Employment Contracts: The science of changing terms and conditions

A recent case highlights the importance of following proper procedures when amending employees’ contracts, writes Michael Ryley ‘The museum would not have had a problem in the first place had its HR managers chased down the employee to deliver written acceptance: the problem arose from a failure of the administrative process and the lack of …
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Duty Of Good Faith: Engendering ‘reasonable expectations’

Employers must be wary how they communicate their intentions to the workforce in light of a recent ruling, warn Annabel Gillham and Jemima Coleman ‘IBM could have wide ramifications in the employment context as it could give rise to a more general fetter on an employer’s ability to take action.’ Employers engaging in consultation with …
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Restrictive Covenants: Make sure contracts are signed, sealed, delivered

Alice Giner examines the implications of two recent High Court cases on whether employers could rely on business protection provisions in contracts that had not been updated properly The High Court held, reaffirming the existing law, that the reasonableness of the restriction should be established based on the circumstances at the time at which the …
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Bonuses: Be careful what you draft for

Charles Wynn-Evans reports on some recent decisions that demonstrate the need for care in drawing up explicit bonus provisions The Court of Appeal decision in Commerzbank Ag v Keen [2006] made it more difficult to challenge employers’ power to award discretionary bonuses. It was held in that decision that to argue successfully that a discretionary …
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