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To mark 60 years of The Queen’s reign, the Diamond Jubilee will take place in June 2012. The celebrations will centre around an extended weekend, commencing on Saturday 2nd June and running through until Tuesday 5th June.

To mark the celebrations, the late May bank holiday has been moved to Monday 4 June 2012 and an additional Jubilee bank holiday will take place on Tuesday 5 June 2012.

Although this is gladly received by the majority, this announcement has caused much confusion for both employers and employees and our employment law team have received numerous requests for advice.

Victoria Mitchell, Employment Solicitor at Farleys Solicitors LLP provides answers to the following questions:

• Are Employers obligated to provide time off on Tuesday 5 June 2012?
  English law allows the dates of Bank Holidays to be changed by the Government or for other holidays to be declared, for example to celebrate special occasions.
  When it comes to employer’s obligations regarding time off on bank holidays, it depends what exactly is stated within an employee’s contract of employment.
  Given the majority of employees are entitled to 28 days holiday (the current legal requirement under the Working Time Regulations 1998), the additional holiday for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee should not affect this legal minimum entitlement for most employers.
  If it is stated in an employee’s contract of employment that they are entitled to time off on Bank Holidays, then they shall be entitled to the extra day off for the Jubilee celebrations.
  In the event an employer had genuine business reasons to require employees to work on that day, employers would need to have clear express contractual provisions to this effect. In the event that this is not the case, employers will need to seek an employee’s written consent to get them to work the additional Bank holiday.
• Do Employer’s have to pay employees on Tuesday 5 June 2012 ?
  Although it would appear many employers are likely to pay employees on this particular day, it is not a legal obligation to do so.
  Employers are therefore, subject to their contracts of employment, free to choose whether any payments will be made to employees for this day’s holiday.

www.farleys.com

The Printed Cup Company has been manufacturing paper cups from their factory in China since 2007 and has just opened a brand new facility to start making paper cups in the UK.

Having received funding from the European Union’s Rural Development Programme, the company has started to produce its own printed paper cups in Lancashire and 75% of these will be exported.

The official opening of the new manufacturing unit took place on Tuesday 10th April and was jointly conducted by Nigel Evans MP and the Mayor of the Ribble Valley. A television crew from ITV’s Granada Reports was also present, who filmed the opening of the factory and conducted interviews with members of the company’s staff to be featured on the programme.

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An array of celebrity chefs have signed up for Nigel Haworth’s Fantastic Food Show 2012 (Sunday 20 May) for what’s set to be an amazing day out for the whole family.

Joining Nigel and Northcote’s Head Chef Lisa Allen, is a roll call of some of the country’s best known chefs Aldo Zilli, Atul Kochhar, Matthew Fort, Tom Parker-Bowles and Bryn Williams, with this year’s line up aiming to attract even more than last year’s 5,000 visitors!

Nigel Haworth, Chef Patron of Northcote commented, ‘The Fantastic Food Show is back for the third year and I can’t wait. We have an outstanding line-up of chefs in the M Kitchen Theatre brought to you by Morrisons, who will be showcasing dishes inspired from all over the world.’

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According to the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), everyone should have a sight test at least once every two years.

But a recent survey by YouGov showed that nearly a third of UK adults have failed to have their eyes tested in the last 24 months, putting themselves at risk of developing a range of potentially serious eye conditions, such as glaucoma.

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The Printed Cup Company currently manufacture paper cups from their factory in China and have been doing so since 2007. Recently, they have opened a new manufacturing unit in the UK, producing printed paper cups. The Printed Cup Company has received European Union funding to open a new UK manufacturing facility to make paper cups in Clitheroe from early spring 2012. It is predicted that 75% of these will be for export.

The company was founded in 2005 and began operating out of Mark Woodward’s front room, after he was made redundant in his 50’s following a long career in the packaging industry. The company has expanded year on year despite the impact of the global recession, and a new European Sales Office was recently built adjoining the manufacturing unit. The company’s turnover has doubled over the past 12 months, and 2 new members of staff have joined the team in the last 6 months alone. The Paper Cup Company was recently featured on the BBC One’s Inside Out programme, and has featured on radio stations and in magazines.

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