Under a new scheme to be launched by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), workers will be referred for health assessments if they are off sick for more than four weeks. The Health and Work Service, which will cover England, Wales and Scotland is being introduced to try and help get sick workers back in the workplace and will offer non-compulsory medical assessments and treatment plans. Figures released by the DWP show that up to 960,000 workers in Britain were on sick leave for more than a month each year between October 2010 and Septe... Continue reading

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published new guidance on what the law requires of both employers and employees when people are working at height. The overhaul of guidance on working at height was launched on 28 January 2014 as part of the Government’s long-term economic plan to abolish or improve outdated, burdensome or over-complicated regulations, which the Government says waste businesses’ time and money. It has been estimated that more than one million British businesses and ten million workers carry out jobs involving som... Continue reading

There seems very much a ‘Ping-Pong’ effect going on between the Government and USDAW when it comes to the definition of ‘establishments’ within collective redundancy consultation requirements. Historically, collective consultation requirements would only kick in once 20 or more staff based on one establishment (i.e. site) were at risk of redundancy. This remained the case following the Woolworths insolvency in 2008 when thousands of employees working in shops with fewer than 20 staff missed out on collective consultation and at Employm... Continue reading

On 31 January 2014, The Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (“the Regulations”) come into force. Despite the Government’s claim that the amendments will provide greater certainty and simplify the existing law relating to transfers, the practical effects of the Regulations are not as far-reaching as had been anticipated. Significantly, the proposed abolition of Service Provision Changes has not materialised, and the amendments provided for are relatively minor in natu... Continue reading

Yesterday marked the start of Big Energy Saving Week, a joint project between Citizens Advice, Government, energy suppliers, Energy Saving Trust, Acre, Age UK and other voluntary and charitable organisations. With energy bills going up and up, the main aim of Big Energy Saving week, which runs from 27-31 January, is to provide advice to homes about ways to cut down bills. However, this is also an opportunity for businesses to look at their energy consumption and focus on how they can save money by decreasing the amount of energy they use... Continue reading