Introduction
The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (the “Act“) received Royal Assent on March 26, 2015 and marks the single biggest
Continue Reading Major Changes Introduced to Corporate Law by the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015
Written by Dorothé Smits and Johan Nijmeijer.
According to Eurostat, during the last decade, the population that is overweight in the European Union
Continue Reading Obesity: Grounds for Unlawful Discrimination?
The 2014 AGM (annual general meeting) season has witnessed high levels of shareholder activism, focused on the emotive issue of executive pay.
One of the
Continue Reading The Return of Shareholder Activism: The 2014 AGM Season
Written by Rob Collier-Wright
From 6 May 2014, prospective claimants will be required to enter into a mandatory four-step “early conciliation” procedure aimed at achieving
Continue Reading Mandatory early conciliation of Tribunal claims – only two months to go
Written by Rob Collier-Wright
The UK Government has announced plans this month to bring in new legislation increasing the maximum financial penalty for rogue employers
Continue Reading Government to Crack Down on Miserly Employers
The European Parliament passed a resolution to adopt, with certain amendments, the Commission’s proposal for a directive on gender balance among non-executive directors (“NEDs”) of listed companies on 20 November 2013 (the “Resolution”). The Directive would not apply to small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”).
The Resolution confirms the Article 4(1) obligation that listed companies, where the under-represented sex represents less than 40% of NED board positions, should make appointments on the basis of a comparative analysis of the qualifications of each candidate in order to obtain 40% representation by 1 January 2020 (or by 1 January 2018 for public undertakings). The Resolution obliges companies to give priority to a candidate of the under-represented sex if that candidate is equally qualified (subject to an objective assessment tilting the balance in favour of the other sex). If companies do not meet the objective by the target date, they must provide an explanation. Companies are also required to set a voluntary target for the number of executive directors.
Continue Reading European Parliament passes resolution on gender balance among non-executive directors on listed company boards
Written by Luke Dixon | Stephen C. Tupper
The UK Supreme Court (the Court) has upheld the Court of Appeal’s earlier decision that an employee of one of the defendants was not liable for misuse of the claimant’s confidential information.
This case will be of particular interest to businesses with R&D operations in the UK, as it highlights the limitations of employee contracts on protecting trade secrets once an employee has left the business. It also explores how far a claimant can allege that a defendant has been complicit in a “common design” to misuse trade secrets, when the defendant had no knowledge of the trade secrets or their misuse.
Vestergaard’s business was the development, manufacture and marketing of insecticidal bednets, which were designed to prevent the sleeper from being bitten by mosquitos, and also to reduce the mosquito population. Vestergaard had developed certain techniques to manufacture and sell long-lasting insecticidal nets, known as “LLINs”.
Continue Reading UK Trade Secrets Law – Ex-employee Bites Back in Mosquito Net Case