Claim form The deemed date of service for a claim form served within the UK is provided for in CPR 6.14 and it will be deemed to be served on the second business day after completion by the claimant of the relevant step for service set out in CPR 7.5(1). Note that there is some disagreement between the judiciary as to the application of the deemed date in CPR 6.14—see News Analysis on a recent decision in this area: Service of claim form—timing considerations (Brightside Group v RSM). The commentary to CPR 6.14 (Deemed service: Civil Court Practice (The Green Book) [6.14] notes that this rule ‘applies only to the claim form (as defined in CPR 6.2(c))’. A claim form will include, for example, a petition or pre-action application notice. In Hills Contractors and Construction Ltd v Struth, the judge

In answering this Q&A, we are referring to an enforcement action in the High Court. Background If you have a judgment debt for a sum of money which the judgment debtor has failed to pay, then one method of enforcement is to send in enforcement agents to take control of the judgment debtor's property and sell it. The sale proceeds can then be used to discharge the judgment debt. This method of enforcing a judgment debt replaces the old process of execution against goods pursuant to a writ of fieri facias or warrant of execution. A writ of control

Default judgment CPR 12.1 defines default judgments as judgment without trial where a defendant: • has failed to file an acknowledgment of service, or • has failed to file a defence When the court must set aside default judgment (mandatory setting aside) As explained in our Practice Note: Setting aside default judgment—mandatory grounds (CPR 13.2), if a default judgment has been obtained by the claimant, the court must set it aside if it was wrongly entered (CPR 13.2). A judgment will be wrongly entered if: • it was a judgment in default of acknowledgment and any of the conditions in CPR 12.3(1) and CPR 12.3(3) were not satisfied • if it was a judgment in default of defence and any of the conditions set out in CPR 12.3(2) and CPR 12.3(3) were not satisfied • the

Mobile Homes Act The legal framework in England and Wales relating to park or mobile homes is contained in the Mobile Homes Act 1983 (MoHA 1983) as amended, most recently, by the Mobile Homes Act 2013. 'Mobile home' is statutorily defined as meaning any structure designed or adapted for human habitation which is capable of being moved from one place to another, whether by being towed, or by being transported on a motor vehicle or trailer, and any motor vehicle so designed or adapted, but does not include: • any railway rolling stock which is for the time being on rails forming part of a railway system

Substantial performance It is the duty of the purchaser of UK land to notify HMRC about notifiable land transactions within 30 days after the effective date of the land transaction in question. The effective date is either the date of completion or, if earlier, the date of substantial performance (section 44 of the Finance Act 2003 (FA 2003)). A contract is substantially performed when: • the purchaser (or a person connected with the purchaser) takes possession of the whole, or substantially the whole, of the subject matter

This Q&A considers whether the settlement agreement might be frustrated, and whether it could be argued that the employee lacked capacity. Frustration A contract will only be frustrated if an unforeseen event occurs after the contract is formed and: • as a result of that event, the contract becomes impossible to perform and/or the obligations under the contract are transformed into something radically different • the contract does not contain a clause intended to deal with the unforeseen

The amount of holiday that an employee (or worker) is entitled to is governed by the terms of their contract, subject to a statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks’ holiday (28 days for a worker working five days a week). An employee is entitled to be paid at the rate of a week’s pay in respect of each week of holiday. Holiday entitlement may start at the beginning of the holiday year (which will depend on the employee’s contract but may be the calendar year, their commencement date or some other period) or, if the employer has adopted an accrual scheme under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR 1998), SI 1998/1833, may accrue over the course of a year. These provisions

A service level agreement (SLA) is usually used where a company or individual is to provide some form of IT, telephone or similar support service. Ordinarily, a company provides those services through employees who are based either at its own premises or those of the customer. In the ordinary course of events, the customer will not require service out of its usual office hours and accordingly accommodation is not available for those who provide the support. The agreement will however, likely give express permission for individuals to enter the customer’s premises for the purposes of providing the service. If such permission is not expressly given, it will likely be implied so as to give the agreement commercial viability. In the present case, it appears to be envisaged that the people

A respondent may apply for an extension of the normal 28-day period, within which the ET3 response must be presented. Such an application must be: • presented to the tribunal in writing, and • copied to the claimant(s) For further information, see Practice Note: Responding to a claim in the employment tribunal—Extension of time for presenting response. If an ET3 response is presented late, it will be rejected, unless: • at the point that the ET3 is received

All employees are, with certain exceptions, entitled to receive statutory sick pay (SSP) from their employers. For further information, see Practice Note: Sick pay. There are certain exclusions to this right (see: Sick pay—SSP—excluded categories) but, importantly in this context, there is no minimum service requirement to become eligible for SSP. Because there is no minimum service requirement to become eligible for SSP, the issue of the amount of continuous service which the employee has is irrelevant for the purposes of SSP entitlement and, by extension, the issue of whether or not continuity is preserved on the change of employer is similarly irrelevant. Furthermore, the provisions in sections 210–219 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, which determine continuity of employment ‘for the purpose of employment rights under the Employment Rights Act’ (see Practice Note: Continuity of employment), have no application in the context of eligibility

A worker is entitled to a redundancy payment when: • he is an employee • he has been continuously employed for not less than two years • he has been dismissed, and • the dismissal was by reason of redundancy For the purposes of entitlement to a redundancy payment, dismissal means any situation where: • the employer terminates the contract, with or without notice • a limited term contract comes to an end and is not renewed • an employee is entitled to terminate the contract with or without notice by reason of the employer’s conduct, and does so (except by reason of a lock out) • notice is given by the employer and the employee subsequently gives notice in writing to terminate the contract before the end of the notice period • an act on the part of the employer operates to terminate the contract, and • an event affecting an employer

For information on changing terms and conditions of employment generally, see Practice Note: Changing terms and conditions of employment. Under section 145B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULR(C)A 1992), it is unlawful for an employer to make an offer to a worker who is a member of an independent trade union which is recognised, or seeking to be recognised, by that employer, where the employer's sole or main purpose is that workers' terms of employment, or any of those terms, will not (or will no longer) be determined by collective agreement negotiated by or on behalf of