Legal Advice Privilege

Legal advice privilege is a lot like gravity, most people know it exists and are glad it exists, but don't really understand it. If legal advice privilege didn't exist then whilst we wouldn't all float away into the atmosphere, it would make taking effective advice for your organisation much more difficult.

What is legal advice privilege?

Legal advice privilege (LAP) entitles you to withhold communications from an employee or court, whether that
be through a Subject Access Request or disclosure in a Tribunal.

It applies when you have confidential communications with a lawyer for the purposes of receiving legal advice. A key element of this is that LAP only applies when you take advice from lawyers, which includes solicitors, legal executives and barristers. It does not apply when you take advice from other individuals or organisations such as Human Resource Consultants.

Employee Accompaniment a Laughing Matter?

A redundancy, grievance or disciplinary process can be confusing and stressful for both employers and the individual involved. Employment law provides the employee with the right to accompaniment at related meetings by a trade union representative or work colleague to offer a degree of support. Often employees will seek accompaniment by an individual who does not fall into either category.

This is only permitted in exceptional circumstances and those refused a free choice of accompaniment often question the perceived fairness of such a restriction. However, a recent headline relating to an employee in New
Zealand goes some way towards explaining one aspect of the motivation for this restriction.

IR35 Tax Changes Due to Hit the Private Sector in 2020

As of April 2020, the Government are rolling out the off-payroll tax changes made to the public sector to medium and large sized private companies. In April 2017, the Government replaced the original IR35 legislation with new off-payroll tax affecting the public sector. The change puts the onus on the 'end user', essentially the 'hirer', for establishing whether the contractor falls inside or outside of the new IR35 off-payroll tax. If IR35 applies, the hirer, agency or other third party who pays the contractor is required to deduct tax and NICs and report to HMRC.

The legislation is designed to prevent tax avoidance.

Supreme Court Open Up Application of Whistleblowing Rights

The Supreme Court has taken a purposive approach to the interpretation of domestic employment legislation in order to comply with human rights obligations and ensure that a district judge was protected following a whistleblowing claim.

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 and Employment Rights
Act 1996 ("ERA") provides protection for workers reporting malpractices by their employers or third parties against victimisation or dismissal. In Gilham v Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court
held that a district judge could bring a whistleblowing claim under s.47B of the ERA, despite not meeting the s.230(3) ERA definition
of 'worker' (in the absence of a contract) or the s.191 ERA definition of 'Crown employment'.