New Age Finally Dawns!
Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.04.06
The second instalment of UK employment-related legislation for 2006 came into effect on 1 October. You will know most of the key features from previous alerts, but we thought it helpful to have brief summary!
The new issues covered include:
- Discrimination - The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 outlaw unjustified age discrimination in employment and vocational training.
- Work and Families - Changes to Maternity Regulations remove the six months' service requirement for additional maternity leave, and increase the notice employees must give an employer of changes to their maternity leave plans. They also introduce 'keeping in touch days'. Statutory maternity and adoption paid leave is extended from six to nine months for employees where the expected week of childbirth is on or after 1 April 2007.
- Minimum Wage - The national minimum wage is increased to £5.35 for workers aged 22 and over and £4.45 for workers aged 18-21.
- Consultation - TULR(C)A 1992 is amended to provide that where required, notice of redundancy must be given to the DTI at least 30 days before giving notice to terminate an employee's contract of employment (rather than before the actual dismissal date) to bring the legislation in line with recent case law.
Insights
Client Alert | 5 min read | 12.12.25
Eleventh Circuit Hears Argument on False Claims Act Qui Tam Constitutionality
On the morning of December 12, 2025, the Eleventh Circuit heard argument in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, et al., No. 24-13581 (11th Cir. 2025). This case concerns the constitutionality of the False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam provisions and a groundbreaking September 2024 opinion in which the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida held that the FCA’s qui tam provisions were unconstitutional under Article II. See United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Fla. Med. Assocs., LLC, 751 F. Supp. 3d 1293 (M.D. Fla. 2024). That decision, penned by District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, was the first success story for a legal theory that has been gaining steam ever since Justices Thomas, Barrett, and Kavanaugh indicated they would be willing to consider arguments about the constitutionality of the qui tam provisions in U.S. ex rel. Polansky v. Exec. Health Res., 599 U.S. 419 (2023). In her opinion, Judge Mizelle held (1) qui tam relators are officers of the U.S. who must be appointed under the Appointments Clause; and (2) historical practice treating qui tam and similar relators as less than “officers” for constitutional purposes was not enough to save the qui tam provisions from the fundamental Article II infirmity the court identified. That ruling was appealed and, after full briefing, including by the government and a bevy of amici, the litigants stepped up to the plate this morning for oral argument.
Client Alert | 8 min read | 12.11.25
Director Squires Revamps the Workings of the U.S. Patent Office
Client Alert | 8 min read | 12.10.25
Creativity You Can Use: CJEU Clarifies Copyright for Applied Art
Client Alert | 4 min read | 12.10.25
Federal Court Strikes Down Interior Order Suspending Wind Energy Development
