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July/August 2003 Welcome to our bumper July/August edition. Employment legislation continues to evolve at an ever increasing pace and we aim to keep you informed of the changes in an informative and easy to understand format. It is also important to us that any training we provide is affordable and relevant to management of people – see below. As always, if you would like to see something different in your newsletter then please let us know.
Six-Point Stress Code draft launched by HSE
What employers should do to protect themselves
Data Protection Code Part 3
The do's and dont's of workplace monitoring
Minimum wage increase in October 2003
New Supervisor/Team leader workshop
H & S Risk Assessment workshop in September
Plants in the office
Are there benefits? Scientists say yes.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned that employers must protect their employees from stress or face risk legal action, as the H & S at Work Act gives employees the right to sue their employers over stress. The code is not likely to be formally launched until next year and it will aim to set quantitative standards for company behaviour, making it easier to measure whether the company is meeting them. "there is no such thing as "good" stress" says John Monks, TUC general secretary. He went on to say that failure to manage stress "may show up as high turnover, increased sickness absence, reduced work performance, poor time keeping and more customer complaints." This code is intended to move companies towards good working practices, and provide a tool for employees to use against uncaring or negligent employers. So, what might employers be required to do? According to the HSE website the code covers the main factors that can lead to work related stress: In each case the organisation is required to have systems are in place locally to respond to any individual concerns. DemandsThe organisation has achieved the standard if: - At least 85% of employees indicate that they are able to cope with the demands of their jobs.
This includes limiting repetitive and boring jobs as far as possible. ControlThe organisation has achieved the standard if: - At least 85% of employees indicate that they are able to have a say about the way they do their work.
This includes some control over the pace of work and timing of breaks. SupportThe organisation has achieved the standard if: - At least 85% of employees indicate that they receive adequate information and support from their colleagues and superiors.
This includes organisations having systems in place to help employees with work or home related issues, such as counselling services. RelationshipsThe organisation has achieved the standard if: - At least 65% of employees indicate that they are not subjected to unacceptable behaviours (e.g. bullying) at work.
This includes giving consideration to the way teams are organised, to ensure they are cohesive with clear leadership and objectives. RoleThe organisation has achieved the standard if: - At least 65% of employees indicate that they understand their role and responsibilities.
ChangeThe organisation has achieved the standard if: - At least 65% of employees indicate that the organisation engages them frequently when undergoing an organisational change.
This includes that employees receive support during the change process.
Sending pornographic e-mails is now one of the three commonest reasons for dismissal, yet the code on workplace monitoring, published by the Information Commissioner on 11 June, warns employers that they must respect workers' right to privacy. The code is not legally binding, employers should be warned that should there be a legal challenge the court or tribunal may take in to account whether the employer made any effort to comply with the code and failure to do so may work against him. If as an employer you have any sort of monitoring in place, then you must be certain about why you are doing it and the benefits to the organisation. Guidance for Small Business’ produced by the Information Commissioner gives the following guidance: - Remember that:
- it will usually be intrusive to monitor your workers
- workers have legitimate expectations that they can keep their personal lives private
- workers are entitled to a degree of privacy in the work environment.
- Consider why you want to carry out the monitoring.
- Once you are clear about the purpose, satisfy yourself the particular monitoring arrangement is justified.
- Consider whether alternatives or different methods of monitoring would deliver acceptable benefits with less adverse impact on workers.
- Ensure your employees are aware that they are being monitored and why.
- If monitoring is to be used to enforce your rules and standards make sure employees know clearly what these are.
- Only use information obtained through monitoring for the purpose for which the monitoring was carried out, unless the monitoring leads to the discovery of an activity that no employer could reasonably be expected to ignore, for example breaches of health and safety rules that put other workers at risk.
- Keep the information you obtain through monitoring secure. This might mean only allowing one or two people to have access to it. You should also make sure you don’t keep the information for longer than necessary or keep more information than you really need. This might involve deleting it once disciplinary action against a worker is over.
Full guidance for small business can be found at http://www.dataprotection.gov.uk/dpr/dpdoc.nsf
The adult national minimum wage will increase from £4.20 to £4.50 from October 2003. The rate for 18-21 year olds will rise from £3.60 to £3.80. The Government has also provisionally accepted the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations that the rates should be further increased to £4.85 and £4.10 in October 2004, subject to further advice from the Commission in early 2004.
It is vital for the newly appointed supervisor or team leader to establish their credibility quickly and effectively, quite often amongst their peers. This workshop will help them understand their role and gain an understanding of their own style of management. We hope to run this workshop in September.
ALL employers and self employed people are required by legislation to perform risk assessment in the workplace. Risk assessment really is the first step to successfully managing health and safety. If you have not identified your significant risks, how do you know what you are trying to manage? Furthermore, If you employ five or more people the risk assessments must be documented. The aim of this half-day workshop is to introduce you to a simple five step approach, giving you the tools needed so that you can confidently return to your place of work and start the risk assessment process right away.
There is a growing belief from various research that real plants can bring real health benefits to a workplace. Plants are attractive, decorative, increase humidity through photosynthesis and it is thought cleanse the air of toxins and pollutants, enhancing the way a work environment looks and contributes to your employees well being. Today’s hard nosed business people want hard facts to show that the investment made in plants will have a payback. According to an article in the ‘Florist wholesale buyer’, those scientifically based facts are now available. Research started back in the 1980’s by a host of scientists in the US, Holland, Norway and Australia have categorically proved the health and welfare benefits of plants. Of course plants alone won’t improve the well being and commitment of your employees – good management practices and a caring environment will also make a big difference.
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