charity law news - September 2012

Blake Lapthorn's Charities group publishes regular e-bulletins to keep you up to date with breaking news and topical issues affecting the charities sector. We also offer regular charity trustee induction and refresher training – see below for details of our next training course on 6 November 2012.

Please click on the links to view the articles. Please click here to view a full print version.

• charitable incorporated orgnisations - news update
  The introduction of CIOs is anticipated to take place in October.
• new rules and penalities for 'chuggers'
  Charities and street fundraisers are now subject to new rules and penalties devised by the Public Fundraising Regulatory Authority.
• excepted charity status extended for local church charities
  New regulations have extended the period for which certain local church charities are treated as excepted charities until 31 March 2014.
• Charity Commission: updated guidance on reporting serious incidents
  The Charity Commission has updated its guidance "Reporting Serious Incidents: guidance for trustees".
• Information Commissioner's Office: assistance with data protection practice
  The Information Commissioner's Office has provided top tips for charities and it is offering a free advisory visit to provide practical recommendations and suggestions on how to improve data protection practice.
• pensions: auto enrolment – protection in force for all job applicants and employees
  New auto-enrolment employment protection laws came into force on 30 June 2012 for all employers, regardless of their size or staging dates. This means that, whether an employer is one of the first – or one of the last – employers to be subject to auto-enrolment, certain conduct concerning recruitment, inducements, detriment and unfair dismissal connected with auto-enrolment is now prohibited.
• pensions: salary sacrifice guidance
  HMRC has updated its guidance on salary sacrifice to include an additional section relating to auto enrolment.
• employment: carryover of leave for long term sick not dependant on requesting holiday
  A crucial ruling from the Court of Appeal confirms how employers should handle holiday for those on long-term sickness absence.
• employment: "Our new recruit has just told us she's pregnant"
  With news of Yahoo's CEO Marissa Mayer being appointed whilst six months pregnant, our employment team looks at this not uncommon complaint and what an employer's response should be.
• employment: redundancy: fairness of scoring and reduction in headcount
  The EAT provides reminders that Employment Tribunals are not normally entitled to go through a re-scoring exercise, and that there can be a redundancy situation without a reduction in headcount.
• business regulatory: warning for property owners as large fine handed out due to asbestos exposure
  Property owners are reminded of the need to have adequate management plans for the control of asbestos and for the need to carry out appropriate asbestos surveys when undertaking maintenance work.
• upcoming events: trustee training, London – 6 November
  This course is designed to help your organisation to comply with best practice by inducting new trustees and refreshing the knowledge of existing trustees, so that they can make a full contribution. Charity chief executives and senior managers concerned with governance are also welcome.

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