No more crying at work. 🥹

Hey there,

Now this is a bit of a longer one, but you’ve been asking us more detailed questions and so this newsletter we’re bringing you more detailed answers with:

1. 🙋‍♀️ The legal question we’ve been asked most this past month by founders and startups. 

2. 📰 Noteworthy news (and why it’s relevant to you). 

3. ✅ One legal reminder to check off your list.

4. 💸 Funding and award opportunities to grow your business.

5. 🎉 Events this month that could bring value to you and your business.

1. Our Most Asked Question in January:
What do I do if someone has breached our agreement? 🥲

Yes, it’s true; we’ve gone over this question before. But as this was the question that again was asked by our clients most last month, we thought we’d go into more detail on exactly what your next steps should be.

As a reminder: an agreement can be verbal, written or even implied, and refers to a legally binding contract between two or more parties that outlines their obligations and rights. Written agreements are typically the strongest and easiest to enforce.

The three types of agreements that we see most commonly breached are:

1. 👩‍💻 Business contracts (such as service agreements, supplier contracts, partnership agreements, etc.)

2. 🤝 Employment Contracts

3. 🤫 NDA’s

So if your agreement has been breached, what do you do?

1. Review the Contract:

   • Identify the breach – which specific terms have been jeopardised.

   • Check: are there any exemption clauses?

   • Check for remedies – does this contract specify what the penalty will be for a breach? Does it outline what you should do if there is a breach?

   • Look for notice requirements; sometimes a formal notice procedure must be performed.

2. Gather evidence:

   • Collect all relevant documents (emails, letters, records) and the contract itself.

   • Document the impact the breach has had on you and your business.

3. Communicate with the other party:

   • This can be informal; engage in a discussion outlining the issue and see if you can resolve it together. Otherwise, you will need to share a formal notice of breach (see below).

4. Send a formal notice of breach:

   • This should be written, detail the specific breaches, list how they relate to the contract and include a timeframe in which they can remedy the situation.

5. Consider arbitration or pre-action settlement:

   • The Civil Procedure rules (CPR) encourage parties to consider alternative dispute resolution when appropriate, companies often engage in settlements and arbitration or mediation too

6. Take legal action:

   • It is highly encouraged that you to seek legal advice before bringing the matter to court. (and of course, we’re always happy to help ;).

7. Going forward:

   • Ensure future contracts have very specified terms and penalties for future breaches.

   • Seek legal advice or use SuLe when drafting contracts or entering into important agreements.

2. Noteworthy News:
Employment Rules Are Changing 📑

The big picture: The UK government is expected to introduce a comprehensive Employment Rights Bill in 2026 – meaning happier employees (changing those tears of pain into tears of joy!).

The details: The bill proposes to include:

1. Unfair Dismissal Reforms

   • Day-One Rights: The Bill proposes removing the current two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims, granting employees protection from unfair dismissal starting from their first day of employment.

   • Initial Employment Period: An initial employment period, suggested to be nine months, will allow for a modified dismissal process focusing on performance-related issues.

2. Regulation of Contractual Changes

   • Fire and Re-Hire Practices: The Bill aims to make it automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for the purpose of re-engagement on varied terms (commonly known as "fire and re-hire").

3. Zero-Hours and Low-Hours Contracts

   • Guaranteed Hours Offer: Employers will be required to offer guaranteed hours to workers on zero-hours or low-hours contracts after a set period, proposed to be 12 weeks.

   • Shift Notice and Compensation: Employers must provide reasonable notice for shifts and compensate workers if shifts are canceled, rescheduled, or shortened on short notice.

4. Collective Consultation Changes

   • Redundancy Consultation: The Bill proposes removing the "one establishment" requirement, meaning that proposing 20 or more redundancies across any part of an organization within 90 days will trigger collective consultation obligations.

5. Anti-Harassment Measures

   • Employer Duties: Employers will have a duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment and harassment of staff by third parties, such as clients or suppliers.

6. Equality and Family Leave Enhancements

   • Extended Protections: The Bill includes provisions to prohibit dismissal during pregnancy and for a protected period after maternity, adoption, or shared parental leave, except in cases of redundancy.

   • Equality Action Plans: Employers will be required to develop and publish plans outlining steps to promote equality within their organizations.

7. Flexible Working Rights

   • Default Flexibility: Flexible working arrangements will become the default from the first day of employment, with employers needing to provide valid reasons in writing if such requests are refused.

8. Statutory Sick Pay Reforms

   • Immediate Eligibility: The Bill proposes removing the waiting period and a lower earnings limit for Statutory Sick Pay, allowing employees to receive sick pay from the first day of illness.

3. Legal Reminder Of The Month:
Don’t forget to sign, date and get a copy of your contracts. ✍️

If a contract is not signed (or you don’t have a copy of it) one party might claim they never agreed to the terms – or argue against the contract existing in the first place. 😳

We know it might sound crazy that someone would deny a contract existing altogether, but we’ve seen it happen one too many times.

Including a signature date is also important as the contract may have been signed on different dates. Note that the date of the last signature is when the contract begins, and therefore the date from which the parties should be bound by the contract. 🤝

And lastly don’t forget that in the UK, you have to have the authority to sign a contract, this is usually a director (or if a deed in the presence of a witness or a director and the company secretary).

4. Funding & Award Opportunities 💸

🏆 Women TechEU: €75k in non-dilutive grants as well as a personalised business development program including mentoring, coaching and training for women leading deep tech startups.
Deadline: March 17th

5. Upcoming Entrepreneurial Events 🤓

March 4th: Investment for Growth: The Big Creative UK Summit – hear success stories, strategic insights and investment-ready opportunities in the creative sector.

March 25th: The 5th annual Business Innovation Summit – This summit brings together senior executives from diverse industries to explore vital trends affecting corporate performance and transformation strategies in London.

March 31st: SuLe x Roots Funding – Keep an eye on our socials for the soon-to-be-released sign-up link! 

That’s all until next month. And as always, happy businessing!

– The SuLe Team