Want to hire non-EU workers? New laws mean the process is changing What does this mean for UK businesses seeking to employ non-EU nationals? Leading London employment lawyer Rodney Hylton-Potts explains. The changes – and their implications: Previous Tier 1 (General) visas These have been abolished and replaced by the “Tier 1 (Exceptional) Talent Visa scheme”. Only 1,000 applicants may receive these visas per year. To qualify, they must be internationally recognised as a world leader in the arts and sciences, or possess potential world-leading talent in the arts and sciences. A score of 75 points must be attained under…
The following appeared on the Guardian.co.uk’s live coverage of the News of the World closure (link here); —- Owen Bowcott has been looking into claims from the media lawyer Mark Stephens that the News of the World closure might enable a liquidator to shred a backlog of potentially incriminating emails and documents. “Why would the liquidator want to keep [the records]?” Stephens told the news service Reuters. “Minimizing liability is the liquidator’s job.” But the London insolvency practitioner Rodney Hylton-Potts dismissed the idea as legally implausible. “In a liquidation, a liquidator takes over all the books and records but that…
W v W (Minor) (Mirror Order) [2011] EWCA CIV 703 The case concerns the nature of the Mirror order, the jurisdiction of the High court to make one, and the consequential effect of one. Where a parent has a final Order affecting children abroad, and wishes to visit England/ Wales, a wise precaution is a Mirror Order obtained in England/Wales. This is an Order to confirm the regime laid down by the foreign court Order during on a visit to the UK. A parent however must take care that the child does not become habitually resident in England and Wales,…
Family Procedure Rules Came into effect on 6 April 2011 Some familiar phrases will be consigned to history, with the most notable changes being: ‘Ancillary relief’ becomes ‘financial order’; Divorce proceedings become ‘matrimonial proceedings’ A petition will simply become an ‘application’ Costs The presumption that each party pay their own costs is excluded from applications for maintenance pending suit/interim periodical payments. This should therefore mean that the losing party in such applications will be facing the risk of cost order. Applications to vary maintenance pending suit/interim periodical payments orders are not included within this exception. Mediation. Apart from certain exceptions,…
A man escaped a driving ban after being caught speeding to his critically ill son’s bedside has received no fine and no points after being clocked at 128mph. Lloyd Ansermoz was relaxing at home on a warm summer evening when the phone rang. It was the call every parent dreads: his son had collapsed and was to be rushed to hospital in a critical condition. Ansermoz left his home in Runcorn, Cheshire, jumped into his Mercedes and sped off towards a hospital in Sutton Coldfield, 60-odd miles away in the West Midlands. He would say later that he knew he…
A Court of Appeal case has made it easier for a business owner to ring fence business assets, or either spouse to ring fence inherited assets. The starting point in divorce settlements is 50/50, but this is not the finishing point. Mr Jones, who started work at the age of 15 as a marine engineering apprentice, built a career in the North Sea oil and gas industry and now lives in a castle near Aberdeen. Before the couple were married, he spent 10 years expanding a specialist gases business supplying the oil industry. At the time of their divorce proceedings…
Click here to read the full article about the divorce of Katie Price and Alex Reid. Leading London lawyer Rodney Hylton-Potts told new that Alex should expect a chunk of Jordan’s earnings. “In all divorces, the starting point is 50:50,” he said. “But that doesn’t always apply in shorter marriages, as we saw with Heather Mills -who got half what Paul McCartney earned during the four years they were together. “There’s money from magazine and TV deals, which arose because Katie met Alex. With a good lawyer, he’ll get half her net earnings after tax for the entire period they…
The Bribery Act could make it illegal to wine and dine a client at Wimbledon. No one can say for sure what will and will not be allowed Wimbledon hospitality tents may be quieter. There are 150 executive boxes at Twickenham, the home of English rugby, packed out on match days Fuelled by a roast lunch and champagne, their occupants will cheer on Martin Johnson. It could be a different story in future. New Laws could make corporate hospitality an offence. Flying in guests from overseas to the rugby or the tennis at Wimbledon might be construed as bribery. The…
The default retirement age (DRA) will be consigned to history from October 2011. Employers will no longer be able to require people to stop working at 65, purely because of their age. Employers should think of having a much older retirement age – 70 or 75. Employers would no longer be able to issue compulsory retirement notifications under the DRA procedure from 6 April 2011. Between 6 April and 1 October this year only people who were notified before the April cut-off date can be compulsory retired. From 1 October 2011 employers will only be able to operate a compulsory…
Couples who break up following a live-in relationship are paying tens of thousands of pounds in settlements to their former partners. A new phenomenon of ‘break-up payments’ is increasingly common because more and more couples are living together for several years without marrying. When a marriage collapses, a spouse is usually entitled to half the couple’s assets, but for cohabitees the legalities can be a minefield. Some people were willing to pay up to £100,000 to former partners to avoid lengthy legal action which can last up to 18 months, it said. Recent actions have involved custody of children, jointly…
