People and Workplace round-up

Welcome to our round-up of 5 minute People and Workplace updates hand-picked to help HR teams. Catch up on: Unfair dismissal: clarification on contributory conduct relations The Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has clarified how tribunals should approach reductions to compensation for contributory conduct in unfair dismissal cases and how requests for reinstatement should be dealt …
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Drawing the lines: mutuality, control, and the tax test for employment status

On 1 May 2026, the First Tier (Tax) Tribunal (“FTT”) found that, despite HMRC’s assertions to the contrary, certain referees engaged by Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (“PGMOL”) were self-employed, rather than employed, for tax purposes (see the case here). This decision is the latest (though possibly not the last) installment in a long running …
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House of Lords report on Settlement, Citizenship and Integration: key findings and policy implications

The House of Lords’ Justice and Home Affairs Committee (the ‘Committee’) released its report on Settlement, Citizenship and Integration on 23rd June. This critical report suggests that immigration policy has been too reactive and has been developed in the absence of adequate data, impact assessment, operational capacity or cross-governmental cooperation. Ultimately it opposes key proposals …
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Managing charity financial distress: key takeways from our roundtable

Following on from our March webinar on Managing Financial Difficulties, Bates Wells and FRP Advisory hosted a Financial Management Roundtable on the 10th June which explored the challenges facing charities in the current funding environment. There was a particular focus on trustee duties in distress, early warning signs of financial difficulty, and practical approaches to …
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Briefing for Charities & Social Enterprises | 23 June

Our weekly round-up of news and updates from across the sector. To help you navigate this week’s content, the links below will take you straight to content by topic. Investigations and complaints The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into St Andrew’s Healthcare.  This comes after a regulatory compliance case into concerns about safeguarding …
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Webinar | Right to Work checks are expanding: what employers need to do now | 30 June 2026

It is expected that in Autumn 2026, section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 will expand the scope of UK right to work (RTW) compliance to include various casual and zero-hours workers. Organisations could face potential fines of up to £60,000 per illegal worker unless proper checks are completed. In our …
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The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 – A refresher of the changes to UK data protection law and developments to date

What has happened so far? It has been a year since the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (“DUAA”) received Royal Assent on 19 June 2025. Now that all of the data protection provisions have come into force, with various new pieces of ICO Guidance to supplement them, we wanted to take the opportunity to give …
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Innovate for Impact: Empowering charities through technology | 2 July 2026

In July 2026, we’re bringing together senior leadership for our inaugural charity IT conference, Innovate for Impact. In this half day event, we’ll discuss how charities are using technology to transform their operations and drive impact, as well as practical ways to mitigate risks now, including cyber security and supplier disputes. Register your interest below …
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Webinar | Resolving trade mark disputes for charities | 7 July 2026

A charity’s name and brand – its identity – can be one of its most valuable assets. Someone else adopting a name or brand that’s too close to yours, or even deliberately imitating you online, can have serious consequences. Also, an allegation that you have infringed a third party’s rights can be extremely damaging. Resolving …
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Immigration update: sponsor licence compliance for faith-based organisations

Faith-based organisations play a significant role in the UK’s migration system, regularly sponsoring overseas workers to fill specialist religious roles. Although sector-specific data is not published by the UKVI, it is widely understood that many of the UK’s 140,000 sponsor licence holders are prominent faith-based organisations. However, it is a challenging time to be a …
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Briefing for Charities & Social Enterprises | 16 June

Our weekly roundup of news and updates from across the sector. To help you navigate this week’s content, the links below will take you straight to content by topic. Charity Commission New grant-making guidance We have now looked at the Charity Commission’s new guidance for charities making grants to charities and other organisations in more …
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Impact Economy momentum: Social investment, collaboration and solutions rooted in the community

With strong support from Government and stakeholders across sectors and markets all talking about the Impact Economy, it feels like we may be at a tipping point when impact can move ‘from margin to mainstream’. We felt this, for example, in the sheer scale of the Beacon Forum, which we attended earlier this year.  At …
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