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26 May 2011 / Felicia Epstein
Issue: 7467 / Categories: Features , Terms&conditions , Employment
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All in good faith

When does an employee owe fiduciary duties, asks Felicia Epstein

It has become common, in the employment context, to assert the existence of a duty of fidelity distinct from fiduciary duties. As Robert Flannigan pointed out in his article “The [Fiduciary] Duty of Fidelity” ((2008) 124 LQR 274), the duty of fidelity is an invention and “faith, good faith, fidelity and loyalty arguably are too closely associated with conventional fiduciary responsibility to serve usefully as sharp descriptors of other functions”. Perhaps for this reason, it is difficult to distinguish between an employee’s duty of fidelity and any fiduciary duties they may owe. It has been commonly stated that all employees are subject to a duty of fidelity but only those in a position with specific powers and responsibilities have fiduciary duties that would include reporting their own misconduct or that of fellow employees.

Global Risks

In Lonmar Global Risks Ltd v West and others [2011] IRLR 138 the claimant sued Tyser Limited, a competitor in the international intermediary brokering market, and

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Fresh guidance is set to influence how courts decide whether hearings take place online or in person
County Court judges remain divided over whether landlords can lawfully force entry to carry out essential safety inspections after tenants ignore access injunctions
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