Employment Law

Employment Law

Q1- AB Ltd is in the process of refurbishing a luxury apartment block.

Ans. The law imposes a responsibility on the employer to ensure safety at work for all their employees. From AB Ltd's aspect rom a employer's (or agent's) point of view, it is essential to have an understanding of the key repairing obligations both to preserve the employer's asset and to avoid unnecessary claims and dissatisfaction from tenants. Even the most modern and well-built houses will deteriorate if left to their own devices. To keep a house in a habitable, and good condition constant maintenance is needed. A building is a complex interdependent structure; a fault in one of its components can lead to more extensive damage to other parts of the building. Something as simple as a blocked gutter can lead to serious damp penetration if rainwater is allowed to run down a section of wall.

At common law, there is an exception to the caveat emptor rule for furnished residential premises that they are let as fit for human habitation. They are unfit for habitation if the defect is so serious that no person could be reasonably expected to live in them; for example, a premises infested with bugs(2), defective drains(3), and an insufficient water supply(4). As stated, the implied condition only applies to furnished premises, and only then if the premises were unfit at the commencement of the tenancy, even though the defect did not materialise until later(5).

This implied condition for fitness at common law now has its counterpart, although not quite the same, under the statutory definition of fitness for human habitation provided by section 604 of the Housing Act 1985(6). The implied condition only covers 'fitness for human habitation' which does NOT include structural defects. Thus in the well-known case of Quick v Ely Taff Borough Council(7), where severe condensation caused appalling living conditions, it was, however, held by the court that there was no disrepair as the source of the condensation problem lay in the original design of the building, not disrepair to the structure.

Most practitioners will be familiar with the provisions of this Act. These provisions are implied into all tenancies of less than seven years duration entered into after 24 October, 1961 and impose an obligation on employers to effect basic repairs which is absolute. Section 11 of the Employer and Tenant Act 1985 (LTA) cannot be excluded from any residential tenancy without the prior agreement of both the tenant and the court. Thus, a employer cannot easily negotiate with the tenant that section 11 will not apply to the tenancy. If there is an express term in the tenancy agreement to repair and it falls short of section 11, the whole of section 11 will be implied into the agreement. (R. Kidner, 2003 Pp. 71-79.)

It is an implied term of all Housing Act assured tenancies (and also of Rent Act protected tenancies prior to this) that the tenant will afford the employer all reasonable facilities for access and ...