I was re-reading the Retail and Commercial Leases Act the other day and came across Section 41. This Section deals with Landlords attempting to restrict who their Tenant employs as part of a lease. I have to say that this is not something I had ever considered before, but there you go.
The Act makes it clear that a Landlord who leases a retail shop to a Tenant cannot set out within a lease who the Tenant can and cannot employ. The Landlord can, however, set out within the lease, minimum standards of behavior for a shop’s employees. Additionally, the lease can require the Tenant to comply with particular industrial awards or agreements that effect the Shopping Centre the shop is located in.
It turns out that this restriction has always existed. When the Bill, which later became theRetail and Commercial Leases Act, was proposed in 1994, the Section was already in there. I’m not really sure what prompted the legislators to include this provision, but I guess the law is still capable of surprising all of us occasionally.
As always if you have any questions on Lease matters or other Conveyancing issues, please feel free to contact us.