Lauren Evans (student)

Employees are entitled to shared parental leave (“SPL”) and statutory shared parental pay (“SHPP”) if they have a baby or adopt a child. Employees can start SPL if they are eligible. Parents are able to decide between them how much time they choose, and who will take it, however in a recent Yougov survey 78% of HR professionals felt that there were problems offering it in their organisation so it appears that there remains a stigma attached to taking this leave.

As societal norms are changing more fathers should feel able to ask for time off or assert their right to participate in childcare. Law Firm Winckworth Sherwood suggests ‘organisations should be preparing for more staff taking shared parental leave, as attitudes towards caring responsibilities begin to shift and more employers decide to enhance pay for parents taking the entitlement’.

More parents are opting to take this, although there are barriers. It is a complex statutory scheme and it is ‘relatively low paid’. Fathers are calling for the pay to match the extended maternity pay. If this happens, or employers agree to this voluntarily, it is expected there will be a major change in shared parental leave.

HR decision- makers told researchers for its’ “Shifting attitudes to flexible working and childcare for working parents’ report that they had seen an increase in requests for SPL and working hours being adapted to assist two working parents.

At Staffordshire University Legal Advice Clinic ( SULAC) we offer free legal advice on employment matters for members of the public. SULAC is currently open and offers appointments in Stoke on Trent and Stafford. For more information or to book an appointment please contact SULAC@staffs.ac.uk or call 01782 294 800.

Chelsea Leonard (Student)

The principle of universal credit was introduced by the conservative government, in 2010. It was intended to simplify the benefit system, merging all benefits into one. These include income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, housing benefit, child tax credit, and working tax credit.

Despite the intentions, universal credit has been controversial from the time it was introduced; there have also been concerns over how long new claimants must wait before receiving their first benefit.

There have been many reports of claimants having to wait at least five weeks for the payments to start, consequently people are falling into debt and having to resort to food banks. Some claimants have had to get an advance on their first instalment of the benefit; but this is treated as a loan, so subsequent payments are reduced to pay off the advance.

The new system was meant to be slowly introduced and claimants were expected to report any changes of circumstance and therefore be transferred to the new benefit. Officials say not enough people are moving to the benefit as they are “scared” about falling into debt. The system was meant to be fully live by April 2017, but the new delay will push it back to September 2024.

A BBC news team have recorded a series titled ‘Universal Credit: Inside the Welfare State’; the program shows a mother struggling to feed her family on just over £500 for a month, because of deductions made to pay off the advance she had to take out during the five-week wait.

Paula, like many others, has had to resort to a food bank, telling the debt counsellor “I have just got myself into one big mess and I have lost control over everything’, “I am in debt up to my eyeballs and it’s not going to go away.”

The counsellor tells her: “If you don’t have money saved up already or you don’t have backup of family who can support you, you will fall into taking an advance payment.” She added that benefit deductions to pay off the advance, leave people “constantly trying to catch up”.

Neil Couling, the senior civil servant in charge of the rollout of ‘universal credit’ expressed his concern about the small amount of people transferring to the new benefit system. He said “It’s a potentially serious issue for us, in terms of completing the project by December 2023, but I’m urging people not to panic.” However, in September 2019 he decided to delay full rollout of the new system until September 2024.This extension has added an extra £500 million on the bill.

Margaret Greenwood, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, has called for the new system to be scrapped calling the news ‘hugely embarrassing” for the government.

Despite these problems, Mr. Couling still believes that once universal credit is fully implemented it will be successful. “I have to keep going to the destination or you have to set me a different destination, because there’s 2.6 million people, and if we get something wrong, we could disrupt their lives and they’ve got no alternative. There’s no alternative bank they can go to get help. We are the payer of last resort.”

Staffordshire University Legal Advice Clinic (SULAC) offers free legal advice on all financial matters such as debt, and employment to members of the public. SULAC is currently offering appointments at Stoke County Court and Various locations around Stafford including Signpost Centre and House of Bread. For more information, or to book an appointment please contact: SULAC@staffs.ac.uk or call on 01782 294800.

Curtis Dunkley (Student)

When you turn 18 you can legally create a will. You may think that you are too young to be making a will, however this is often not the case. More than half of us are in full time employment by the time we turn 19. If you are employed then you will have more money, especially if you are still living with your parents. You may start to acquire more possessions of value like a car. You may have started saving for a house of your own or something else. Regardless, these are all things that you can leave to your loved ones in a will.

By the time that we are 27 most of us will be living with a partner. If you die before you have made a will, your partner will not inherit any of your belongings, regardless of your wishes unless you are married. There is currently no such thing as a ‘common law spouse’. If you want to ensure that your partner is looked after when you pass, you will need to create a will and put that intention into effect whilst you are still alive.

As a society, we are having children younger. When you have children, you will need to think about what will happen to them if you die. It is not just about choosing someone to look after their inheritance until they old enough to access it, you also need to appoint a guardian to raise your children. The need to create a valid will once you have children cannot be stressed enough – if your wishes are not known when you pass away, your children may be in between arguments with your family and friends at an already stressful time for them.

If you created a will and married after making it your will may be deemed invalid, unless it contained a clause in it stating that you intend for it to remain valid after your marriage. If you make a will that includes your spouse as a beneficiary and then get divorced, your ex-spouse will not be entitled to any inheritance that you left to them. In either scenario, your estate will be distributed according to the rules of intestacy.

At the Staffordshire University Legal Advice Clinic (SULAC), law students offer free legal advice on probate matters and a number of other issues to members of the public. SULAC is currently open and you can visit us at Stoke Combined Courts, and at various locations around Stafford. For more information, or to book an appointment please contact: SULAC@staffs.ac.uk or call 01782 294800.

Lauren Evans (Student)

New legislation named ‘Jack’s Law’ will be coming into force on the 6^th April 2020 to help support bereaved parents in the workplace.

What is Jack’s Law?

Jack’s law protects all employed parents after the loss of a child under the age of 18 or those who have suffered a stillbirth after 24 weeks pregnancy. It allows those with parental responsibility to take two weeks statutory bereavement leave (“SPBL”) irrespective of how long they have worked for their employer. For parents who have worked for 6 months this will be paid leave. Before Jacks Law this wasn’t permitted. Lucy Herd lost her son, Jack Herd, in 2010. She has tirelessly campaigned for Jack’s Law which will now be implemented this year as mandatory leave for grieving parents. Lucy said that she ‘couldn’t believe there was no statutory rights for such a desperate and difficult time’.

Who does Jack’s Law apply to?

Jack’s Law covers all employed parents and adults with ‘parental responsibility’. This can include foster parents, adopters, guardians, or close relatives or friends who have assumed the responsibility for the care of the child in the absence of the parents.

How can Leave be taken?

The leave can be taken in a single block, or two blocks of one week within a year of the child’s death.

The Significance of Jacks Law

Prior to Jack’s Law Lucy Herd’s husband discovered he could only take three days paid leave, and any additional time off had to be taken as part of his sick leave or holiday.

The United Kingdom is the only country who will have two weeks statutory leave for bereaved parents. It is estimated that the new law will support around 10,000 parents a year.

At Staffordshire University Legal Advice Clinic (SULAC) we offer free legal advice on both Employment and Family related matters. SULAC is currently open and offers appointments in both Stoke on Trent and Stafford. If you wish to book an appointment with us call 01782 294 800 or alternatively email SULAC@staffs.ac.uk

Beatriz Simpson (student)

Domestic abuse or domestic violence is any incident of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of their gender or sexuality.

Domestic abuse can be psychological, physical, sexual, financial, or emotional.

The fact that it is in a domestic environment is an aggravating factor because of the abuse of trust involved. Some of these crimes include:

Violence

Controlling or coercive behaviour

“Honour based” abuse and forced marriage

Female genital mutilation

Stalking and harassment

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?

The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 covers not just physical abuse, but psychological and emotional treatment and coercive and controlling behaviour, where abusers isolate their victim from their friends and relatives or control their finances. Campaigners suggest that domestic violence kills 15 times more people than terrorism in the UK, most of the victims are women but not all. Campaigners said that it is estimated that 400 victims of domestic violence take their own lives every year.

Domestic-abuse related cases referred to prosecutors for consideration for charge fell 11% last year despite an increase in matters being reported to the police.

Legal aid may be available to assist victims who need an injunction, even if the CPS do not bring criminal charges.

Here at Staffordshire University Legal advice Clinic we can advise on family-related issues. If we cannot help, we will be able to refer you to another organisation who may be able to assist, please call 01782 294800 for an appointment.