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Furlough Scheme Extension & ChangesThe Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will continue until 31st October. From 1st July, furloughed employees will be able to work part-time whilst still remaining furloughed and employers will be responsible for paying their wages for periods that they have worked. The government will continue to make furlough payments in respect of any part of their normal hours that a furloughed employee has ... Read More
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Statutory Demands & Winding Up Petitions During the Pandemic.The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill 2020 has been introduced to help struggling businesses by temporarily removing the threat of winding up proceedings where the debtor can argue that the unpaid debt is ... Read More
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Suspension of Wrongful Trading Liability for a Company Director.Wrongful trading occurs when a director of a company has continued to trade a company past the point when he "knew, or ought to have concluded that there was no reasonable prospect of avoiding ... Read More
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Company Law Changes - COVID-19The Government has recognised the difficulties that many companies face in the present crisis, where they have a legal obligation to hold Annual General Meetings (AGMs) and other meetings such as Member/Shareholder meetings. The requirement to meet conflicts with the present Government's social ... Read More
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Possession Proceedings UpdateAs of 25 June 2020, Part 55 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR) are amended to insert a new, temporary rule which provides that possession proceedings and enforcement proceedings by way of a writ, or a warrant for possession, are stayed until 23rd August 2020. The new rule, CPR 55.29 will apply to proceedings that were ... Read More
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COVID-19 - Update on Changes to Road Transport RulesThe validity of DQCs that expire between 1st February 2020 and 31st August 2020 has been extended for 7 months. If the expiry date on your card is within this period, you need to add 7 months to that date to calculate the new expiry date. The extension will be applied automatically. You do not need to ... Read More
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COVID-19 - Statutory Directions UpdatedThe Traffic Commissioners have updated their coronavirus (COVID-19) advice for transport operators. The update, issued on 23rd June, details changes to legal issues including: an increase to the maximum time given for a period of grace for financial standing an operator can receive from ... Read More
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COVID-19 - Economic Impact on the Transport IndustriesIn a letter addressed to Secretary General of the United Nations, the Secretary General of the IRU, raised issues regarding the economic impact of COVID-19 that poses a big risk to primarily small and medium-sized enterprises. First focusing on the facts and figures of the economic impact, the letter mentions that according ... Read More
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COVID-19 - Safer Transport Guidance for OperatorsWith UK lockdown measures being slowly and carefully eased, it's vital that everyone, particularly those who will be coming into contact with other people, remain vigilant, follow social distancing measures, and the specific guidance that is set out to them by their employers and industry ... Read More
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Employment Video Conferencing Advice Line for DyneProtect ClientsIn these troubling times, do you understand your rights as an employer if you need to downsize your business? Employment is a complex area of law that is process-driven. If procedures are not followed, then the situation can be costly and difficult to unravel ... Read More
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Access to Welfare Facilities is a Must for DriversThe Traffic Commissioners are aware of several incidents in which drivers have been refused access to hand washing and toilet facilities when making deliveries. Even more shockingly, on occasion, this has involved operators refusing access to other operators ... Read More
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COVID-19 and VOR - Timely Reminder!As a result in the downturn caused by the COVID-19 lockdown, many operators may have parked up vehicles under ‘VOR’. We have it on good authority that once everything gets back to normal the DVSA will be looking at PMI records and checking to see whether first use checks were in place before vehicles being returned to service ... Read More
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Online OLAT & Driver CPC CoursesDespite being Furloughed, drivers still need to stay up to date with their CPC training. Nobody wants a repeat of August 2019 where drivers ran out of time to complete their 35 hours. Now is an ideal opportunity to get ahead of the game ... Read More
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Coronavirus
The current rapidly changing situation in relation to Coronavirus (COVID-19) poses many difficult issues for businesses in terms of maintaining financial viability and organising their affairs to best deal with extremely difficult challenges. The Government is rolling out initiatives to support business and you will need to keep an eye out for announcements and check to see how these apply to your business. The devil is in the detail so don’t just rely on the headline-grabbing announcements and assume you are covered or you have carte blanche to do as you like - you need to check the details and seek professional advice if in any doubt. There has been a relaxation of rules for drivers hours but please check the details on the Government Website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/temporary-relaxation-of-the-enforcement-of-the-drivers-hours-rules-all-sectors-carriage-of-goods-by-road/temporary-relaxation-of-the-enforcement-of-the-eu-and-gb-drivers-hours-rules-all-sectors-carriage-of-goods-by-road
Employers have obligations to ensure the health and safety of their workforce and others who may be affected by their operations. Risk assessments should be carried out for the protection of staff and visitors and reviewed in light of changing guidance relating to COVID-19. As you will be aware the Government has announced an effective lockdown requiring people to stay at home and to only leave home for limited purposes including travelling to and from work (if you can’t work at home). Careful consideration will need to be given to whether you can organise admin staff to work at home. This was the situation at the time of going to press so please keep a lookout for further announcements in case restrictions tighten.
You may wish to impose remote working to protect the workforce but will need to ascertain whether they have a contractual right to require the employee to work flexibly. If not contracts, of course, can be changed by mutual agreement and most employees are likely to want to work flexibly (i.e. from home in line with the new rules). An individual who is not ill but who is self-isolating can be requested to work from home and paid as usual. Employees may also wish to use remote working to limit their risk of infection or where they need to self-isolate. Employers should now permit staff to work remotely and stay at home in line with Government rules, however, remote working may not be feasible in all situations.
New rules to allow for payment of statutory sick pay for those who “self-isolate” came into force as from 13 March 2020. The requirement is that the person claiming SSP is “isolating themselves from other people in such a manner as to prevent infection or contamination with coronavirus disease, in accordance with the guidance published by Public Health England, NHS National Services Scotland or Public Health Wales”. The other requirement is that they are “by reason of that isolation... unable to work”. SSP will payable from the first day that an employee meeting the above conditions is absent from work in order to self-isolate.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/temporary-relaxation-of-the-enforcement-of-the-drivers-hours-rules-all-sectors-carriage-of-goods-by-road/temporary-relaxation-of-the-enforcement-of-the-eu-and-gb-drivers-hours-rules-all-sectors-carriage-of-goods-by-road
Employers have obligations to ensure the health and safety of their workforce and others who may be affected by their operations. Risk assessments should be carried out for the protection of staff and visitors and reviewed in light of changing guidance relating to COVID-19. As you will be aware the Government has announced an effective lockdown requiring people to stay at home and to only leave home for limited purposes including travelling to and from work (if you can’t work at home). Careful consideration will need to be given to whether you can organise admin staff to work at home. This was the situation at the time of going to press so please keep a lookout for further announcements in case restrictions tighten.
You may wish to impose remote working to protect the workforce but will need to ascertain whether they have a contractual right to require the employee to work flexibly. If not contracts, of course, can be changed by mutual agreement and most employees are likely to want to work flexibly (i.e. from home in line with the new rules). An individual who is not ill but who is self-isolating can be requested to work from home and paid as usual. Employees may also wish to use remote working to limit their risk of infection or where they need to self-isolate. Employers should now permit staff to work remotely and stay at home in line with Government rules, however, remote working may not be feasible in all situations.
New rules to allow for payment of statutory sick pay for those who “self-isolate” came into force as from 13 March 2020. The requirement is that the person claiming SSP is “isolating themselves from other people in such a manner as to prevent infection or contamination with coronavirus disease, in accordance with the guidance published by Public Health England, NHS National Services Scotland or Public Health Wales”. The other requirement is that they are “by reason of that isolation... unable to work”. SSP will payable from the first day that an employee meeting the above conditions is absent from work in order to self-isolate.
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COVID-19 - Heavy Vehicle Testing SuspendedOn 20th March 2020, the DVSA released a statement regarding the suspension of heavy vehicle testing as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The statement read: Because of the COVID-19 pandemic we’ve taken the decision to ...
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COVID-19 - Consider Your Employee SafetyAt Dyne Solicitors Limited, we have always advocated that the best evidence of a contract is a signed one. We now ask that you reconsider your practices. Government advice is to stay two metres away from anyone else and not to touch surfaces that could be contaminated, then accordingly using pen and paper has now become a concern. ...
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Response to COVID-19 Advice for OperatorsOn 20th March 2020, the OTC released advice for operators as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The full guidance can be found on the government website. A summary is set out below: Can I temporarily operate more vehicles than authorised to meet an urgent public demand? ...
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All Drivers Must Have Access to Welfare Facilities in the Premises They Visit as Part of Their Work.We are hearing reports that some drivers are not being allowed to use welfare facilities when they deliver. Preventing access is against the law, and equally, it's not the sensible thing to do. ...
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Bank of England - Base Rate Reduction
For all of our clients who use the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 or indeed any late payment calculation relying on Bank of England base rate, please note that as of 19th March 2020, the Bank of England has reduced base rate to 0.1%.
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Temporary and Limited Relaxation of Drivers' Hours RulesThe Department for Transport (DfT) have today announced that there will be a temporary and limited relaxation of the enforcement of drivers' hours rules in England, Scotland and Wales for the drivers of vehicles involved in the delivery of ...
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The Importance of Knowing Your ClientIt is sad to say it, but now is the time when all our clients must think about protecting their business. Now more than ever, you must truly know your clients. To many it seems obvious. Of course, you know your client. Say for example, your client is Mr. Smith. You speak with Mr. Smith daily. He orders ...
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Successful Transport Claim - Dyne Customer SuccessAs we enter dark times, the efficient running of your business becomes of even greater importance. Here at Dyne Solicitors Limited, we regularly see satisfactory quality issues with plant supplied. Difficulties with equipment have a negative impact on your business, both in a practical sense and in terms of management time spent. ...
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Senior Traffic Commissioner's COVID-19 ResponseOn 17th March 2020, the Senior Traffic Commissioner issued a Statutory Document setting out the approach that traffic commissioners will adopt in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Great Britain. ...
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