Adams Harrison were proud sponsors of the Bubble Rush on Sunday 29th September 2019.
The event was organised by East Anglian Children’s Hospice to raise money for this charity.
The firm had a team of all ages participating running through foam.
Big congratulations to Lily Grayson of our Haverhill office on passing her Pitmans Typing exam
It is the Equality Act 2010 that establishes the ability to bring action for unlawful discrimination. It is only in relation to a “protected characteristic” that action can be brought. The reason for the unfavourable treatment/discrimination must be due to a “protected characteristic” for the individual to be afforded protection under the act. So what is a “protected characteristic”? The Act dictates that the following are:-
Each protected characteristic has a statutory definition under the Act and therefore must be looked at carefully before unlawful discrimination can be established. Interpreting the meaning of each protected characteristic gives rise to various case law.
A recent case heard by an Employment Tribunal on 10th September 2019 (Conisbee v Crossley Farms Ltd and others) held that vegetarianism was not a “belief” qualifying for protection under the Act. Mr Conisbee alleged that he had suffered discrimination on the ground of religion or belief, his belief being vegetarianism. The Employment Tribunal held that although his belief was genuinely held and was worthy of respect in democratic society it failed to meet the other legal hurdles for protection under the Act. In their judgement the Tribunal ruled that it did not have a similar status or cogency to religious beliefs.
This decision does not have to be followed by other Tribunals in the future but is an interesting approach to what amounts to a “belief” for the purpose of the Equality Act 2010.
Who is protected? Under the Act there is a wide range of potential claimants for discrimination claims. This includes the following:-
If you consider you have suffered unlawful discrimination then please seek our advice. Do not delay. There are strict time limits for bringing a claim to an Employment Tribunal, whereby claims must be brought within three months of the date the discrimination occurred.
Jennifer Carpenter
Employment Specialist solicitor
Adams Harrison supported the recent Haverhill Schools Career Fair held at the Samuel Ward School.
Children from three different schools in the area, Samuel Ward, Castle Manor and Churchill, attended the event run throughout the day on Friday 20th September, Students were given the opportunity to find out about what opportunities there were for them in the workplace.
The Police, NHS, Army, Customs and a host of other stands were there for the students to come along and find out what is involved and what qualifications they would need to be accepted.
In the photo is Practice Manager Sue Lawton addressing a group of students. Sue and Anton Bilinski, a Chartered Legal Executive, had a lot of enquiries from students looking to go into the law. Matt Hancock the local MP for the area attended to officially open the event.
After the Fair we received the following feedback, from Glen Todd of New Anglia LEP
Thank you all for attending and supporting with the first Haverhill Careers Fair on Friday. Your participation was very much appreciated by the students and staff at Samuel Ward Academy, Castle Manor Academy and Churchill Special Free School. In all we had approximately 1500 pupils attend on the day and we received extremely positive feedback from students and teachers.
The significance of your attendance to the young people I believe can be highlighted by the below research.
“Young adults who have greater levels of contact with employers while at school are five times less likely to become not in education, employer or training (NEET) and can expect, when in full-time employment, to earn up to 18% more than peers who had no such employer engagement.” https://www.educationandemployers.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/its_who_you_meet_final_26_06_12.pdf
A prescriptive easement is a legal right enjoyed over another’s freehold property and which is obtained through long use. It is similar to adverse possession, but in this case relates to a right to use another person’s property in a particular way rather than claiming ownership of the land. The long use is combined with a belief (often a fallacy) that the right was originally granted in a deed.
More…
Chartered Legal Executive Cathy Buck. Adams Harrison Haverhill office
To get a copy of Cathy’s full article please send us a message via our contact form below.
Adams Harrison are pleased to be sponsors of the EACH Bubblerush event taking place in Saffron Walden on Sunday 29th September 2019.
If you are interested in taking part please go to the Bubblerush site https://www.each.org.uk/get-involved/events-diary/details/saffron-walden-bubble-rush-2019 to sign up.
Its provisions apply with immediate effect to all tenancies created on or after the 1st June 2019 (assured and assured shorthold tenancies including student lettings) and will apply to all other existing assured and assured shorthold tenancies from the 1st June 2020. The prohibitions apply to arrangements with a tenant, the tenant’s guarantor and a person acting on behalf of the tenant
The Act permits a landlord only to charge the tenant for the following under the terms of an assured/assured shorthold tenancy:
Landlords and letting agents cannot require tenants to make any payment that is not a permitted payment. Prohibited payments include:
Trading Standards is the enforcement authority for the prohibitions applying to landlords and letting agents and repayment obligations in relation to holding deposits. An enforcement authority can impose a financial penalty and require a landlord or letting agent to repay the tenant or relevant person any outstanding prohibited payment or holding deposit plus interest. The Act also makes provision for the tenant or relevant person to recover unlawfully charged fees from the First-tier Tribunal.
It is important to note that a section 21 notice cannot be given to recover possession of the property until the landlord has repaid any unlawfully charged fees or unlawfully retained holding deposit.
If you are unsure or require further advice on these changes and how they can affect you please contact Anton Bilinski who is able to guide you through these changes and act for you when a landlord or tenant dispute arises.
Anton Bilinski
Legal Executive
Litigation Department
