The term ‘casual worker’ is not defined in employment law. It is usually taken to mean someone engaged on a casual, as required, ad hoc basis, to meet an employer’s fluctuating, short-term staffing needs. Some employers recruit individuals for casual work on what are known as ‘zero hours’ contracts. Eligibility for statutory paternity leave The right to statutory paternity leave on birth and adoption is set out in: • sections 80A–80E of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996), and • the Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations 2002 (PAL Regs 2002), SI 2002/2788 In order to be eligible for statutory paternity leave, an individual must be an ‘employee’. For these purposes, ‘employee’ means an individual who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, worked under) a contract of employment. This is

Under the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000, SI 2000/1551 (PTW Regs 2000), a part-time worker has the right not to be treated by his employer less favourably than the employer treats a comparable full-time worker: • as regards the terms of his contract; or • by being subjected to any other detriment by any act, or deliberate failure to act, of his employer The right not to be less favourably treated applies only if the treatment: • is on the ground that the worker is a part-time worker, and • is not objectively justified For further information, see our Practice Note: Part-time workers. Where the rate at which overtime is paid, or the threshold at which it begins to be paid, has a different effect on part-time workers as compared to full-timers, this will often open up the possibility of part-time workers

Possible claims against employer in respect of ill-health early retirement Possible claims against an employer in respect of ill-health early retirement may include: • breach of contract: • an employer is under a contractual duty to act in good faith as regards the possibility of early retirement under its pension scheme if it has one offering such an option. The duty means that the employer should take medical advice and form an opinion as to whether the particular employee meets the conditions for early retirement due to ill-health • the employer is also obliged under the duty of implied trust and confidence to exercise its powers to consider early retirement due to ill-health • unfair dismissal: consideration of the possibility of an ill-health early retirement before dismissing is relevant to the overall fairness of a dismissal • claims

An employer will often include in an employment contract an express right to make a payment in lieu of notice (PILON) as an alternative to giving notice, to ensure it has the option of terminating the employee's employment, and removing the employee from the workplace, immediately. A dismissal without notice in those circumstances will not be unlawful at common law and will take effect when the employer notifies the employee of the termination. For further information, see: • the section on ‘Contractual PILONs’ in Practice Note: Payment in lieu of notice (PILON) • the Drafting Notes for clause 3.10 in Precedent: Executive service agreement In the context of the statutory protection against unfair dismissal under Part X of the Employment

The right under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR 1998) is to a total of 5.6 weeks' annual leave each 'leave year', made up of: • a basic entitlement to a minimum of four weeks' annual leave (20 days for a regular full-time worker) each leave year, implementing the right to annual leave under the Working Time Directive • an additional entitlement to 1.6 weeks' annual leave (eight days for a regular full-time worker) each leave year, which is a right under domestic legislation only For further information, see Practice Note: Holiday — Statutory holiday entitlement. The right to annual leave under WTR 1998 is a right to paid leave (see below for further observations in this regard). If (which seems likely in the case of a day here and there as unpaid leave) the contract continues during those days of unpaid leave, the employee

This Q&A refers to a business to business contract for the supply (or sub-contracted supply) of goods and services. The following materials may be useful to consider and/or adapt for your purposes: Compliance with law clause It is common for supply contracts to include a Compliance with law clause. See, for example, clause 34 (and the corresponding definition of 'Law') in Precedent: Services agreement—ongoing supply (with TUPE)—pro-customer. The purpose of such a clause is to place a contractual obligation on the contracting parties to comply with applicable laws, regulations and guidelines. Such a clause is often drafted widely without reference to specific named legislation but which would, by definition, capture the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA 2018) for the UK jurisdiction and could be adapted further to cover similar legislation in overseas territories. For further guidance, see the drafting notes to Precedent: Law definition. Compliance with policies clause It is also common for supply

For the purpose of this Q&A, we have assumed that the parties are executing an agreement in physical form. There are two types of written agreement: • simple contracts, for which no particular formalities are required, however, there must be consideration • deeds, for which there is no legal definition but various formalities are required in accordance with section 1 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 Simple contracts Simple contracts must be executed by all the trustees. The manner of execution will depend on whether the trustee is an individual or a corporation. A trustee who is an individual can enter into a simple contract under signature. No witness is needed. The execution clause should state the names of the individuals and the capacity in which they are signing, ie as trustees of

Every four years we have a ‘leap year’, ie a year in which: • February has 29 days instead of 28, and • there are 366 days in the year instead of 365 The sections below outline the key issues for employers and workers to be aware of about a leap year. References to workers include employees. Pay The way in which a worker’s pay is calculated, and the frequency at which it is paid, should be set out in the contractual terms, see Practice Note: Written statements of employment particulars. Some employees receive an annual salary whereas others are paid on an hourly basis. An worker’s hourly rate of pay cannot be lower than the national living wage (NLW) or national minimum wage (NMW), as applicable. See Practice Note: National minimum wage. Whether or not a leap year will have any impact on a worker’s pay will depend upon the terms of their contract. For example: • a worker who is paid

For information on statutory sick pay (SSP) generally, see Practice Note: Sick pay. The essential qualification requirements for SSP under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (SSCBA 1992) are that: • the individual must be an employee as defined and not fall within one of the excluded categories • on any day for which SSP is paid, the employee must have a day of ‘incapacity for work’, ie a day on which they are, or are deemed to be, incapable by reason of some specific disease or bodily or mental disablement of doing work which they can reasonably be expected to do under their contract of employment • that day of incapacity for work must form part of a ‘period of incapacity for work’ (PIW), ie a period of four or more consecutive days (including Sundays and Bank holidays), each of which is a day

Under section 47B(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996), all workers have the right to bring a claim in relation to any detriment suffered because of any act or omission by their employer, done on the ground that the complainant made a protected disclosure. A worker who is no longer in the relevant job may still bring a whistleblowing complaint (ie, for post-dismissal detriment) against the employer even after the relevant contract has been terminated, provided the detriment relates to the employment relationship (eg, failure to provide a reference). See: Woodward v Abbey National and News Analysis: Claims based on retaliation after termination (News, 23 June 2006). A worker may also bring a whistleblowing complaint against their former

The issue is one which remains open to interpretation since the relevant provisions have only ever been considered once by the County Court and, even then, in a different context (see HFC Bank Ltd v Grossbard, Leeds CC, 17 November 2000 (not reported by LexisNexis®)). The question refers to a ‘CCA regulated mortgage’. Any agreement which comes within the definition of a ‘regulated mortgage contract’ cannot be regulated by the CCA, we have therefore assumed your query deals only with other secured lending under the CCA. The starting point is section 78A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA 1974). Subject to certain exceptions, it provides that a creditor must ‘inform the debtor in writing’ of interest changes under regulated agreements ‘before the variation can take effect’. No further guidance is provided as to the timescale

In theory, a landlord might have several remedies available in relation to unlawful alterations: (i) forfeiture; (ii) injunction and/or damages; and (iii) using them as a basis for challenging the right of a tenant to use the procedure under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993). Theoretically, one of these could be used to slow down, or stop, a claim for a new lease. Forfeiture Under LRHUDA 1993, the status of a claim to forfeit raised after service of a LRHUDA 1993, s 42 notice tends to favour the tenant. The service of a notice under LRHUDA 1993, s 42 operates as a type of statutory ‘contract for leasing’. And, under LRHUDA 1993, s 56, subject to issues about entitlement, the service of such a notice then obliges a landlord to grant