partnership with Philip Ryan of Shoosmiths, provides high level guidance on dealing with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It sets out the role, powers and strategy of the HSE, the sorts of events that can trigger a visit, what to do in the event of a visit, and covers self-reporting.

This Practice Note considers exclusion clauses in insurance contracts, common exclusions, implied exclusions, perils excluded by operation of law, burden of proof, proximate cause and excluded perils, interpretation of exclusion clauses and consideration of exclusions in the Financial Conduct Authority’s business interruption test case.

This Practice Note provides an introduction to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) for commercial lawyers. It explains the origins of PCI DSS and the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), the entities to which PCI DSS applies, PCI DSS principles and requirements, steps that are required for compliance with PCI DSS, the requirements for ongoing compliance, enforcement, including card scheme fines and interaction with UK privacy and data security laws and standards. Concepts examined include PIN Transaction Security (PTS), Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS), tokenisation and shared-hosting providers. It also identifies certain key contractual protections that should be sought by merchants from the service providers.

This Practice Note explains who will own IP created during the course of employment. It then summarises the law and practice for businesses in relation to securing IP rights from employees and contractors. It also provides practical tips on the main IP and related provisions found in employment contracts and contractor agreements.

This Practice Note considers ways in which a distribution agreement can be terminated, including rights to terminate a distribution agreement under common law on notice, for breach or termination using the specific termination provisions in the distribution agreement. Guidance is provided on termination for breach of contract and how to give effective notice to terminate a distribution agreement. In addition, this Practice Note considers the types of termination rights that can be included in a written distribution agreement, what happens on termination and whether any ongoing obligations continue after termination including confidentiality undertakings and post termination restrictions.

This Precedent Crisis management panic sheet, published in collaboration with Philip Ryan of Shoosmiths LLP, gives tips on what to do in the immediate aftermath (first 12 to 24 hours) of a crisis that is not covered by another specific plan. There are separate Precedents for crisis management in relation to specific incidents like product recall, data security breach, internal investigation, dawn raids and business continuity failure.

This Precedent is a sample policy (stand alone or for inclusion in a staff handbook) regarding the employer’s use of closed circuit television (CCTV) (surveillance cameras) on its premises. The policy is drafted to reflect the Information Commissioner’s (ICO) CCTV Code of Practice and the Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s Surveillance camera code of practice (as appropriate) (not yet updated for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018). The Precedent sets out the purpose and scope of the policy, employees’ responsibilities, data transfer, reasons for CCTV use and legitimate objectives, covert recording and monitoring of staff, positioning cameras, image quality, data and image retention, who has access to images, disclosure of images to third parties (such as the police and other law enforcement agencies), subject access rights, requests to prevent processing, responsibility for CCTV systems and training, and handling complaints.

This is a precedent systems integration agreement, which is intended for use where a customer engages a supplier to deliver an integrated solution that operates within the customer’s IT environment. It covers the procurement, delivery and installation of hardware and software, the supply of development and integration services, acceptance testing, and also the provision of ancillary services such as maintenance and/or training to customer staff on how to use the solution. The agreement is drafted with a pro-customer bias, particularly in relation to warranties, indemnities, liability and termination.

This is a precedent systems integration agreement, which is intended for use where a supplier is delivering an integrated solution that operates within the customer’s IT environment. It covers the procurement, delivery and installation of hardware and software, the supply of development and integration services, acceptance testing, and also the provision of ancillary services such as maintenance and/or training to customer staff on how to use the solution. The agreement is drafted with a pro-supplier bias.