THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO SCHEMES THAT WERE CONTRACTED-OUT SALARY-RELATED (COSR) SCHEMES BEFORE 6 APRIL 2016 For a scheme to contract out on a salary-related basis (also known as DB contracting-out), the sponsoring employer had to hold a contracting-out certificate in relation to that scheme. Where the scheme was a multi-employer scheme, a certificate could, in certain circumstances, be issued to the holding company, with a schedule detailing which subsidiaries are covered by the certificate. Such a certificate was known as a holding company contracting-out certificate. For more information, see Obtaining a DB contracting-out certificate before 6 April 2016 [Archived]—Types of contracting-out certificates. Over time, it might have been necessary to vary a contracting-out certificate, eg: • to amend the details of an employer covered by the certificate or the name of the scheme • to amend the categories of employment covered by the certificate • to add or remove a subsidiary from a holding company contracting-out certificate (eg as a result of a transaction or group restructuring) This

This Checklist sets out practical steps to take in your first week in a new role as an in-house lawyer. It signposts relevant Precedents you can use or adapt to help with these steps. There is a section for you to mark whether you have completed the action and also to insert comments. It should be read in conjunction with Practice Note: Finding your feet in-house—your first week. Day 1 Your first day is going to be dominated by practical matters. Start by thinking about your own needs, eg your health, safety and security, your contract, travel to the office, office access: Practical step Further details Comment/action ☐ Meet with your line manager This meeting should be fairly informal, but mention the need to set up a more structured meeting soon—perhaps in your second week with the organisation—see: New to role—meeting with your line manager—checklist.Explain that you will also be wanting to set up meetings with various key players in the organisation, eg the CFO, CEO, directors and heads of function—see: Day 2 below.Gain

This Practice Note provides guidance on the various aspects of industrial action from an employee’s perspective. It includes the employee’s right to ballot, the circumstances in which an individual employee may be liable and the potential consequences of industrial action. Industrial action is integral to the collective bargaining process. It can be initiated by employers (in the form of a lockout), or by workers through their union, usually in the form of a strike. Industrial action, or the threat of industrial action, is part of the leverage that one side exercises on the other in the negotiation to secure a deal. In this context, industrial action has been defined as workers refusing to do ‘something’ as a bargaining weapon, whether or not the ‘something’ is in breach of contract. Industrial action is also a method for resolving disputes of right, where the complaint is that the other side has broken its promise and has failed to honour the agreed deal. Industrial action often represents the final stage of an industrial dispute between an employer and workers

The Property—horizon scanner tracks key upcoming developments of interest to property lawyers. Once a development occurs, it is moved into the archive for the relevant year. This is the archive for events that occurred in 2020. Appeal cases What happened? When? Find out more Service charge certificates and set-off provisions Sara & Hossein Asset Holdings Ltd v Blacks Outdoor Retail Ltd [2020] EWCA Civ 1521 The Court of Appeal handed down judgment on Friday 13 November 2020. The case was a dispute over service charges claimed by a landlord against a tenant under two commercial leases. The landlord relied on a contractual provision which allowed it to certify the sums payable by the tenant each year, such certificate ‘in the absence of manifest or mathematical error or fraud’ to be ‘conclusive’. The Court of Appeal, reversing the Deputy Master and Deputy Judge decisions below, held that the provision meant what it said and the landlord was entitled to summary judgment on its claim. The decision is relevant to any commercial contract where one party is permitted to certify

What is a section 32 buy-out policy? A term which may be often heard within the pensions arena is that of the ‘section 32 buy-out policy’—also sometimes referred to as a section 32 policy or pension buy-out bond. It is a type of buy-out policy whose name derives from the legislation which originally applied in respect of such policies, namely section 32 of the Finance Act 1981 (FA 1981), and which has now been repealed. Section 32 buy-out policies were very popular before 1988 (ie before personal pension schemes were introduced). Like other buy-out policies, a section 32 buy-out policy is a deferred annuity contract. It is bought from an insurance company and, as the name suggests, is used to ‘buy out’ a member’s deferred benefit entitlements (including, where applicable, deferred contracted-out benefits) held under a pension scheme, so that the benefits are transferred from the scheme to be held under the policy. Section 32 buy-out policy are ‘one member’ arrangements. The policy will be distinct from the pension scheme which originally held the member’s

Once the parties have decided that mediation is appropriate for seeking to resolve their dispute, or they are parties to a contract which requires them to consider mediation in the event of a dispute, or the court has ordered the parties to consider mediation, the parties’ legal representatives will be responsible for setting up the mediation. This Practice Note considers the lawyer’s role in organising a mediation, including choosing a mediator, organising the venue, drafting the mediation agreement and deciding who will attend the mediation. For information on the parties’ obligations to consider alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and the courts’ powers with respect to ordering or encouraging the parties to consider ADR, both before and during any litigation, see Practice Note: Court powers to order or encourage ADR in civil proceedings. For information on the potential costs consequences where a party unreasonably refuses to engage in ADR or fails to comply with an order for ADR, see Practice Note: Costs consequences of refusing to consider ADR in civil proceedings. For information on the lawyer’s role in preparing

Actions against directors may come from various sources, including: • the company—a director’s statutory duties are owed to the company pursuant to section 170(1) of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) (see Practice Note: Directors' duties—nature, scope, interpretation and application and see also Fiduciary duties of directors). A director might also owe contractual duties to the company to the extent that there is a service agreement/contract in place • the company’s shareholders—if a shareholder wishes for action to be taken in respect of a director’s breach, perhaps in circumstances where the other directors have indicated a reluctance to commence a claim on behalf of the company against one of their fellow directors, the shareholder can pursue a derivative action (see Practice Note: Derivative claim—what it is and when to use it). In certain circumstances, an individual shareholder (or class of shareholders) might also separately have a claim against a director for breach of duty • the company’s creditors—when a company is insolvent, or close to

This guide sets out how e-signatures are used in various international jurisdictions. The table provides a quick-reference summary of whether e-signatures are used and in what capacity in different countries. More detailed guidance on each overseas jurisdiction covered by the table is set out in the sections below. For information on the execution of contracts in various jurisdictions, see Practice Note: Execution of contracts—jurisdictional guide. For information on execution of deeds in various jurisdictions, see Practice Note: Execution of deeds—jurisdictional guide. For information on the formation of contracts in various jurisdictions, see Practice Note: Contract formation—jurisdictional guide. For information on the execution of documents under Scots law, see Execution—Scotland—overview. Please note that this is intended as an introductory guide only and local advice from appropriate legal professionals in the relevant country should be sought where appropriate. Summary table Can documents be signed electronically in your jurisdiction, and are such signatures admissible in evidence? Are there certification authorities or other national organisations which verify the electronic signature of documents? Are

[Insert in para 8.2 of claim form ET1:] 1 The Claimant was employed by the Respondent as a [insert details of role] from [insert date] until her dismissal on [insert date]. The Respondent is [insert brief description of the nature of the Respondent]. 2 [The Claimant’s contract of employment included a notice period of [insert details, eg three months].] 3 [The Claimant did not receive a complete written statement of her employment particulars. [Insert details of non-compliance.]] 4 On [insert date], the Claimant notified her employer that: 4.1 she was pregnant; 4.2 her expected week of childbirth (EWC) was the week commencing [insert date]; and 4.3 she intended to commence her ordinary maternity leave on [insert date]. 5 Further, on [insert date], [following a request by her employer, ]the Claimant produced a certificate from her doctor stating the EWC. 6 On [insert date], the Respondent notified the Claimant that her ordinary [and additional] maternity leave period[s] would end on [insert dates]. [Insert details of the acts or omissions relied upon as detriments and the circumstances of the Claimant’s dismissal. Sample text is provided at paragraphs 7 to

There is no ‘standard’ BIM (building information modelling) protocol that is required on all projects in the UK using BIM—parties involved in construction projects where BIM is to be adopted can choose the protocol that they wish to use, it is not mandated and is simply a matter for agreement on a project by project basis. The parties may choose to use one of the published forms that are available, or may agree their own bespoke protocol (alternatively, the parties may decide to have no protocol at all, and choose to include all the BIM obligations in the contract conditions and technical documents). As the use of BIM has increased, a number of protocols have been developed by organisations seeking to bring efficiency, consistency and best practice into such protocols. None of these are yet ‘industry standard’ but this is perhaps getting closer—having a ‘standard’ would be likely to assist in terms of insurance, offer consistency and certainty over parties' duties and responsibilities and therefore the risk profile of those involved in the project. The following published forms

A lease for a term of years may contain an option for the parties or one of them to terminate the lease before the expiration of the term. This is known as a break option or clause. Many tenants will refuse to sign-up to a lease unless they are given the right to walk away early. Landlords often agree reluctantly to such a break option (often coinciding with a rent review date) in order to achieve the letting, and they hope the tenant will not exercise the option or that it will fall down on a technicality regarding timing or in respect of conditions that are attached to the exercise of the option. Who may exercise the break? If the lease is silent as to which party may exercise the break option, it may be exercised by either party, as the lease is a bilateral contract. In practice, most leases will provide whether the break is exercisable by the landlord or the tenant, or if the right is mutual to both

This Practice Note explains the circumstances in which employment tribunals may have to determine a claimant’s pension loss and the Presidential Guidance and Principles for Compensating Pension Loss in employment tribunals. It looks at different types of pension loss, the Ogden Tables, the impact of taxation, expert evidence, case management, loss of state pension, loss of pension from defined contribution schemes and loss of pension from defined benefit schemes. Pension loss will generally only arise in cases where an individual has lost their job and the pension provision that went with that job. An employment tribunal will therefore need to calculate pension loss as part of its consideration of remedy in the following types of claim: • wrongful dismissal: where an individual has been dismissed in breach of contract, ie without being given their full contractual notice or pay in lieu, damages may be awarded for the value of pension benefits that would have accrued during the notice period • unfair dismissal: as part of the compensatory award for unfair