Pickworths

Pickworths Solicitors

55 Marlowes
Hemel Hempstead
Hertfordshire
HP1 1LE

T: 01442 261731
F: 01442 230356
E: info@pickworths.co.uk

Pickworths is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority
(Registered number: 57533)

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Protect Staff to Protect Your Firm from Third Party Harassment Claims

Emp_art_2012_2 Harassment covers various forms of behaviour, ranging from the extreme, such as assault to the less obvious i.e. jokes or banter. Often a perpetrator will believe this to be innocent fun but it’s the effect on the victim that is important. Employers need to be mindful that they can be responsible for harassment to employees by virtually anyone. This can include customers, suppliers, contractors and even members of the public.

Current rules in the 2010 Equality Act provide that employers are liable for harassment of its employees where:

A third party harasses an employee in the course of their employment
The employer failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the third party from doing so
The employer knew the employee had been harassed in the course of employment on at least two other occasions by a third party

Why don’t you have a Will?

Last year the Treasury gained £53 million from people who died intestate (without making a will). Only three out of 10 people in the UK have a will. So why are the majority of us not making a will? We looked at Lucy Townsend’s report for the BBC to see her conclusions.

In this day and age when second and even third marriages are commonplace and couples live together or have children without marrying, it is essential that you should make a will to protect your family from losing out on an inheritance and reduce the risk of financial problems. We appear to be burying our heads in the sand rather than face up to the thought of dying. Lucy believes it is our fear of dying that stops us making a will. It is some kind of bad omen.

It is true that wills are a form of legal precedent that have been used for many years and so the language used can be daunting for the average lay person, it is this along with having to think about their affairs after they have died that can prove to be too just stressful for some.

Pickworths Gain Accreditation to Law Society Conveyancing Quality Scheme

Pickworths are one of the first firms to be accepted to the Scheme. More than 800 firms have applied since the launch, with just 100 having been successfully accredited at the beginning of May.

The new Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) aims to bring credibility, integrity and efficiency to the forefront of residential property transactions, minimising the risk of fraud by sham firms and to improve as well as providing more consistent quality standards for residential conveyancing.