Under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996), one of the requirements which must be satisfied in order for an existing employee to achieve employee shareholder status is that the relevant individual must give up certain statutory rights, in particular:  • the right to bring a tribunal claim for unfair dismissal (unless the dismissal is automatically unfair or is a contravention of the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) and/or is by reason of a health and safety requirement or recommendation) • the right to receive statutory redundancy pay • the right to request flexible working (other than in a specified period

Where an employee has taken a career break, the respective rights and obligations of the parties in relation to the terms on which such break is taken, and the terms on which the employee will return to work, will generally depend on what was agreed. See, for example, Precedents: • Policy—career breaks (contract terminates) • Policy—sabbaticals (contract continues) Key issues for consideration include: • the status of the contract of employment during the break • whether continuity of employment is preserved during the break, or broken by the break • the statutory or contractual rights the employee may have during the break • the basis on which the employee is to

The term ‘contract management’ strictly refers to the period after a contract has been executed and taken effect. Thus, it entails working to ensure that the terms and conditions contained within the contract are adhered to and that all of a party’s contractual obligations are met satisfactorily.

The ‘pooling requirement’ applies to buyers of second-hand fixtures where the seller (or the most recent previous owner that owned the fixtures for a period ending on or after April 2014) was entitled to claim allowances but has not done so. Where this applies, the buyer will only be able to claim allowances on the fixtures after the sale if they can persuade the seller (or any relevant previous owner) to pool the expenditure on the fixtures: effectively, go through most of the motions of claiming an allowance, including notifying HMRC in a tax return, but without actually making a claim. Clause 5 of Precedent:

You may wish to consider: • the duty of fidelity and confidential information • the effect of the doctrine of restraint of trade • the possible impact on the question of employee status Duty of fidelity and confidential information An individual who is not an employee will not owe a duty of fidelity to the employer, and therefore will not be subject to the duty: • not to work in competition during the employment (or engagement) • not to misuse confidential information during the employment (or engagement) • not to misuse trade secrets after termination of the employment (or engagement) Information which may come to the knowledge of an employee or worker during employment or engagement may be divided into the following four categories (largely derived from Faccenda Chicken v Fowler): • information that is largely incidental to the employer's business interests and/or is readily available from public sources (category one) • information

The changes to the consumer credit framework The position with secured lending has been significantly complicated by the UK’s implementation of Directive 2014/17/EU, the EU Mortgage Credit Directive (MCD), on 21 March 2016. Before the MCD was implemented, the UK broadly had two regimes: a regulated mortgage contract regime and a regulated credit agreement regime. The regulated mortgage contract regime was (in broad terms) limited to lending secured on the borrower’s home by a first legal charge. The two regimes were, and are, mutually exclusive. But to implement the MCD, HM Treasury made the Mortgage Credit Directive Order 2015 (MCDO 2015), SI 2015/910, and made changes to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (RAO 2001), SI 2001/544. MCDO 2015, SI 2015/910 effectively transferred the majority of regulated credit agreements secured on land (so long as they fell into the definition

During the notice period, the employee remains subject, and entitled, to the terms of his employment contract; he is entitled to work out his notice and to be paid—see Practice Note: Contractual notice. It may be possible for the employer and employee to agree to a shorter notice period; if, for example, a one-week notice period is agreed, the employer will only need to pay the employee for that one week. The employer may also wish to consider: • whether the employee has any accrued but

A CIF (cost, insurance and freight) contract is a contract of sale of goods by shipment where the seller pays for the cost of transport and insurance of the goods to the destination and the legal delivery is when the goods cross the ship's rail in the port of shipment.

Usually the identity of the employer will be evident from the terms of the contract itself. However, this might not always be the case. Where, for example, it is alleged that the terms of the written contract do not represent the actual terms agreed, or where the identity of the employing entity has subsequently changed, it can be unclear who the employer is. Equally, where there is no written contract of employment at all, it may not be immediately apparent who the employing entity is where there is a complex corporate group structure involved. Where it is alleged that the written contract does not represent the actual terms agreed In contrast to commercial contracts made between parties of equal bargaining power, the Supreme Court has recognised, in Autoclenz

This Practice Note examines how to prepare and, where necessary, amend the NEC contracts. The NEC contracts operate very differently to other standard forms of contract and therefore there are a number of things which users should consider when preparing a form of NEC contract for use on a project. While JCT contracts are generally used for works related to buildings (either constructing new or refurbishing/repairing existing buildings), NEC contracts are used most often on infrastructure projects (having been endorsed by the UK government which recommends them for use on all public sector projects). Particular examples of projects that the NEC contract has been used on are the procurement of venues and infrastructure for the London 2012 Olympic Games, for the Thames Tideway and Crossrail projects in London, the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station and the construction of High Speed 2. Unlike other standard forms of contract, the NEC contracts do not ascribe to a particular procurement method (such as design and build or traditional) but instead are intended to be flexible and

This Checklist sets out the main issues to consider when drafting term and termination clauses in a commercial contract. For more information on the duration and termination of commercial contracts generally, see: • Practice Note: Drafting term and termination clauses—commercial contracts and • Contract termination—overview General drafting points The common law has evolved a number of principles relating to the duration and termination of contracts. For example, the courts may imply that a contract that is silent as to duration may be terminated on reasonable notice. Parties may also be able to terminate a contract on the grounds of repudiatory breach in some circumstances. However, it is always preferable to include express provisions for duration and termination to provide certainty for the parties, rather than relying on the common law. Where a contract does not include express termination rights it may not be clear whether a particular breach entitles the innocent party to terminate the agreement. A termination clause allows the parties to tailor

This Practice Note looks at how variations are dealt with under the main forms of JCT contract. For a wider discussion on variations, including reference to relevant case law, see Practice Note: What is a variation on a construction project? This Practice Note looks at the JCT Design and Build Contract (DB) and JCT Standard Building Contract (SBC) (the With Quantities version). This Practice Note covers the 2024 editions of those contracts. If there is any difference in clause numbering between the editions this is highlighted, otherwise the clause references are the same in both editions. See also News Analyses: JCT 2024 Standard Building Contracts and Sub-Contracts released and The JCT Design and Build Contract 2024—what’s changed? For details of how variations are dealt with under NEC contracts, see Practice Note: NEC contracts—variations. In relation to the FIDIC contracts, see Practice Notes: FIDIC contracts 2017—variations and FIDIC contracts (pre-2017 editions)—variations. What constitutes a Variation (or Change) under JCT contracts? After entering into a JCT contract, the Employer may instruct a variation for many reasons, eg where the Employer decides