Cost of Death Certificates Rises

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A three-fold rise in the cost of a death certificate could result in solicitors being unable to administer some estates, lawyers have warned. The General Register Office this month increased the cost of obtaining a certificate online from £4 to £11.

Charlotte Pritchard, a member of the private wealth team at national firm BLM, told the Gazette it is not unusual for families to require between 10-20 death certificates in order to administer an estate. She warned that where solicitors are appointed payment may need to be initially funded by the firm; particularly if no family members are able to find the up-front cash.

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Lawyers warned over potentially negligent GDPR advice

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A legal compliance expert has warned that lawyers may need to take action over potential breaches of data protection rules.

Brian Rogers, Director of Regulation and Compliance Services for Riliance, said those who advised businesses how to comply with new GDPR rules last May should revisit that advice – and even contact clients to admit they made a mistake.

Rogers spoke to the Gazette after lawyers were publicly criticised last month by Chris Combemale, Chief Executive of the marketing network DMA Group. Combemale told a Westminster Legal Policy Forum conference that many of the 1,000 DMA members had been wrongly told to focus on consent as the basis for processing data.

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A worker’s minimum holiday pay under EU law. Can it be reduced to reflect short-time working?

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In the case of Hein v Albert Holzkamm GmbH  a construction worker in Germany working under a collective agreement. The collective agreement provided that holiday pay would be paid on the basis of a 13-week average calculation. This calculation of holiday pay was in accordance with the national law in Germany. After a 26-week lay-off, his holiday pay was calculated on the basis of this 13 week average, excluding overtime.

European Directive

Consequently, this meant that it was lower than his normal pay, in breach of Article 7(1) of Directive (EC) 2003/88. [note] Article 7(1), Annual leave
1. Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that every worker is entitled to paid annual leave of at least four weeks in accordance with the conditions for entitlement to, and granting of, such leave laid down by national legislation and/or practice.
2. The minimum period of paid annual leave may not be replaced by an allowance in lieu, except where the employment relationship is terminated.[/note]  This Directive relates to certain aspects of the organisation of working time of the EU Member States.

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