The Sentencing Council’s recent announcement of consultation on its proposals for how offenders convicted of manslaughter should be sentenced in England and Wales may have raised concerns amongst employers. In this special blog post we explore why the consultation has been called and the responsibilities of employers to protect all staff. Understanding the need for a consultation for manslaughter sentencing guidelines Any loss of human life is not mended simply by handing out a sentence, but it’s importance that the decisions made regarding sentencing for…
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 the responsibilities of an employer, how can they be proactive in keeping employees safe, and being how can they prepared for the unexpected? This short guide will help employers understand…
Scrolling through social media and coming across a 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 effectively on such a delicate topic. Appearances of signed off workers may be deceiving Often such issues arise because of what other employees have seen the absent colleague doing…
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 how to approach one should you ever find yourself having to defend a claim in one. So what are tribunals? Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England & Wales and Scotland which…
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 way: from the days when many employees contracted life-shortening conditions in work to a society of wellbeing-conscious employers. Take, for example, railway workers. More ‘navvies’ died during the building of…
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 introduced in April 2015 and provides eligible parents with the opportunity to share the care of their child for up to fifty weeks following birth or adoption. Mothers must take…
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 water inside the tank while unblocking a filter at a water treatment works. Despite activating the company’s lone worker alarm system it wasn’t until he failed to respond to a…
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…
