Arriving at work on time is perhaps an obvious requirement but a recent study by the Resurgo Trust showed lateness is the top reason young people fail to get jobs. However, there may be other factors outside our control which hamper efforts to get to work: rail strikes, bus and train delays and traffic congestion are only expected to get worse over the next ten years. Whilst the traditional employer approach may have been authoritarian and focused on disciplining employees for lateness, the modern approach…
At the 2005 general election New Labour promised to introduce a new Equality Act to simplify the existing body of legislation governing equality in the workplace and 'promote equality at work'. Following the Equalities Review in 2007 led by Trevor Philips (the head of the Commission for Racial Equality at the time), the Act was enacted in 2010 and replaced: Equal Pay Act 1970 Sex Discrimination Act 1975 Race Relations Act 1976 Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 Employment Equality…
If you're familiar with Moorepay then you'll probably notice we're looking a bit different. Today we're unveiling our new, modern website, and with it giving you a first show of our brand facelift which you'll see across more and more of our materials and communications in the weeks and months ahead. Over the 50 years we've been in business we've always changed what we do and how we do it to meet the needs of our customers. When we first started in 1966 we were…
A lot has been said to condemn and approve the introduction of Fees for Intervention (FFI) after the introduction of the Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012. The Regulations were written to empower the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to recover costs from companies who were found to be in material breach of health & safety law. The HSE states a material breach is defined as follows: “A material breach is where you have broken a health and safety law and the inspector judges this…
Lifts, lifting equipment and lifting accessories are essential part of modern life. They remove the need to climb numerous flights of stairs in an office and make working in an industrial environment more tolerable. Often, lifting equipment is used to make a job safer but when that equipment fails there are disastrous consequences for users and those around them. Using unsafe lifting equipment can be fatal A sheriff’s court in Scotland recently heard how the failings of both a plant hire operator and the contractor…
The year has barely got underway and already several companies have received significant fines for breaches of legislation in relation to Working at Height Regulations 2005. Here Moorepay looks at the lessons to be learned and how employers can protect themselves and employees. Failure to assess risk resulted in worker death Two companies from Carmarthenshire and the West Midlands have been fined after a worker was killed when he fell from a telehandler. Swansea Crown Court heard how a 50 year old self-employed contractor working…
In a country where women hold the two top positions within the offices of state – the Queen and the Prime Minister – is the workplace still a man’s world? New research completed by the Women at Work Index shows that the UK is missing out on approximately £170 billion of economic benefits by not having enough women in employment. Additionally, the World Economic Forum stated: “It will be 118 years before women have the same career prospects as men. No country in the world…
The press has recently reported details of a Rotherham-based firm facing a claim for £425,000 from 56 employees for bypassing the rules when they made changes to the terms & conditions of employment. This story comes as a timely reminder to employers that regardless of whether or not union agreements are in place, or indeed whether any contractual changes are agreed, if the proposed changes affect 20 or more employees the employer is in line for claims running into tens or hundreds of thousands of…
Restrictive covenants are complex clauses, often criticised but never curtailed, and the source of many court cases. So let's explore the history of these clauses and how employers can utilise them effectively. It has long been the principle of English law that: “All interference with individual liberty of action in trading, and all restraints of trade of themselves, if there is nothing more, are contrary to public policy, and therefore void.” Nordenfelt v Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Co Ltd [1894] The origin of that…
Whatever the truth behind Blue Monday it's inevitable that the dark nights, poor weather and post-Xmas lull can leave employees feeling blue. Our recent survey conducted in Jan 2017 found two-thirds of employees are currently fed up at work, and 46% likely to look for a new job within the next three months. A third put their low-morale down to stress, but whatever the reason spirits need lifting your people need a boost, so here are our top 10 tips to help you help your…
