Chris Booth, Partner at Clarion Solicitors, patron of Made in Yorkshire, Daniel Carlton, Senior Associate at Clarions, and Jason Pitt, CEO of the Made in Group held a Q & A webinar on Expert legal advice yesterday. They were answering members questions regarding employment, contracts, governments schemes and general legal advice.
The Q & A began with an introduction from Chris Booth, who gave attendees insight into what Clarion’s are doing at the moment in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Chris said:
“My colleagues in corporate, commercial and banking etc have been looking at the impact in different ways. Whereas the Clarion employment law team have been dealing with a variety of client organisations. For example, organisations who are in high demand such as the medical and food sector, it is about transferring some of its people to different warehousing to help that supply chain.”
“However we are also dealing with businesses who have closed down, for the foreseeable future, and we are furloughing their staff etc.”
Chris continued to say that furloughing has been the continued theme regarding the work Clarions have done and gave more examples of how different organisations from a range of sectors are dealing with the interruption.
Talking about current Government schemes in place and how Clarions are helping businesses, Chris continued:
“We are getting to the point now where we will assist organisations in the application process, as there is some grey area around the Furlough schemes and for us, it is about trying to be as accommodating as possible.”
Daniel Carlton is a Senior Associate at Clarions, usually dealing with debt collections and recovering funds. Daniel said:
“I manage the debt collection team here at Clarions, mainly commercial debts and therefore is business to business debt. We do work with everyone from manufacturers to utility companies though.”
“We are trying to assist clients on the debt side at the moment, we are doing this by trying to offer advice on what will keep the cash coming in.”
Daniel continued the conversation mentioning how it is difficult for organisations due to the growth of the supply chain in recent years. Daniel said:
“I think it is all about communication at this point. We need to keep talking, especially large companies liaising with their customers and working out what their cash flow is.”
Offering advice, he said:
“I don't think you should be embarrassed to ask customers what their cash flow is and what their plans for the next few months, especially during this time.”
Jason then introduced the questions sent in by various different members, he said:
“If I let someone go before the Job retention scheme was implemented, can I re-employ them now?”
Chris responded:
“As long as they were releasing them on the terms and in response to COVID-19, what the guidance now says is that they can re-employ that person and designate them as furlough. However, the employer must be able to confirm that they let the person go on or after the 1st March 2020.”
The next question asked: Do I still have to go to work if I don't feel my job is essential and likewise what do I do if I have an employee who doesn't want to come to work?
Chris answered:
“I am not sure there is a definition of something that is an essential job, however, there is a regulation that people should attend work if they are within certain sectors such as social care and key frontline services.”
The discussion continued with reference to force majeure and Government schemes, in terms of where this can apply or may apply. To hear what our members had to ask and what advice Chris and David gave during the Q & A, head over to the back end of your microsite and watch the session under Virtual meetings.