Where property is held on a beneficial joint tenancy and one beneficial co-owner dies, the property passes by survivorship to the surviving joint tenant rather than under the deceased’s Will or intestacy. A joint tenant in equity may convert a joint tenancy into a tenancy in common, which is known as ‘severance’. Section 36(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925 (LPA 1925) refers to the right to sever a joint tenancy in an equitable interest by notice in writing, where the legal estate is not settled land. An interest

Where an employer asks an applicant or prospective employee questions about their criminal record, or carries out a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, the employer will be processing personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For further information on asking questions and carrying out DBS checks generally, see Practice Note: Criminal records—asking questions and DBS checks. References to personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures include personal data relating to: • the alleged commission of offences by the data subject, or • proceedings for an offence committed or alleged to have been committed by the data subject or the disposal

The mechanism for the recoupment of benefits, as set out in the Employment Protection (Recoupment of Jobseeker's Allowance and Income Support) Regulations 1996 (Recoupment Regs 1996), SI 1996/2349, is dealt with in Practice Note: Recouping benefits from employment tribunal awards. The ‘prescribed element’ is that part of the monetary award which is attributable to loss of wages or arrears of pay, or to the amounts found due to the employee, for a period before the conclusion of the tribunal proceedings The prescribed element is stayed until the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) serves a recoupment notice on the employer (or notifies the employer in writing that it does not intend to serve such a notice), and the regulations refer to

Where a tribunal makes an award of compensation for unfair dismissal or one of a number of other awards, and the claimant has received jobseeker's allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, universal credit and/or income support during the period before the conclusion of the tribunal proceedings, the award is generally subject to recoupment. In effect, recoupment involves the respondent deducting from the prescribed element of any monetary award the sum the claimant has received in respect of relevant benefits up to the date of the tribunal award and then paying that sum back to the government rather than to the claimant. The mechanism for the recoupment of benefits is set out in the Employment Protection (Recoupment of Jobseeker's Allowance and

Whether a judge is able to reverse a decision after handing down judgment but before any order has been perfected has been the subject of much debate. It has been the case for some time that the court does have such a power, and until 1972 there was no real limit as to the circumstances in which this could be done. The position appeared to simply be that a judge had jurisdiction to reverse a decision until their order was perfected, however once the order was perfected it could not be amended. In Re Barrell Enterprises, it was noted that once a judgment has been delivered orally or by handing down, this could be altered any time before giving effect to the judgment has been perfected.

The Practice Note: Right to work checks: when and why in the section ‘The initial check’ states that, in order for an employer to obtain a statutory excuse against a civil penalty for employing an illegal worker: ‘The initial check is required for all individuals who take up an offer of employment or apprenticeship. It must be made before the period of employment begins. If not, the check will be invalid, and a statutory excuse will not be available at any point during the employment. References: Immigration (Restrictions on Employment) Order 2007, SI 2007/3290, art 5 For example, where the check is not conducted until a few days

A fair redundancy procedure comprises a number of stages: • warning and consultation • fair basis for selection • consideration of alternative employment • opportunity to appeal Once the employer has provisionally selected employees for redundancy, the employer should take reasonable steps to find those employees alternative employment within the organisation (or the group, if it is part of a group) and should consult with them about it. This is separate from the scheme in section 141 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996), by which, if an employee turns down an offer of suitable alternative employment, they will lose their entitlement to the statutory redundancy payment. See Practice Note: Suitable alternative employment. Where it is clear that there will be alternative

Under sections 71(5) and 73(5) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) and the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999 (MAPLE 1999), SI 1999/3312, reg 9, an employee who takes ordinary or additional maternity leave is entitled to the benefit of all the terms and conditions of employment that would have applied had she not been absent, except 'terms and conditions about remuneration'. When determining whether an additional payment for additional duties continues to be payable during maternity leave, the key question

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSW Regs 1999), SI 1999/3242, reg 16 breaks an employer’s duty into two separate obligations: • one which occurs prior to notification by an individual employee that they are pregnant, have given birth within the previous six months or are breastfeeding, and • the other which is engaged after that notification has been given These comprise: • a general duty on employers to carry out a general risk assessment where they employ women of child-bearing age, in respect of processes, working conditions, or physical, biological or chemical agents which could present risks to the health and safety of a new or expectant mother, or to that of her baby • a specific duty in respect of an individual employee who notifies of her pregnancy, recent child-birth or that she is breastfeeding, and whose work gives

Under the Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction (England and Wales) Order 1994 (the Order), SI 1994/1623, a respondent employer is entitled to make a contract claim (ie a contractual counterclaim) against a claimant if, and only if, that claimant has included a contract claim in their ET1 claim form which has been served on that respondent. The respondent employer is not permitted to make such a contractual counterclaim in response to an ET1 which does not include a contract claim (ET Rules, r 23, set out in the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013, SI 2013/1237, Sch 1). For

This Q&A assumes that A is a consumer and not a business. Who to sue? In this Q&A the brokerage acts as B’s agent. A principal (here B) is normally liable for all acts of an agent within the agent's authority, whether responsibility arises in contract or in tort. Authority means the agent's actual, apparent or usual authority. Usually therefore, a third party will be able to sue the principal, ie in this scenario A to sue B. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, where the agent acts outside authority and the principal does not ratify the agent's acts, the principal is not bound. The

Consideration of alternative employment on a redundancy is relevant to: • the fairness of the redundancy procedure—see Practice Note: Redundancy—fair procedure: individual consultation, in particular the sections headed Fairness of redundancy dismissal and Consider and consult on alternative employment • whether a statutory redundancy payment is payable—see Practice Notes: ◦ Entitlement to statutory redundancy payment ◦ Renewal of contract, re-engagement and trial periods ◦ Suitable alternative employment, and ◦ Unreasonable refusal of alternative employment Where an employee is offered his old job back or offered another job (with the same employer or an associated employer) and he restarts employment within four weeks