Advice Legal

A cheque dishonour rarely becomes a legal dispute on the day the bank returns it. More often, it begins with a phone call.   "I'll transfer the money next week."   "The payment is stuck because of year-end closing."   "Please don't send any legal notice. Give me ten more days."   These conversations are common after a cheque bounces. What is less common is someone quietly calculating the statutory deadline while those discussions continue. By the time both parties realise that the promised payment is not coming, the legal timeline may already be nearing its end.   Ironically, many cheque dishonour complaints do not become difficult because liability is disputed. They become difficult because the payee miscalculates a date that seemed too straightforward to get wrong.   Understanding that timeline requires looking beyond the calendar and appreciating what the law actually treats as the starting point.   The Law Does Not A...

Workplace concerns do not always arise at convenient or predictable moments. Employees may require time before deciding whether they are prepared to raise workplace issues. Organisations, too, are often required to navigate difficult questions before determining what should happen next. One of the biggest misconceptions regarding workplace timelines is that they are merely questions of dates and deadlines. Practising lawyers, however, seldom begin such discussions by asking how much time has passed. They are considerably more likely to ask whether they have sufficiently understood the circumstances before organisational decisions are made. Understanding workplace timelines, therefore, requires considerably more than counting days. Quick Legal Answer Timeline-related questions should not be viewed exclusively through the lens of dates and deadlines. Lawyers frequently consider the surrounding circumstances, applicable requirements, and practical concerns that may arise befor...

The workplace is not confined to the time when the individual enters the building for work and leaves it after. Today, professional relations have begun to transcend the traditional boundaries of the office space and have extended into travel, conferences, employer-sponsored events, and collaborations.   Consequently, one of the most difficult questions organisations encounter today is whether workplace responsibilities automatically cease when workplace concerns arise outside office hours. Employees are often uncertain whether organisational procedures continue to apply, while employers frequently struggle to determine what should happen next.   The answers are rarely determined by time alone. In practice, lawyers are far more interested in understanding the surrounding professional circumstances than they are in determining whether an incident occurred at 6 p.m. or 10 p.m.   Quick Legal Answer   Workplace issues must never be judged solely based on the ...