Health and safety is important, no matter what type of business you run. It has been shown that stringent health and safety policies can not only improve worker confidence in your business and will make your employees happier, amongst other benefits, it can also increase your bottom line, due to increased consumer confidence and more productive workers.  Likewise, many workplaces have become decentralised, no longer relying on a top down management structure, and thus businesses have to develop new ways of implementing their health and safety ... Continue reading

We’re six months on from the first deadline for gender pay gap reporting for businesses with more than 250 employees. The reporting process was introduced by the government in a bid to understand why differences in pay exist and identify ways to reduce the gap. Whilst the resulting reports served to highlight the extent of the differences, many employers were quick to defend their pay gaps, stating that comparing salaries of different jobs created an unrealistic view of the gap within their business.      So what’s next for pay gap r... Continue reading

Four changes to employment law proposed by the Labour Party are worth being aware of as they could lead to a stronger employee (and trade union) voice in companies, a change to the status of zero hours contracts and new rights to leave for victims of domestic abuse. With the party-political conference season upon us the media interest tends to focus on the leaders and, certainly this year, the political hot potato that is Brexit. In amongst that though it’s an opportunity for the respective parties to throw around new policy ideas and get an... Continue reading

Last week I attended the IOSH Annual Conference in Birmingham, the first time I’ve been to the conference since its move from London’s Excel a few years ago. Despite my initial reservations, it proved to be time very well spent. I should start by explaining why I had any reservations at all. I’ve been involved in running conferences and exhibitions for a large part of the last 20 years of my working life. In our earlier incarnation as Workplace Law, my company ran our own annual conference for 12 consecutive years, which became an annua... Continue reading

Deciding to suspend an employee should be carefully considered as the implications further down the line can be significant if you get it wrong. Suspending staff has been in the news recently following a decision by the High Court to overturn the suspension of Professor Jahangiri by her employer, St George’s Hospital. She was suspended pending an investigation into allegations against her. Professor Jahangiri cited a lack of evidence for her suspension, combined with being treated as a scape goat for wider failings in the department when tak... Continue reading