As is common, April brings changes in Employment law which every employer needs to be aware of. In particular, there are key changes to the Employment Tribunal procedure, which have the potential to fundamentally alter the way employers deal with claims. Perhaps most importantly, in claims issued on or after 6 April, Tribunals will have the power to order financial penalties against employers where they consider there are “one or more aggravating features” in their breach of the worker’s rights. This is effectively a fine, on top o... Continue reading

Last week, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) launched a two year Europe-wide campaign: ‘Healthy Workplaces Manage Stress’. Stating that the prevalence of work-related stress in Europe is ‘startling’, EU-OSHA revealed that its latest pan-European opinion poll found that 51% of workers find work-related stress to be common in their workplace, while four in ten workers think that stress is not handled well in their organisation. The Healthy Workplaces Campaign states that together employers and workers ... Continue reading

Storing and accessing employee data is essential to the smooth running of a HR department; however sensitive information is sometimes treated recklessly. The line between keeping this data safe and it landing in the wrong hands is something that has to be considered when you are storing data. Here are some of the most common mistakes when keeping this information secure and how to fix them. The curse of the USB stick Staff copying sensitive and confidential information on to portable drives is illegal, and so losing a USB stick or leaving su... Continue reading

In April and October each year, the Government brings into force legislation on what is known as a Common Commencement Date. As of 6 April 2014, employers need to be aware of a whole host of important changes to UK employment law. New Employment Tribunal laws New rules aimed at reducing the number of Employment Tribunals have now come into force. Employees who would like to bring a case of unfair dismissal or discrimination are now required to first notify the conciliation service, ACAS, to see if the dispute can be resolved. ACAS will then... Continue reading

After a 15 month delay, the consultation document of the proposed revisions to the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 has finally been issued. The headline changes, which have been hotly anticipated for some time now, include: Removal of the Approved Code of Practice (ACoP), which is to be replaced with more simplified guidance aimed at particular sectors. Changes to the notification threshold. Removal of exemption for domestic clients from client responsibilities. Replacing the role of the CDM Coordinator (CDM-C) to t... Continue reading