Legal Advice

What Is the Difference Between Redundancy and Contract Termination?

Posted on June 2, 2020June 9, 2020 All 4 BlogPosted in Business, Legal Advice

As an employer, it’s extremely important to make sure that you’re familiar with common legal jargon to ensure you’re following the correct procedures and not unknowingly breaking the law. Consulting with employment lawyers is never a bad idea, as they will be able to explain everything and direct you if you’re not quite doing things right.

A lot of inexperienced employers get confused about the differences between redundancy and standard contract termination, and they make mistakes as a result. In the rest of this article, we’ve explored both of these, as well as what each one involves and what your obligations as an employer are.

What Is Redundancy?

Redundancy refers to removing a position because it’s no longer needed. In many cases, a person will lose their job when a position is made redundant, but it won’t always happen. Redundancies occur because:

A person’s job has been automated or taken over by a machine of some sort.
A company downsizes and therefore the position isn’t required anymore.
A person’s job is no longer required because the work is split between other existing positions.
A company goes bankrupt or insolvent and can’t afford to keep the employee on.

Unfortunately, redundancies are all too common in the modern world. But, the good news is that employees who are made redundant are usually entitled to a redundancy payout which, in some cases, can be quite large.

(more…)

How to Reduce the Stress of Divorce

Posted on September 10, 2018December 9, 2019 All 4 BlogPosted in Legal Advice

Few people want to go through a divorce, but in some cases it happens and there’s not much you can do about it. Most lawyers will tell you that the best way to ease the stress is to understand what your rights are. A consultation with a top family lawyer who have experience in handling divorce is the best way to achieve this.

These days, divorce is not the painful procedure it once was. No one has to prove fault to get a divorce. All you need to do is leave your spouse for 12 months and then apply for a divorce citing there is no chance the marriage can be made to work and that the two people are not likely to get back together again. You can apply for a divorce online if you have the necessary computer skills. You also need to pay the fee online.

In some cases, it is better to consult with a lawyer or legal advisor who can put the application for the divorce in for you. He may even do it online, but you’ll need to pay him the fee plus his consultation fee. Still, it can be worth it to ease your stress, especially if you have no computer or don’t have the skills or an internet connection. It is also very helpful to talk to someone about your rights, especially if there are children or financial assets involved.

It’s important to understand that an application for a divorce does not settle the above questions; children and assets. If the children are minors, it is important to ensure they will be well looked after. This may already have happened if you’ve been living apart for 12 months. Traditionally, children lived with their mother, so long as she was a fit person to care for them. These days, this is not always the case.

(more…)

How Long does a Divorce Take?

Posted on March 23, 2018November 11, 2019 All 4 BlogPosted in Family & Relationships, Legal Advice

If you are in a relationship that is very unhappy you might be considering divorce proceedings. How long will it take to get a divorce? It is not quite as simple as it may sound. A good family lawyer will tell you that you must be separated for 12 months before you can apply for a divorce. And if you’ve been married for less than two years you must go to counselling together first, unless there is a good reason that this is not possible.

When getting advice from your family lawyers, you’ll find that if your spouse is violent and abusive, you won’t need to go to counselling. Or if your spouse refuses to attend counselling, there is no way you can force the issue, so this is also a reason that counselling may be avoided.

So, the very first step to a divorce when the relationship has broken down irretrievably is to separate from your spouse. At 12 months and one day after the separation, you can put an application in to the courts to file for divorce. You will have to attend court for the divorce hearing and if it is granted on that day, the Divorce Order will be issued one month and one day after the hearing. This is only if both parties agree to the divorce. The whole process takes about four months if everything goes well.

If the other party does not agree or if there is a delay in serving with the Notice of Divorce – for instance, if he cannot be found, there will be a delay, because the divorce cannot be granted until this happens. This can delay the divorce for some months.

(more…)

How to Ensure Your Business Contracts are Fair

Posted on August 10, 2017March 26, 2020 All 4 BlogPosted in Business, Legal Advice

When you run a small business you will come across any number of standard business contracts that are essential to the day to day running of your small business. Most commercial lawyers like Rowe Bristol, that you would find on a lawyer’s list, know that in general, many of these are actually unfair to the small business because they are not drafted in favour of the larger companies that offer them.

Many standard form contracts have not been at all fair to the small business. Up until now, there was not much you could do about it, except try to have a clause put in that covered your liability, but the other party didn’t have to agree to it, so it was either sign up or lose the deal. However, that has just changed, so you don’t have to suffer under any unfair contracts any more.

However, just so that things don’t swing the other way and become unfair to those who offer the contract, unfair terms must be examined in a court of law to ensure they are truly unfair and will cause the small business undue financial or other kind of hardship if not removed. It must also be proven that removing them will not adversely affect the other company.

This particular law was passed in November 2016, even though there was another similar law in place since 2010. This particular law was passed to protect the interests of small business where standard contracts are concerned. This applies to both new contracts and renewed ones. If any contract is varied after the 12^th November 2016, the law also applies to that.

(more…)

Can Police Issue Violence Restraining Orders?

Posted on January 3, 2017March 26, 2020 All 4 BlogPosted in Legal Advice

If you are a victim of violence and the police become involved, they can make an immediate Violence Restraining Order (VRO) against the person who hurt you. This is called a Police Order and will be in effect for 72 hours, long enough for you to make your own application for a permanent VRO. Competent lawyers such as PCLB Criminal Lawyers can help you to make the application and give you a great deal of legal advice about your rights and the rights of the other person involved.

The Police Orders will prevent the person from coming near you and the places where you work and live. The police will also remove any weapons from the offender and may arrest and charge the offender. If the person is released on bail, the bail conditions that are set will also prevent the person from coming near you.

The two types of restraining orders are the VRO and a Misconduct Restraining Order (MRO) which is the chosen order when the persons involved are not in a domestic or family relationship – that is, anyone you are not related to by birth, a de facto relationship or marriage.

(more…)

Obligation of Directors in Shareholder Disputes

Posted on December 10, 2016November 11, 2019 All 4 BlogPosted in Business, Legal Advice

When you run a business, things don’t always go according to plan. Instead of the plain sailing you expected, suddenly there are shareholder disputes to settle. If you are the director you have certain obligations and the first one is the consult with a commercial lawyer such as Summers Legal to ensure you take the right road to recover. If you don’t, it is possible to lose the business altogether.

The first thing to be done is to negotiate with the other parties to try and resolve the conflict. If this doesn’t work it can be taken to mediation where a neutral party helps to facilitate the discussion so that the parties can hopefully, resolve the conflict. The mediator has no say in how the parties resolve it or in seeing that the resolution is a fair one.

Where failure to resolve once again occurs the matter then must go to arbitration. The only trouble with this is that the decision for how the resolution should come about is taken out of the director’s hands and even the shareholders will have no say. Very often the company must be wound up and everyone loses out. While the resolution is enforced legally and the judge considers his decision to be the fairest for all concerned, very often the parties are still left unsatisfied with how things were worked out.

(more…)

How to Find the Right Advice and Guidance for Your Small Business

Posted on September 18, 2016November 11, 2019 All 4 BlogPosted in Business, Legal Advice

Setting up your own small business may be a dream come true, but if you don’t want it to turn into a nightmare, it is essential to get the right kind of advice and guidance. There are many professionals who can help you from web designers and general internet business consultants, but talking with a good Perth Wills Lawyer should always be one of the first steps. In fact, it is a good idea to keep on with the same lawyers all the time so they become familiar with you and your business and can advise you quickly whenever you need it.

Apart from solicitors, who else can help you in business? Setting up a business can be a complex undertaking and you should never fly solo unless you intend to be a sole trader; even then you’ll likely need an accountant. Here is a list of people you are likely to need for advice and help.

Accountants – apart from lawyers, an accountant is the next most important person to have guiding your business. Having an accountant to do your books will save you time and many headaches. An accountant can also advise you on many financial issues from whether your business can afford to expand through to legally paying the least amount of tax possible.
Insurance advisors – having a professional insurance advisor – one who doesn’t work for any specific company – will enable you to protect your business from many risks, even those that you haven’t thought about. They can tell you just how much insurance you need as well as what kind.

(more…)

9 Benefits of a Binding Financial Agreement

Posted on July 8, 2015November 11, 2019 All 4 BlogPosted in Legal Advice

Many couples think of a Binding Financial Agreement (BFA) as a pre-nup, but it is much more than just that. Usually drawn up by a family lawyer such as Robinson Family Lawyers, a BFA can be entered into at any stage of a relationship; before, during or after a marriage or de-facto relationship is entered into. If you were wondering what benefits such an agreement has, here are some of them.

When a BFA is drawn up when a couple are still happy, either before or during a relationship, it is highly likely to contain elements that are reasonable and agreeable to both parties. So if the relationship then fails, there is no need for either party to worry about whether it is fair or just.
People these days often go through more than one relationship. It can give a previously divorced person peace of mind that they won’t lose everything should another relationship failure occur.
Although a BFA can be made at any time, making one before or during a relationship is less stressful than making one after a breakup.
It can reassure the more financially stable party that their partner is not just marrying them for their money.
A BFA can be used to lay down ground rules about finances during a relationship. It can specify who will pay specific bills and who will be responsible for certain debts, as well as defining how much and where money should be spent.
It is much more cost effective to have a BFA drawn up beforehand than to go to court for settlement afterwards.

(more…)