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NLJ this week: Practical steps for employers on ‘failure to prevent…’

18 April 2025
Issue: 8113 / Categories: Legal News , Regulatory , Commercial , Employment , Fraud , Governance , Harassment
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The dizzying array of regulatory requirements facing UK businesses is about to increase, with new ‘failure to prevent fraud’ duties in force in September and the proposed duty to prevent sexual harassment. In this week’s NLJ, Kerry Garcia, partner and head of employment, immigration & pensions, and James Evison, partner, at Stevens & Bolton, offer some practical steps for employers.

Garcia and Evison note that the incoming duties (bearing in mind the duty to prevent sexual harassment is currently a provision in the Employment Rights Bill) ‘signify a major shift in corporate governance’. They build on existing duties to prevent bribery, tax evasion and illegal working, and come amid increasing willingness on the part of the government to crack down on non-compliance.

The authors write: ‘Achieving these laudable aims through new regulatory measures and increased compliance action will place additional burdens on business—even those with a good track record on these issues. There is a clear tension between the government’s aim of driving behavioural change for businesses and, at the same time, its hope that those businesses will generate UK economic growth.’

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Firm strengthens international funds capability with senior hire

Gilson Gray—Jeremy Davy

Gilson Gray—Jeremy Davy

Partner appointed as head of residential conveyancing for England

DR Solicitors—Paul Edels

DR Solicitors—Paul Edels

Specialist firm enhances corporate healthcare practice with partner appointment

NEWS
In this week's issue, Stephen Gold, NLJ columnist and former district judge, surveys another eclectic fortnight in procedure. With humour and humanity, he reminds readers that beneath the procedural dust, the law still changes lives
Generative AI isn’t the villain of the courtroom—it’s the misunderstanding of it that’s dangerous, argues Dr Alan Ma of Birmingham City University and the Birmingham Law Society in this week's NLJ
James Naylor of Naylor Solicitors dissects the government’s plan to outlaw upward-only rent review (UORR) clauses in new commercial leases under Schedule 31 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, in this week's NLJ. The reform, he explains, marks a seismic shift in landlord-tenant power dynamics: rents will no longer rise inexorably, and tenants gain statutory caps and procedural rights
Writing in NLJ this week, James Harrison and Jenna Coad of Penningtons Manches Cooper chart the Privy Council’s demolition of the long-standing ‘shareholder rule’ in Jardine Strategic v Oasis Investments
Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School and the Frenkel Topping Group—AKA The insider—crowns Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP as his case of 2025 in his latest column for NLJ. The High Court’s decision—that non-authorised employees cannot conduct litigation, even under supervision—has sent shockwaves through the profession. Regan calls it the year’s defining moment for civil practitioners and reproduces a ‘cut-out-and-keep’ summary of key rulings from Mr Justice Sheldon
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