custom and practice

a way of doing things that receives its justification from the claim that ‘things have always been done like this’ rather than from any specific rule. In INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS it generally refers to working practices which are operated by workforces and TRADE UNIONS and which are implicitly condoned by management, but have not been explicitly sanctioned in a formal agreement. The buying-out of such practices is often the subject of productivity initiatives tabled by managements during COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. See RESTRICTIVE LABOUR PRACTICE.

References in periodicals archive ?

In deciding whether there was a legal duty, and whether the defendant breached it, the courts have looked to statutory law as well as custom and practice in the particular area of law enforcement activity.

Liability implications of departmental policy violations

Undoubtedly the courts will place considerable weight on guidelines developed by respected medical societies as strong evidence of appropriate custom and practice. While guidelines may not resolve factual and causation issues, they will have a strong evidentiary impact for plaintiffs and defendants alike."[11]

The implications of practice guidelines for physician medical malpractice liabilty