|
This Month's Important Cases
|
|
With redundancies once again a “hot topic” we are often asked whether costs can be taken into account when making decisions on who to accept for voluntary severance. We have always advised caution when adopting this approach because it is almost always older workers who are the most expensive to let go either because of length of service or pension access.
Read more >>
A couple of other EAT decisions in redundancy cases have caught our attention during the last month. The first of these is Halpin v Sandpiper Brooks which considers the extent to which a Tribunal should concern itself with an employer’s selection pool in a redundancy situation.
Read more > >
|
|
Legislation Update
|
|
Following the recent Government reviews of existing health and safety laws and the effect that the more ‘restrictive’ rules and regulations have on smaller businesses, the Health and Safety Executive has released revised guidance on home working.
The guidance (INDG – 266) now makes clear that in the context of low-risk home working (e.g. office type work) the employer is only responsible for the equipment that it provides and is no-longer responsible for a full risk assessment of the home worker’s office and workstation equipment (e.g. chair, desk, computer monitor).
If you do provide equipment for your staff to use at home, you are still responsible for making sure that the equipment provided is safe and in a good condition. If your staff are operating more hazardous equipment at home (such as soldering irons, or adhesives) you must ensure that those are safe and that you also provide appropriate personal protective equipment. However, for office based roles, future assessments can be less stringent.
Essentially, this is an attempt by the government to lighten the load of smaller businesses at this difficult economic time, but you should be careful not to take it as a sign to neglect your duty to protect and keep safe your staff and/or those under your control when they are working from home. Risk assessments will still need to be done.
|
