Flanagan & Co Solicitors

06/06/2024

EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE FROM 6 APRIL 2024
Changes to Flexible Working
All employees will have a “day one” right to request flexible working and no longer need to have a minimum of 26 weeks’ continuous service before making a request to your employer.

An Employee previously could only make one request in a 12 month period that has now been increased to allow the employee to make two requests in a 12 month period.
Employees will no longer have to explain what effect the requested change would have on the business and the Employer will have to respond to the requests within two months (instead of three months) and will not be able to refuse a request without first consulting the employee.

Paternity Leave
From 6 April 2024 Employees will be able to take statutory paternity leave in two separate, one week blocks (instead of taking only one week off, or two consecutive weeks off).
Employees will be able to take the leave at any point in the first year after birth (instead of having to take it in the first 56 days after birth).
Only 28 days’ notice of the employees intention to take the leave (instead of 15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth) is required.

Unpaid Carer’s Leave
From 6 April 2024, employees will have a “day one” right to one week of unpaid carer’s leave in any rolling 12-month period.

Employees who provide or arrange care for their dependants with long-term care needs will qualify for carer’s leave .Dependents are a child, spouse, civil partner, parent, a person living in the same household, or any person who reasonably relies on them for care.

The leave can be taken in half or full days and does not have to be taken consecutively.

Employees need to give notice of their intention to take the leave which is either twice as long as the period of leave requested, or three days (whichever is longer).

Extended Redundancy Protection
Employees on maternity leave, adoption leave or shared parental leave have extra protection from redundancy. They have the right to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy (if available), giving them priority access to redeployment opportunities above other employees facing redundancy who are not on family-related leave.

This protection has been extended as follows:

Maternity leave: Employees will be protected from pregnancy up to 18 months after the first day of the estimated week of childbirth or the exact date of birth (if the employee notifies the employer of this date before the maternity leave ends);
Adoption leave: Employees will be protected up to 18 months after the placement for adoption; and
Shared parental leave: Employees will be protected up to 18 months after birth, as long as they have taken a period of at least six consecutive weeks of shared parental leave
This extended protection will apply to pregnancies which have been disclosed on or after 6 April 2024, and any maternity, adoption and shared parental leave ending on or after 6 April 2024.

Holiday Entitlement and Pay

Employers may now “roll up” holiday pay for irregular workers and part-year workers – by applying a 12.07% uplift to a worker’s normal pay.
The accrual of holiday entitlement for irregular hours and part-year workers is calculated as 12.07% of actual hours worked in a pay period.

Payment Increases
From 1 April 2024 the national living wage increased from £10.42 to £11.44, and now applies to 21 and 22 year olds

From 7 April 2024, the statutory rates of maternity, paternity, adoption, shared-parental and parental bereavement pay increased from £172.48 to £184.03 per week or 90% of an employee’s weekly earnings (whichever is lower).
From 6 April 2024, statutory sick pay increased from £109.40 to £116.75 per week.

Employment Tribunal Compensation Limits and Vento Bands
From 6 April 2024
The cap on a statutory week’s pay will increase from £643 to £700.
The cap on statutory redundancy pay, and the maximum basic award for unfair dismissal, will increase from £19,290 to £21,000.
The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal will increase from £105,707 to £115,115 (or a year’s gross pay, whichever is lower).
Statutory guarantee pay will increase from £35 per day to £38 per day (capped at five days or £190 in any three months).

The new Vento bands, will apply to claims presented on or after 6 April 2024.

Lower band (less serious cases): £1,200 to £11,700.
Middle band (cases that do not merit an award in the upper band): £11,700 to £35,200.
Upper band (the most serious cases): £35,200 to £58,700 although the most exceptional cases can exceed £58,700.

26/03/2024

We will be closed on Good Friday 29th March 2024 and Easter Monday 1st April 2024. If any of our clients are detained by the Police over the Easter weekend we will be available for Police Station interviews.

26/02/2024

If you are detained by Police Scotland and taken to a Police Station for questioning as a suspect tell them to let us know you are being held. You are entitled to a FREE PRIVATE Telephone Consultation and we will also attend at the Police Station before you are interviewed and remain with you during the interview. this is also a FREE Service. The Police have our out of hours number and will make the call for you. Although the Police deny doing so many of our Clients advise that Police Officers tell them that if they wait for a solicitor they will be kept in custody longer. NEVER AGREE TO A POLICE INTERVIEW WITHOUT A SOLICITOR PRESENT.

You may be detained in relation to a crime punishable by imprisonment and taken to a police station for a period of up to twelve hours. After that time you must either be arrested or released. The police can detain a person for a further twelve hours in special circumstances.

FLANAGAN & CO IS HERE TO HELP

16/01/2024

Our next available appointments will be in the first week of February 2024,

22/12/2023

Please note that we are on annual leave from 22nd December 2023. and will re-open at 9am on 3rd January 2024.

On behalf of myself and my colleagues at Flanagan & Co we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

16/12/2023

FLEXIBLE WORKING
From 6 April 2024 the Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 will allow all employees the legal right to make a flexible working request from day one of their employment.

This will remove the present requirement for an employee to have been continuously employed for 26 weeks before they are entitled to make a flexible working request.

The application in writing to your employer must include:

the date
a statement that this is a statutory request
details of how the employee wants to work flexibly and when they want to start
an explanation of how they think flexible working might affect the business and how this could be dealt with, for example if they’re not at work on certain days
a statement saying if and when they’ve made a previous application

Your employer must consider flexible working requests in a ‘reasonable manner’.

They should usually make a decision within 3 months of the request (or longer if agreed with the employee) and if refusing they must provide reasons.

15/07/2023

We will be closed on Monday 17th July 2023 due to the Glasgow Fair Bank Holiday reopening Tuesday 18th July at 9am.

15/07/2023

Royal Courts of Justice - London

26/05/2023

https://chng.it/qgKFj8yv

Stop Partick Housing closing Flanagan & Co shop

02/05/2023

Flanagan & Co Solicitors (Business & Lease Department) would like to congratulate the Glasgow area winners of the 15th Scottish Curry Awards 2023 held at the Marriott Hotel Glasgow on 2 May 2023. Kitchen of the Year: Raja Rani Restaurant (Bearsden), Cafe of the Year: desi Dhabi Chaiwala (Glasgow), Outstanding Indian Restaurant of the Year: Swadish (Glasgow), Community Champions of the Year: Charcoals Indian Restaurant (Glasgow), Ali Ahmed Aslam Glasgow Restaurant of the Year: madras Cafe (Glasgow), Indian Restaurant of the Year South West: Classic India (Milngavie), Takeaway of the Year Glasgow and overall Winner: Asian Tandoori (Glasgow), Curry Restaurant of the Year South West: Cinnamon (Cambuslang). Also remember the runners up who were impressive. Ones to watch for next year are newcomer Rickshaw & Co in Partick and the New Anand in Strathbugo.

29/04/2023

GLASGOW LOW EMISSION ZONES - In just over a month driving into Glasgow City Centre may result in you receiving a fine of £60. As of the 1st June 2023 a Low Emission Zone (L*Z) will be introduced with the aim of improving air quality by reducing the number of non electric or high polluting older private vehicles entering the city centre. Exemptions are available for vehicles registered to a residential address within the zone (until 1st June 2024) blue badge holders if registered for an exemption, motorcycles, mopeds and electric vehicles are compliant with the zone and are not restricted. If you enter the zone with a vehicle that is not compliant and your vehicle is identified you will receive a £60 Penalty Charge Notice, If paid within 14 days it is lowered to £30. Further breaches will incur penalties which will be doubled although a limit will be imposed. You van go Glasgow City Council L*Z webpage and enter your vehicle registration to check if it is compliant.

12/01/2022

THE NEW TENANT GRANT HARDSHIP FUND
The Scottish Government has allocated £10m for tenants and landlords in the private and social sectors to help clear rent arrears.

The Tenant Grant Hardship Fund is aimed at supporting people directly affected financially by the Covid 19 pandemic. It covers the period between March 2020 and 9 August 2021. The Grants are non repayable and will cover up to 12 months’ rent. Applications to the scheme must be made before 31st March 2022.
It is a one-off payment and money is paid directly to the landlord,

To find out if you are eligible contact your local Council

Glasgow City Council – Housing & Regeneration Services - 0141 287 9158.