June 19, 2017
When we’re working through a heatwave there’s always pros and cons. While the sun cheers everyone up on day one, by day three you start to hear mutterings among staff – it’s boiling in here! Isn’t it about time we got air conditioning? It’s against health and safety to work in this temperature! And while…
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June 14, 2017
Deaths in care homes are, to a certain extent, a natural occurrence, but those which aren’t leave serious questions to be answered and unfortunately require investigations. In this blog we look at the most recent court cases and the issues which most commonly lead to fatal incidents in care homes. Window fall led to resident’s…
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June 7, 2017
Terrorism is not a new phenomenon, but with the UK targeted four times in as many weeks it can be extremely concerning for employees. The recent Manchester bombing, followed by the terrorist attacks in London have prompted increased security efforts in social spaces, shopping areas and event spaces, but what about the workplace? What are…
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June 2, 2017
Scrolling through social media and coming across photo of a colleague out socialising is fairly common in this digital age. But when that colleague or employee is signed off as unfit for work it can throw up some difficult questions and challenging situations. In this blog we look at how employers can monitor and respond…
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May 30, 2017
Employment Tribunals and Employment Appeal Tribunals are places you hope to never end up as an employer, and for most what actually happens there is obscure. The truth is far more mundane – “99% boredom, 1% fear” as one lawyer puts it – but it’s important to understand what they are, what they do, and…
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May 25, 2017
Although Labour look to be closing the gap somewhat, most observers and polls have the Conservative Party under Theresa May as the likely winners of the upcoming general election. Assuming this is the case, what could be the effect on businesses in terms of employment law and associated policy? Brexit and the Great Repeal Bill…
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May 24, 2017
Historically much of our health & safety laws have been designed to force the issue of healthy working conditions into the workplace, whereas now a high percentage of employers recognise that employees who are healthy and content are much more engaged and productive. In fact, when you think about it, we have come a long…
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May 11, 2017
Despite being launched more than two years ago Shared Parental Leave (SPL) has not been as popular as expected. In this article we look at what SPL offers, why uptake has been far below expected levels, and the proposed changes due to come into force in 2018. What is Shared Parental Leave? SPL was first…
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May 7, 2017
When we think about working at height we think of dizzying towers and neck-straining altitudes but, officially, ‘work at height’ means any work that is carried out above or below ground where someone could fall and be injured. Even a height as minimal as the bottom rung of a ladder is deemed to be working…
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May 3, 2017
It’s been a whole year since we brought you the story of Nicola Thorp, the receptionist on a temporary contract whose refusal to change her flat work shoes for high heels caused a furore. In this update, we look at the results of that incident and provide you with the HR guidance on office dress…
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April 26, 2017
Results from the CIPD’s seventeenth annual Absence Management survey in partnership with Simply Health show that the average level of employee absence for 2016 was 6.3 days per employee. That’s lower than at the height of the Great Recession in 2008-09 (when typically absence rates fall as employees worry about job security), and is in…
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April 21, 2017
A utilities company has been fined £1.8 million following the death of a man in a water filtration tank in a case that should serve as a stark reminder for companies with lone workers on or off site. The father-of two died in December 2013 when he fell into six and a half feet of…
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