The Denbigh and Flint Show 2013

The annual Denbigh and Flint Show fall son Thursday August 15th this year at The Green in Denbigh.

Allington Hughes will maintain our regular spot at H4 and will yet again be sharing our pitch with our friends at Wright Manley.

Please come and visit our stand where refreshments will be served throughout the day accompanied by a warm welcome and casual conversation.

For more information you can visit the Festival website here: http://www.denbighandflintshow.com/

Further Employment Law Updates - 29/07/2013

Employment Tribunal Fees

From 29^th July 2013 there will be a fee for Claimants to issue claims and to have a claim heard in the Employment Tribunal.

There are two types of claim, Type A claims and Type B claims.

Type A claims are those less complex money claims e.g. breach of contract, redundancy pay, unlawful deduction of wages.

Type B claims are more complex claims e.g. unfair dismissal, discrimination, Whistle blowing.

The fees are as follows:-

FEE TYPE	ISSUE FEE	HEARING FEE	TOTAL
Type A Claims	£160	£230	£390
Type B Claims	£250	£950	£1200

Fee remission is available to those who cannot afford to pay the fees. This involves a three stage test.

1. If you are in receipt of certain benefits (Income support, working tax credits, income based Job Seekers Allowance or income related Employment & Support Allowance) then you will receive a full fee remission.
2. If you are not in receipt of any of the benefits outlined in 1 above then you may qualify for a fee remission based on the gross annual income test.  Full fee remission applies where your gross annual income is below:-

	Single	In a couple
With no children	£13,000	£18,000
1 child	£15,930	£20,930
2 children	£18,860	£23,860

The sum of £2,930 will be added to the gross amount for each additional child

3. If you do not qualify under test 1 and 2 above then you may be entitled to a partial remission of the Employment Tribunal fee which is based on your disposable monthly income

The Employment Tribunal fee or Fee Remission Form must be lodged with your Employment Tribunal Claim Form.  Original documentary evidence must be produced as evidence for fee remission purposes.  Without the necessary evidence the claim may be rejected and potentially fall out of time.

All claims in England and Wales together with the necessary payment or fee remission form will be lodged at Employment Tribunal Central Office, PO Box 10218, Leicester, LE1 8EQ

All claims in Scotland together with the necessary payment or fee remission form will be lodged at Employment Tribunals Central Office Scotland, PO Box 27105, Glasgow, G2 9JR

There is no fee for lodging a Response to a claim.

Other fees do however apply in connection with the review of default judgments (£100), counterclaims (£160), reconsideration of decisions (£100/£350) and Judicial mediation (£600)

If the Claimant is successful with his/her claim he/she will be entitled to claim the issue and hearing fee back from the Respondent.

North Wales Crusaders Win The Northern Rail Bowl 2013

North Wales Crusaders became the first team to have their name engraved on the The Northern Rail Bowl after a 42-24 victory over London Skolars on Saturday 20th of July.

The Shay Stadium in Halifax hosted over 4000 spectators who witnessed an enthralling game of Rugby League that saw the teams locked at 16-16 at the halfway stage. After the break and a few motivational words from the Coach and Captain, the Crusaders managed to rally and added another 26 points to their total which proved enough to clinch victory.

Allington Hughes enjoy a strong bond with the Crusaders, with partner of the firm Ian Edwards also being a Director and Chairman at the ever improving Rugby League outfit. The club captain, Andy Moulsdale, is also sponsored by Allington Hughes and we take great pride in getting involved as much as possible with the club at every opportunity.

There are increasing levels of support on match days from staff at Allington Hughes due to glowing reviews of fantastic atmosphere among the fans and a refreshing willingness from the Crusaders players to meet and socialise with their supporters after the matches.

A huge congratulations from everyone at Allington Hughes on the success achieved by the North Wales Crusaders this weekend, and long may it continue.

For the full match report please click here.

From Left to Right: Crusaders Coach Clive Griffiths, Crusaders Captain Andy Moulsdale, Director of Crusaders and Partner of Allington Hughes Ian Edwards.

Additional Employment Law Update

More changes in Employment Law set to be imposed on the 29^th July 2013

The 29^th July is already set to be the date where numerous regulations will be imposed or varied.  These changes were set out in our “Employment Tribunal Rules & Procedures 2013 update”

It has now been confirmed that the 29^th July will see yet more changes these being the implementation of s14 of the Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Act 2013 which will allow for pre-termination negotiations and also the re-naming of Compromise Agreements to Settlement agreements.

What this means is from the 29^th July 2013 s14 of the Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Act will allow employers to hold discussions with employees with a view to terminating their employment under a Settlement Agreement.  Pre-termination discussions could even be where there is no formal dispute between the employer and employee.  The new s14 regulation goes further therefore than the current “without prejudice” principle currently in place.

The Employee will not be able to rely on the pre-termination discussions as evidence in an unfair dismissal claim. This protection does not however apply where there is a claim for automatic unfair dismissal or discrimination claim. If “anything said or done which in the tribunal’s opinion was improper, or was connected with improper behaviour” then evidence is inadmissible only “to the extent that the tribunal considers just”.

Improper behaviour will include all forms of harassment, bullying, intimidation, violence and putting undue pressure on the employee.

For further advice on the new s14 provisions please do not hesitate to contact a member of our Employment Team on 01978 291000 in Wrexham or 01244 312166 in Chester.

Rachel Wynn Jones Joins Allington Hughes Law

Allington Hughes are pleased to announce that Rachel Wynn Jones will shortly be joining our team of specialist Family Law solicitors, based in our Wrexham office.

According to leading industry guide The Legal 500 in 2013 “Rachel Wynn Jones comes highly recommended. A collaborative lawyer and Resolution member, she is ‘pragmatic’ but also ‘an excellent advocate’ for her clients, she has a particular interest in separation/divorce involving farms and estates.”

Rachel has nearly 20 years of experience in the industry and Allington Hughes are delighted to welcome her into our team of specialist Family lawyers.

Rachel Wynn Jones will be joining the Family Law team at our Wrexham office