Resources

Expertise, events, news and updates –
what interests you?

Managing in a crisis: a guide for charities

We’ve sought to set out the practical steps charities can take – and points to consider – if a crisis hits. Our aim is always to help clients avoid a crisis in the first place, and our experience shows that good planning and governance are critical. However, a crisis can come from unexpected quarters – …
Read more

Bates Wells to give oral evidence to the House of Lords committee on the Charities Bill

As charities recover from the worst of the pandemic, a set of reforms that will result in estimated costs savings of £28 million over 10 years is a welcome development. A decade after the Law Commission’s Eleventh Programme of Law Reform was published, the Charities Bill is currently being examined by a House of Lords …
Read more

Beyond Covid-19: Five Key Considerations for a Post-Pandemic Workplace | 10 August 2021

We consider what the future direction of travel and best practice may be, particularly in a post-Covid context. Managing the impact of Covid-19 on the workforce has undoubtedly been the main priority for most employers in 2020.  As we transition out of lockdown during 2021, and back to some level of office-based working, there will …
Read more

Covid jab: what do you need to know from an HR perspective?

Since the announcement of the government’s Covid-19 vaccination programme, several UK employers have stated that they will be setting up systems to track which of their staff have received the vaccine. Others have gone a step further and announced that they will be amending their contracts of employment to include a requirement that their staff …
Read more

What impact will Companies House reforms have on charities and CIOs?

As BEIS proposes changes to the powers of Companies House, and company filing requirements, Bates Wells asks: are the needs of small and medium sized charitable companies being taken into account? The government has proposed a wide range of reforms to Companies House procedures – and opened three consultations on aspects of the reforms in …
Read more

Top five legal tips for rebranding

Rebranding is a big step for any organisation. We can help you to plot your course and avoid legal pitfalls. The benefits of a rebrand extend far beyond a smart new logo or colour scheme.Your rebrand could tie in with your company ethos, the tones of your communications and many other things. Our branding and …
Read more

Data protection and the challenges and pitfalls of online working

An instalment in our ongoing employment training series- join our next employment training on Relationships at Work, 16 June 11am. This webinar focused on the key and emergent issues associated with online working and new modes of communication, as well as the steps organisations can take to minimise risks.  In particular, we discussed: General trends …
Read more

Should an employer just dismiss an under-performing employee who has less than two years’ service?

Lucy McLynn and Kyle Hefford recap ten practical issues when planning to terminate an employee before they reach two years’ service One employment-related by-product of the pandemic which has not received much attention yet is that a lot of performance management and monitoring has not taken place since the start of 2020 as it would …
Read more

Statutory demands and winding-up petitions are back – but with restrictions…

We summarise the changes and what they could mean for your business. The prohibition on the use of a statutory demand as a basis for serving a winding-up petition on a company was lifted on 1 October 2021. However, until 31 March 2022, winding-up petitions cannot be presented when the debt is less than £10,000 …
Read more

Samaritans’ branch restructure

We took on a large project with Samaritans. It had around 200 branches which were all unincorporated separate charities. The trustees wanted to restructure this to allow the branches to either merge into the main charity, or to incorporate as separate but affiliated CIOs. This was to help the local trustees with the risks of …
Read more

Governance review for The Jewish Museum

The Jewish Museum has an income of around £2m a year and the trustees wanted a health check to make sure their governance arrangements were up to date, compliant and good practice. We helped them with: Modernised articles of association  incorporating good practice recommendations from the Charity Governance Code and the Accreditation Scheme for Museums. …
Read more

Does monitoring remote workers online bring out the best in them?

Electronic monitoring can carry legal risk. Last week, a BBC article on electronic monitoring of home workers by companies spotlighted some extreme cases of monitoring employees who are working from home (WFH). Some of the practices reported might be rare, but monitoring emails, screen time and keystrokes are not. One can understand the concern businesses …
Read more