Materials, goods and workmanship The materials and workmanship used by a contractor for a construction project are of key concern for employers as, together with the design, this will determine the quality of the completed project—and whether or not the contractor has met the required standard of workmanship, and/or used materials which meet the quality standards under the contract, will often be at the centre of a dispute relating to defective works. The building contract will usually contain detailed provisions covering standards of workmanship and the types and standards of goods and materials that the employer requires the contractor to use. The technical documents appended to the building contract will usually set out most of the detail, but the main contractual terms will also often cover the employer’s requirements as to materials and workmanship. As this Practice Note considers, many of the express requirements in a building contract (or sub-contract to the main building contract) will reflect the statutory requirements as to quality and fitness for purpose, as is the case in some of the standard form

Legislation protects the pension rights of members of occupational pension schemes and other employment-related benefit schemes (such as workplace personal pension schemes to which the employer contributes) who are absent from work due to a period of statutory family leave. Periods of statutory family leave include maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, parental leave, shared parental leave, parental bereavement leave, and carer’s leave. Maternity leave • occupational pension schemes are deemed to contain a maternity equality rule which requires them to treat time when members are on maternity leave in the same way as time when they are not on maternity leave. The maternity equality rule applies to periods of paid and unpaid ordinary maternity leave (OML) and paid additional maternity leave (AML) • under the maternity equality rule, periods of OML and paid AML in a defined benefit (DB) scheme therefore count as pensionable service. More generally, while employers are required to continue paying contributions as normal during periods of OML and paid AML, the employee only pays contributions on the amount actually

Periods of statutory family leave include: • maternity leave—for further information, see Practice Note: Maternity leave • paternity leave—for further information, see Practice Note: Paternity leave and pay • adoption leave—for further information, see Practice Note: Adoption leave • parental leave—for further information, see Practice Note: Parental leave • shared parental leave—for further information, see Practice Notes: Shared parental leave (birth) and Shared parental leave (adoption), and • parental bereavement leave—for further information, see Practice Note: Parental bereavement leave and pay • bereaved partner’s paternity leave—for further information, see Practice Note: Bereaved partner’s paternity leave • neonatal care leave—for further information, see Practice Note: Neonatal care leave and pay • carer’s leave—for further information, see Practice Note: Carer’s leave Protection of pension rights during periods of statutory family leave Legislation protects the pension rights of members of occupational pension schemes and other ‘employment-related benefit schemes’ who are absent from work due to a period of statutory family leave. The treatment of members' pension rights may vary depending on the type of scheme

This Practice Note considers the right to statutory maternity leave under sections 71–75 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) and the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999 (MAPLE 1999), SI 1999/3312. An employee may also be entitled to statutory maternity pay, provided she meets certain conditions. For more information, see Practice Note: Maternity pay. Irrespective of length of service or hours of work, a pregnant employee is entitled to 52 weeks of statutory maternity leave. This is made up of three types of leave: • ordinary maternity leave (OML) • additional maternity leave (AML) • compulsory maternity leave (CML) (which forms part of ordinary maternity leave) Although all qualifying employees are entitled to both ordinary maternity leave and additional maternity leave, the two are separate (rather than one, year-long leave entitlement) because the employee’s rights and duties during each type of leave differ (ie in respect of the right to return to work after maternity leave and pension contributions during maternity leave). Maternity leave is an entitlement under EU law, introduced by Directive 92/85/EEC,

A woman's right to take maternity leave prior to and after the birth of the child. There are three types: ordinary maternity leave (lasts up to 26 weeks); additional maternity leave (starts on the day after the last day of ordinary maternity leave and lasts up to 26 weeks); and compulsory maternity leave (two to four weeks).

Employees may be entitled to various types of payment relating to pregnancy or maternity, such as: • pay during time off for antenatal care (see Pay during time off for antenatal care, below) • pay during suspension from work on maternity grounds (see Pay during suspension from work, below) • pay following removal of an agency worker on maternity grounds (see Pay following removal of agency worker on maternity grounds, below) • statutory maternity pay (see SMP—entitlement, below) • contractual maternity pay (see Contractual maternity pay) and other relevant pay • maternity allowance, payable by the Benefits Agency, with entitlement depending on the individual's previous National Insurance contributions (NICs) (see Maternity allowance, below) Apart from maternity allowance, these payments are generally made by the employer. For information: • on maternity leave generally, see Practice Note: Maternity leave • on keeping in touch (KIT) days, see Practice Note: Work during maternity or adoption leave—keeping in touch days • on the right to return to work after maternity leave, see Practice Note: The right to return to work after maternity leave

A matrimonial property regime is a marriage regime which exists whether by law or by contract. It is often impossible in most civil law countries to consider succession law in isolation from matrimonial property law. A spouse may find that in moving from one country to another, he or she may gain a double protection (retaining marital rights and gaining succession law rights) or gain neither (having no matrimonial property rights at the outset and moving to a country which grants limited or no succession law rights).

The dwelling occupied by spouses as their family home.

Law360: Matrix Chambers' human rights barrister Richard Hermer KC will serve as the UK's Attorney General (AG) in a surprise appointment from newly-elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer late on 5 July 2024.

1 Client/matter details Client/matter reference number [Insert client/matter reference number] Client/matter name [Insert client/matter name] 2 Matter closure information Date matter

Client and matter inception is an important exercise in protecting your firm, getting to know your client and what they need from you, and complying with a number of different regulatory obligations. If you are dealing with a new client, inception is a two-stage process: • stage 1—client inception • stage 2—matter inception In reality, you are likely to do both steps at the same time. For guidance on the first stage, client inception, see Practice Note: Client inception—law firms. Generally, if you are dealing with a new matter for an existing client, stage 1 will already have been completed and you can concentrate on stage 2—see section: Should you repeat the client-based checks? This Practice Note sets out what you have to do in terms of matter inception and describes processes you should follow on opening a new matter. It reflects the requirements of the SRA Standards and Regulations and covers typical considerations at the time of taking on a new client or matter, such as: • information gathering • conflicts of interest • risk management • crime

1 Introduction 1.1 This document sets out procedures for the legal team in relation to: 1.1.1 matter opening and file maintenance; 1.1.2 matter progression; 1.1.3 matter conclusion; 1.1.4 supervision; 1.1.5 instructing external lawyers; 1.1.6 conflicts of interest; and 1.1.7 confidentiality and disclosure. 2 Responsibility and application 2.1 [Insert name, department or role holder] is responsible for this document. 2.2 The policies and procedures set out in this document apply to all current and former members of the legal team (legal staff), including employees, temporary and agency workers, interns, volunteers and apprentices. 2.3 All legal staff must be familiar with this document and comply with its terms. 2.4 This document does not form part of any employee’s contract of employment and [insert organisation’s name] may supplement or amend this policy with additional policies and guidelines from time to time. Any new or modified policy will be circulated to legal staff before being adopted. 3 Matter opening and file maintenance 3.1 Maintaining legal files in a systematic and reliable manner is essential to ensure: 3.1.1 consistency of approach; 3.1.2 if required, any member of the legal team can pick up your workload easily or check the status of any matter and the actions taken to date; 3.1.3 important information