Public health England has released a new toolkit to help employers deal with workplace drug, alcohol and tobacco misuse issues. Is it worth a look? In June 2018, Public Health England released a free “Drugs, alcohol and tobacco; toolkit for employers”. Amongst other things, it states that alcohol misuse costs the English economy £7.3 billion each year and an estimated … Read More

It’s been reported that Leicester Police is offering all its employees “workplace banter training”. This is an unusual step, but is it something you should be doing too? In September 2018, it was reported that Leicestershire Police had offered all its staff a training workshop entitled “Banter – balancing wit and wisdom”.  Its aim is to guide delegates “along the … Read More

The court of appeal has ruled that an employer was vicariously liable for an employee’s injuries after he was punched by his boss at a private party. Does this mean that you’re now accountable for all incidents outside of work? Unexpected socialising In October 2018, an important ruling was handed down in Bellman V Northampton Recruitment Ltd 2018. In 2011, … Read More

In year 1 it was claimed that employment tribunal claims had doubled since the abolition of fees, even though the official figures at the time indicated only a 64% increase. The Government’s latest quarterly tribunal statistics for England and Wales for 1 January to 31 March 2018, show that the number of claims lodged by a single claimant has increased … Read More

Legal duty in July 2018, the pension regulator (TPR) announced a 68% increase in complaints which relate to employers attempting to have their employees opt out of pensions auto – enrolment. In light of this, TPR is reinforcing the fact that it is a criminal offence for an employer to induce, or attempt to induce, an employee who is eligible … Read More

And so the firework season begins….  Fireworks are now used widely across many public, corporate and charity events throughout the season and well into the New Year. If you or your organisation are holding a public or private event where fireworks will be used, it is important to remind those involved in some simple precautions to ensure the event is … Read More

An employee of a motorcycle manufacturer who was fired after she called one of her colleagues a ‘knob head’ over a workplace email was unfairly dismissed, the Employment Appeal tribunal (EAT) has upheld. Talon Engineering’s decision to dismiss Mrs. V Smith was found to be unreasonable because of its refusal to postpone her disciplinary hearing for a second time so … Read More

Following the Great British Heat Wave, many employees (and employers) across the country are asking the question: ‘Why isn’t there a legally enforceable maximum workplace temperature?’ This isn’t the first time the question has come up, but it is the first time a maximum workplace temperature has become a real possibility. Why haven’t we already got a maximum workplace temperature? … Read More

Monitoring work activity is no longer just the case of a manager or supervisor directly observing their team, the rapid growth of technology has enabled a wide range of monitoring activities and used inappropriately or unfairly, monitoring could be counter-productive and have a demoralising effect. There are many reasons why organisations may want to monitor the activity of people at … Read More