January 2007
2006 has been yet another busy year for Employment Lawyers. In this our first Update for 2007, we intend to review the previous year as well as providing a pointer to some of the developments anticipated for 2007.
Age Discrimination
October 2006 saw the advent of new laws on age discrimination. We have covered that extensively in our special article on our website. Already in the first few days of 2007 the National Chambers of Commerce are warning that a referral to the European Court of Justice on the implementation of the 2006 Age Discrimination Regulations may mean that employers need to look more carefully at their retirement policies. The challenge by the National Council on Ageing is to the effect that the directive has not been properly implemented if staff can still be forced to retire at 65 even if they wish to carry on working.
There has also been the usual clutch of scare stories, suggesting that humorous birthday cards will have to be binned as potential harassment.
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Bullying at work
The case of Green v Deutsche Bank Group Services Ltd has already been covered in an in-depth article on our website. With compensation believed to have been in the region of £800,000 the case held a number of very important lessons for employers in how they manage stress and bullying and harassment.
Unison, the Trade Union, has circulated all of the branch secretaries in Scotland to ensure that employee representatives understand the significance of the case. According to Dave Watson, the Union’s Scottish Organiser, there were more than 20,000 violent incidents recorded in the NHS and local government in Scotland during 2006 and he believes the Protection from Harassment Act is a useful tool in tackling such issues.
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Criminal Records Bureau
The Home Office has seldom been out of the headlines on any day of last year and it is a safe assumption that this will continue during 2007. At the moment concern continues over the Home Offices’ failure to process conviction records of 27,000 British Citizens committing crime abroad. Presently the records are being cross checked with Criminal Records Bureau details to ascertain whether any of the more dangerous offenders have applied for jobs working with children or vulnerable groups.
The Bureau checks are there for companies employing staff working with children or vulnerable adults and will often apply to companies providing goods or services to those working in the sector. For example companies contracting with schools or old people’s homes may well find that they have to be able to demonstrate that their staff have been CRB checked, but at the same time only companies who are registered with the CRB can do this. There then has to be compliance with the CRB code of practice. At Employment Relations we have arrangements in place for such checks to be undertaken.
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Consultation
The Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations came into effect during 2005 requiring the possible establishment of mechanisms for formal consultation with staff through unions or works councils once certain thresholds have been established. Initially from the numbers of employed to trigger the potential requirement was 150. From 6th April 2007 that will become 100. The numbers then reduce to 50 in 2008.
The Trade Union Amicus is balloting its members regarding a possible merger with the Transport General Workers, which is intended to come the foundation stone for a global trade union. Accords are being established with the German union IG Metall as well as two of the US’s largest unions.
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Compromise Agreements
The case of C&C Group Plc and others v Michael Zhang in March 2006 established that provisions in compromise agreements for the repayment of the compromise sum in the event of some breach of the agreement by the employee, would be void if they amounted to penalty payments.
Now in 2007 the case of Palihakkara v British Telecommunications plc has established that the compromise agreement must very specifically set out the statutory grounds that have been compromised by the agreement. A simple recital that the settlement was for “redundancy payments, unfair dismissal and discrimination on the grounds of race, sex and/or disability” was defective. The case concerned alleged racial discrimination and the Race Relations Act should have been cited.
Enormous care needs to be taken to include all of the possible grounds of claim in any compromise agreement. Companies should always take legal advice when negotiating exit arrangements with employees. The habit of large HR departments of copying previous precedents drawn up by their lawyers is dangerous. In fact we frequently see compromise agreements produced by an HR department that are not technically fully compliant.
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Health and Safety
From 1st July 2007 the long awaited ban on smoking in public places will come into force in England. That means that offices, factories, shops, pubs, bars, restaurants and work vehicles (if used by more than one person) all fall under the ban.
Just as well then that the smoking ban is coming into force, since on 1st October 2006 responsibility for fire safety passed to employers and employers have now to carry out a fire safety risk assessment. Until 1st October 2006, fire brigades used to advise and issue fire certificates.
The EU had to offer a ruling last summer on whether an advert by an Irish Company refusing job applications was discriminatory. It was held that there was no statutory provision for prevent of discrimination against smokers. (However, it generally speaking would not be possible to sack someone for smoking unless they had breached some other work place rule.)
Also from 1st October 2006 was the requirement for all gang masters to register with the Gang Master Licensing Authority. It is believed that 600,000 have their labour provided by gang masters but significant numbers of gang masters had failed to apply for certificates at the date the legislation came into force.
The High Court has shown its displeasure at a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to bring corporate manslaughter charges against the employer of a 17 year old killed during his first week at work when he fell through a sky light. Before the accident happened his father had contacted the company warning them that his son had received no safety training and should not be working at height. The inquest jury in March 2005 reached a verdict of unlawful decision, but the Crown Prosecution service did not believe there was sufficient case to proceed. The High Court has ordered the CPS to review its decision.
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Discipline and Grievance
The operation of Statutory Discipline and Grievance Procedures has probably been one of the biggest headaches facing employers during 2006. There is a detailed article on our website about the operation of the procedures, and there is little doubt that this will be an area that is much litigated during 2007.
The procedures were intended to provide a straight forward framework for the pursuit of disciplinary cases and employee grievances. It was also viewed (largely by the Government) as heralding a new dawn where work place disputes were settled in the work place rather than cluttering up the tribunal system. The tribunal system is now cluttered up with disputes largely involving a micro focus on whether any particular step of the procedures has been taken or ignored. The Employment Appeal Tribunal frequently makes its irritation at the statutory framework known.
However, the DTI has now promised to embark on a review of dispute resolution procedures. Alistair Darling, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has said that the DTI should not be too proud to admit if it got the procedures wrong. Only 14% of the members of the Employment Lawyers Association believe that the procedures have been effective. The DTI press release can be seen here.
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Disability
The final sections of the Disability Act 2005 came into force on 4th December 2006. Amongst the changes coming into place then, were the obligation on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people and the extension of the obligation of reasonable adjustments to those letting or managing rented premises.
Stannah, the manufacturers of the eponymous stair lifts have found themselves in the tribunal for refusing to install a stair-lift in their headquarters building for a disabled employee with chronic back problems. His line manager was reported to have said that if they did do so, everybody in the company would want to ride on it and no work would be done. Presumably on that premise all the lifts and escalators would be taken out of Canary Wharf to encourage the work ethic.
The Disability Rights Commission recommended to the Government in July last year that the definition of disability should be changed so that it becomes referable to discrimination on the grounds of impairment without needing to demonstrate long term effects. We do not expect this proposal to succeed.
Also during the course of 2006 the Appeal Tribunal ruled in the case of O’Hanlon v HM Revenue and Customs that it would be a very rare case where a reasonable adjustment entailed making additional sick leave payments available.
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Equality
The long running case of Cadman v the Health and Safety Executive reached a conclusion in the European Court of Justice in October last year. The European Court of Justice had been asked to rule on the legitimacy of length of service criteria in determining pay. The ECJ held that the employer does not need to justify the recourse to length of service criteria in determining pay, unless evidence is adduced that raises serious doubts on the application of those criteria. The case itself goes back to the Court of Appeal to decide whether the points raised by Mrs Cadman amounted to serious doubts. The significance of the argument of course is founded on the fact that with child caring and family responsibilities, women frequently find it difficult to build up long periods of continuous service which therefore puts them at some considerable disadvantage where this forms a cornerstone of the employer’s pay policy.
In July of last year the European Commission published a recast Equal Rights Directive which essentially brought all of the existing seven directives in to one consolidated form.
The Government is piloting three schemes to ensure that employers meet ethnic minority targets before being awarded Government contracts. The pilot schemes involve Job Centre Plus, the Department for Education and Skills and the Passport Agency. If the pilots are deemed to be successful it will introduce the concept of positive vetting in procurement.
The work of the Commission for Racial Equality, the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission will come under a new umbrella set up by the Equality Act 2006. Trevor Phillips has been appointed to Chair the Commission for Equality and Human Rights. The work of the Disability Rights Commission and the Equality Opportunities Commission will transfer to the new body in autumn 2007 with the CRE’s work to follow in 2009. It will then have responsibility for the new areas of age, religion or belief and sexual orientation.
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Flexible Working
Currently parents of children under six or disabled children under 18 have the right to request flexible working. This will be extended on 6th April 2007 to certain carers of adults.
The Regulations of course do not give the right to flexible working. The Regulations simply provide that the employee has the right to reasonable consideration of any request.
The definition of carer includes spouse or civil partner, near relative to include parents, parents-in-law, adopted adult child, siblings, uncles, aunts, grandparents, step relatives. The DTI estimate that this will cover 80% of carers.
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Maternity
The full impact of the changes in maternity leave will be felt from 1st April 2007. Statutory maternity pay, statutory adoption pay and maternity allowance will be increased from 6 months to 9 months. Additionally the full 52 weeks maternity leave will become a “day 1” right meaning that an employee will not need to have completed 26 weeks service before becoming entitled to the full provision. Recognising that employers need to be able to plan with a degree of certainty, the notice a returning mother has to give to the employer before returning to work increases from 4 to 8 weeks.
Additionally from October last year an employee whose expected week of childbirth is on or after 1st April 2007 will be able to carry out up to 10 days work without bringing an end to her maternity leave. It will also be possible to have reasonable contact from time to time in order to plan for the return to work. Similar provisions have been introduced in respect of adoption leave.
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Minimum Wage
The full adult rate was increased to £5.35 per hour in October 2006. The Government has now issued a policy document in respect of fines for employers not paying the minimum wage. It has proposed to fine employers £207 per week approximately for each full time employee if minimum wage arrears are not paid within seven days of an enforcement notice.
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Pensions
A year that saw the introduction of age discrimination also saw an increased rate of closure of final salary pension schemes. W H Smith are the latest major employer to announce the cessation of theirs. British Airways have negotiated with the Transport and General Workers, GMB, Amicus and Balpa to restructure their pension benefits and simultaneously reduce the pension fund deficit from £2.1 billion to £900 million.
FTSE 100 companies are reported to have reduced pension deficits during 2006 from £60.4 billion to £39.9 billion. This is supposedly due to both an improvement in investment returns and the introduction of the pension protection fund which charges firms in direct proportion to the pension fund deficit.
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Racial Discrimination
A lecturer Suresh Deman has been banned for bringing employment tribunal claims for racial discrimination having been recorded as a vexatious litigant. He is known to have instituted 40 claims in the past ten years. During those ten years he secured £194,500 in compensation. Most of his claims are against educational institutions, five of which settled to avoid being taken to a tribunal. His methodology was to apply for a job and then bring a racial discrimination claim if not short listed. Often he would apply for a job using both his real name and a fake non Asian name to compare the results. The decision emphasises the need to carefully monitor and track the recruitment process.
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Religious Discrimination
2006 was the first full year of religious discrimination. Possibly the most newsworthy case involved British Airways and the wearing of a crucifix by Ms Eweida, a member of check-in staff. She lost her internal appeal at BA and no more is known of this battle at the moment.
Elsewhere the largest brouhaha has been over the wearing of veils. The Sunday Times reported in October 2006 that Aishah Azmi who was involved in a high profile tribunal case over the wearing of a veil in the classroom was actually obeying a fatwa from a Muslim cleric who had told her that it was obligatory for women to wear the niqab.
The Tribunal decision in the case of Elgedawy v Hanover Park Commercial where we advised the Claimant, demonstrates that there are lessons that should be learned by all companies in applying their equal opportunities policies and diversity programmes.
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Redundancy
During 2006 factory workers in an Aberdeen carpet factory won £160,000 in compensation for the failure to consult by their employers. All of the workers were therefore entitled to an award under section 189 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and each of the workers were entitled to a pay out of 90 days pay.
Elsewhere the Appeal Tribunal in the case of TGWU V Brauer Coley ruled that such protective awards only were available to those employees who were part of the recognised trade union.
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Sexual Discrimination
There have been a number of very recent developments in the field of sex discrimination that have perhaps helped clarify the burden of proof. As a result of the Burden of Proof Directive, the Sex Discrimination Act was amended to provide, in general terms, that if the employee proves facts that in the absence of an adequate explanation suggest that the employer has committed an act of discrimination, then unless the Respondent proves that the act was not committed, the discrimination has occurred. Thus, metaphorically, if it walks like a duck it probably is a duck, but the employer is still entitled to produce evidence to show that was not a duck. The Court of Appeal had to consider the position in the light of the long running case of Madarassy v Nomura. The hearing took place over 21 days in November and December 2002 when the tribunal heard from 38 witnesses. She had made 33 allegations of sex discrimination only 1 of which did the tribunal find in her favour. The matter came before the Court of Appeal largely on the issue of burden of proof. Ultimately she was found not to have demonstrated facts that created any presumptions about discrimination. The decision can be viewed here and is essential reading for those with a week or two to spare or insomnia.
The well publicised case of Bright v HBos has apparently been withdrawn. Claire Bright was claiming compensation of up to £11m.
Solicitors’ practices are a useful port of call for anyone looking for discrimination cases. In a case that went through the Employment Appeal Tribunal, but kept anonymous because of the sexual allegations, a solicitor who sacked his girlfriend when he found she was seeing another man, was held not to have sexually discriminated against her. The tribunal had found that she had been dismissed out of jealousy and that was inconsistent with her being discriminated against on grounds of sex. So far as we know this is probably the first introduction of the French principles of Crime Passionel as a justification for conduct at work!
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Sexual Orientation
ACAS has launched an education package for employers on sexual orientation and gender reassignment. There is also a quiz.
Elsewhere former HSBC Bank head Peter Lewis has been given leave to appeal against a tribunal ruling that he was not dismissed because he was gay.
According to a work place equality index, IBM is the most gay friendly work place in the UK. A separate survey by the Law Society suggests that city firms are homophobic and client outings to venues such as Spearmint Rhino had undertones of homophobia. We were not interviewed for this survey, but operating in a small Kent village in the North Downs can say that our occasional forays to the Rose and Crown and Abbots Fireside are open to all.
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Stress
The issue of dismissal for stress related illness came before the Employment Appeal Tribunal at the end of last year. Mrs McCready was a customer services officer with the Royal Bank of Scotland in Bromley and in September 2003 went off with work related stress. She lodged a grievance about her manager’s conduct, but this was not upheld. She was then absent for nine months before the bank reviewed the position under its sickness procedures. After 15 months absence she attended a meeting with her employer asking if she could be allowed to leave on terms. The outcome of the meeting was that she was given three months notice on the grounds of ill health. She brought an unfair dismissal claim. The tribunal held that the bank had failed to address her grievances and that her illness had been caused by the way in which the manager had dealt with her and that no reasonable employer would have dismissed in those circumstances, because no reasonable employer would have found themselves in those circumstances. On appeal the bank won. The EAT held that although the employer may have caused the incapacity in question, that did not itself preclude the bank from dismissing for incapacity. The only issue for a tribunal was whether it was reasonable for the employer to dismiss. As the medical evidence was that there was little prospect of a return, there was no alternative but dismissal.
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Temporary Workers
The Employment Appeal Tribunal had to revisit again the thorny question of agency workers and whether the end user or the agency was the employer. In the case of Cairns v Visteon Ltd. Mrs Cairns worked for Visteon from 1998 to 2005. However, from 2001 her services had provided under an agency contract and following a disagreement about time sheets, Visteon told the agency that they no longer wanted Mrs Cairns to work for them. Ultimately she took tribunal proceedings against the end user. The EAT considering the Court of Appeal judgement in Dacas v Brook Street Bureau, held that a contract existed between Mrs Cairns and the agency and so they did not need to try and imply one between Mrs Cairns and Visteon. Her case was therefore dismissed. A similar decision was reached by the EAT in the decision of James v Greenwich Council. She had worked solely for Greenwich Council through an agency placement for 5 years and similarly argued that an implied contract had arisen. The EAT said there that it was not appropriate to imply a contract where the end user can not insist on a particular worker.
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Tribunals
The Court of Appeal reached an important decision about calculation of compensation in the case of Burlo v Langley and another. In that case the employee was on sick leave with a payment of SSP only, at the time of her dismissal. She was dismissed without notice and the Court of Appeal held that in assessing her compensation it was SSP that she had lost not her contractual rate of pay.
The year also saw the publication of the Tribunal Statistics for 2005/2006. The number of claims increased by some 33% on the previous year. This is particularly spectacular as it represents the first full year of cases having had the benefit of the statutory dispute resolution procedures. As many experts predicted, the procedures have simply resulted in more claims being brought, whereas the original intention was that numbers would be significantly cut. The Government is now undertaking a review of the statutory procedures. See above. The new limits for compensation for awards from 1st February are £60,600 with the limit on a weeks pay for redundancy and basic award for unfair dismissal increased to £310.
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Working Time
The Government is consulting on an extension of working time holiday entitlement to take the minimum holiday to four weeks plus public holidays i.e. 28 days per year. The change would take place in two stages. From 1st October 2007 the increase will be to 24 days, with 28 days coming into effect from 1st October 2008. The Government believes it will effect 5.9 million workers and will cost business £4 billion per year. Consultation closes on 13th April 2007.
In September 2006 the European Court of Justice ruled that the UK was in breach of the working time directive in respect of rest breaks. The Government had produced guidance in the form of a DTI pamphlet suggesting that whilst the employer must not prevent a worker from taking breaks, it is not obliged to ensure that the breaks are actually taken. Amicus objected to this and took the case to the Commission who launched proceedings. It was held that whilst the employer was not obliged to require workers to claim rest breaks, but by virtue the DTI were letting employers know that they are not obliged to ensure that the breaks were taken, the UK was likely to render the directive meaningless. The European Court of Justice has also had a look at the case of Inland Revenue v Ainsworth which dealt with the accrual of holiday leave during a period off sick. The Court of Appeal had held that holiday did not accrue whilst off sick, but on appeal to the House of Lords, the case has now been referred to the ECJ for a determination.
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Whistleblowing
As we write we believe there has been dearth of guidance from the higher courts as to what does or does not constitute a public interest disclosure, more commonly known as whistle blowing. No case has yet to reach the House of Lords.
However, a tribunal found that a police whistleblower with health and safety concerns did suffer detriment as a result of warnings he had given about health and safety. He had raised a petition signed by 100 colleagues, claiming that sending officers on to the streets on their own was dangerous. He was warned that if he continued he would face almost certain dismissal.
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Education
Schools
Education Reform
Foremost among the big Education stories for 2006 was undoubtedly the School Reform Education and Inspection Bill passed through the Commons in June. The ensuing fuss about Trust Schools and City Academies culminated in the Cash for Honours scandal. This is a scandal which promises to spill into 2007 with speculation rising that it may even bring down the Prime Minister. In December Des Wilson (the headmaster who triggered the honours enquiry by making unguarded comments to an undercover Sunday Times reporter) demanded that: “Blair is arrested at 10 Downing Street at 7.20 a.m. that he is taken to a police station – hopefully Stoke Newington, which is a very unpleasant Bastille-type place – and treated the same way that I have been treated”. He also admitted that the academies are a huge mistake saying “Money has been wasted in the most appalling way. Many of them are the same schools with the same problems just with new buildings”. He will no doubt be enormously relieved to learn that the Crown Prosecution Service will be dropping all charges due to “insufficient evidence”. However Steiner Schools (based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner a 19th century German educationalist) appear undeterred by such bad publicity. They have made a bid for their existing Hertfordshire School to enter the government’s city academy programme. Nevertheless the Ofsted’s annual report judges one in eight secondary schools in England last year to be inadequate. It found 60% to be good or outstanding, 7% of primary schools to be inadequate while only 2% of special schools (see item below) were below the required standard. The Chief Inspector Christine Gilbert said: “I’m concerned about the gap between the best and worst provision” and that “parents could be a major force for change”. The new education reform bill now makes it possible for disaffected parents to complain directly to the chief inspector. A total of 23 schools on special measures were closed over the past year.
Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Although no longer Education Secretary, Ruth Kelly was rudely thrust right back into debate about SEN when she decided to send her own 9 year old son who suffers from dyslexia and dyspraxia to a £15,000 a year private school. There was sympathy at first but then demands for her resignation followed revelations that she has presided over the closure of more state special school annually than any other Labour education since 1997. Figures produced by David Willetts shadow education secretary showed that 2,770 places in special schools were closed in 2005 (the only full year Kelly was in charge of education) 2,051 in 2006. Some of these have been replaced by small units attached to mainstream schools. In 2005 Baroness Mary Warnock had admitted the policy was leaving “a disastrous legacy”. Her report in 1978 had estimated that one in five children had a special need and 2% had a severe need. The Warnock Report paved the way for the changes introduced by the Special Educational Needs Discrimination Act 2001. In 2006 there was a slight shift when Lord Adonis schools minister said there would be a tightening of conditions before special schools were closed. Today what is clear is that many of the 1.5 million SEN children in state education are failed by the system as provision is left to individual schools and local authorities. Local authorities’ budgeted expenditure for SEN rose from £2.8 billion in 2001 to £4.1 billion in 2005 and is estimated to rise to £4.5 this year. In state schools there are approximately 250,000 children (3%) who have Statements of SEN for which the school will receive extra funding. In addition there are 1.5 million (18%) who have been audited as having SEN but do not have an official statement. The number of full time pupils in special schools is now 90,290 down from 131,000 in 1979. Criticism of inclusion in mainstream schools continues to grow. The National Union of Teachers said that most teachers lacked the knowledge and skills to identify and deal with the wide range of behavioural and educational needs. The inclusion policy must have a significant impact on classroom discipline and the urgent need to raise standards in state schools in the basic skills of literacy and numeracy. The cost of educating SEN children privately however is escalating out of control according to research from the Audit Commission due to publish a report in February. Each year councils in England and Wales pay for about 11,000 SEN children to be educated in private residential schools. The cost runs now to more than £500 million which is an average of £57,000 per child per year, more than double the cost of fees at the UK’s leading public schools. Fees have risen by 79% in 6 years; in 2003 the average cost was £42,000 whereas in 2000 it was £32,000. Jan Hunter the author of the report questioned the authorities spending suspecting that schools are overcharging. The Commissions findings will undoubtedly put pressure on the Government to reform SEN provision.
Religious Discrimination and the Veil
During 2006 Schools have also found themselves at the centre of the debate about religious and cultural differences that exist in today’s multi racial Britain. In November Aishah Azmi a teaching assistant was dismissed from Dewsbury C of E primary school for refusing to remove her Muslim veil, the niqab having failed to convince an employment tribunal that she was a victim of religious discrimination and harassment by Kirklees local education authority. Although the school’s other female Muslim teachers wore a headscarf Mrs Azmi insisted on wearing full black veil in the presence of adult males. Shalid Malik the Labour MP for Dewsbury said “While I defend her right to wear the veil in society it’s very clear that her wearing the veil in the classroom inhibits her ability to support children.” Earlier this year Ofsted had criticised the “exceptionally low” standards by the pupils and blamed many of the school’s difficulties on “speech and communication problems”. It is understood that the case will be appealed and other local education authorities have said they will not take on similar cases because of the high level of costs in defending them. However Sir Keith Ajegbo who conducted a review of citizenship lessons commissioned after the July 7 2005 bombings believes white children are equally disadvantaged. Born of white British and Nigerian parents Sir Keith was formally head of Deptford Green School and is now a Home Officer Advisor. His damming report published at the end of January says of white pupils: “They can feel beleaguered and marginalised, finding their own identities under threat as much as minority ethnic children might not have theirs recognised.” The report quotes one white teenage pupil on being told her classmates came from the Congo, Portugal, Trinidad and Poland that “she came from nowhere”. The reports recommendations are welcomed by Trevor Phillips the chairman of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights who sees it as a crucial issue. The report prompted Alan Johnson Education Secretary to announce that compulsory lessons in British History will be added to the citizenship curriculum under heading Identity and Diversity: Living Together in the UK. Citizenship lessons were introduced in 2002 and are compulsory from 11 to 16 although pupils do not have to take an exam. As Ofsted’s annual report last year judged one in eight secondary schools to be inadequate (about one in 12 of those inspected) this issue is not going to go away in 2007.
Training Head Teachers
Responding to fears that an impending shortage of head teachers and concerns that workloads, bureaucracy and over-regulation were deterring applicants, consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) have just prepared a report on head teacher training for the Government. A departure from previous policy of the “Superhero head” this recommends that chief executives with no teaching experience take over schools. The “Sandhurst for Schools” the National College of School Leadership was established at Nottingham University in 2000 when David Blunkett was Education Secretary. See their website.
The college introduced in-service training for existing head teachers as well as a new qualification for new heads the National Professional Qualification for Headship which became compulsory in 2002. The PWC report recommends a new type of leadership run by a team of agencies rather than an individual that separates the academic, social and health care roles from the financial and administrative. This appears to be an eminently sensible system and one which has served the private sector of education well in the past. Here head teachers have been happy to lead the school’s academic life leaving the bursar to concentrate on the financial and domestic functions.
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Universites and Graduates
Declining university enrolments
In 2006 the number of students starting university in the current academic year fell by 3.6% on 2005 reflecting widespread concern about the leap in tuition fees from £1000 to £3000 p.a. As the burgeoning student debt began to bite students also had to contend with the university lecturers’ dispute and subsequent disruption to examinations. With the top universities lobbying to raise fees higher to as much as £6000 p.a. many began to question whether a university education was really worth it. Interestingly there is a growing gender gap as far more boys than girls are shunning university. Last year 22,500 more women than men won places, or put another way 47% of 17-30 year old women went on to higher education compared with 37% of young men. Clearly this has important social implications for us all as young men become disaffected and unfulfilled. Speaking for the Higher Education Funding Council for England the Chief Executive Professor David Eastwood said: “It matters in the sense that it mattered when it was the other way round. If we are not careful we are going to arrive at a position where young lads are alienated, they are under-skilled and, given everything we say about the nature of the knowledge economy and the premium that will be placed on graduate skills they will find themselves disadvantaged in the labour market.” We have yet to see whether the introduction in five universities of compressed fast track two years degrees can help to arrest the decline. Previously two year courses were only available for vocational foundation courses in close collaboration with employers.
Graduate Pay
According to a CIPD survey Graduates in the Workplace Graduate pay is declining so that they can earn only 8% more than those of six years and struggle with debt property and pension worries. The survey also shows average starting salaries as £19,451 compared with £18,016 in 2000. John Philpott for CIPD said: “The increase in starting salaries over the past five years is well below the rise in both retail price inflation and average earnings during the same period.” The Association of Graduate Recruiters who conduct a biannual survey agree that the increase in below inflation at 2.1% but put average starting salaries as high as £23,431 and estimate there will be an increase in the number vacancies up by 15% on last year. It comes as no surprise that the best paying employers are in investment banking with average salaries of £36,000 on entering with law firms and business consultancies the next highest.
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Skills Gaps
Leitch Review
The Government’s long awaited two year report into UK skills the Leitch Review of Skills received a cautious welcome in December 2006. The report was commissioned by the Treasury in December 2004 to investigate the current state of skills and to consider the skills base to be achieved by 2020.
The most important findings were:
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Health and Safety in conjunction with MESH Consultants
Safety Matters - January 2007
Welcome to the January 2007 edition of the Mesh Consultants Safety Matters article.
This newsletter is also available directly from www.consultmesh.co.uk
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published new guidance for employers on dealing with alcohol problems at work.
According the HSE, alcohol accounts for between 3 and 5 per cent of all absences from work - this equates to 8 to 14 million lost working days in the UK each year.
The new guidance entitled Don't mix it! is aimed at small and medium sized employers and covers:
July predicated as date for Corporate Manslaughter Act
The bill had its first and second reading in the House of Lords in December and is set to go before a Grand Committee in January/February 07. Many feel that the bill will be enacted on, or before 21st July 2007.
In the revised draft, clause 8 requires that juries should consider whether a corporate culture existed that encouraged, tolerated or led to management failures. This is the first time that this consideration has been “enshrined in the UK statute”.
Amendments in the wording of the controversial senior management test have also been made to ensure that organisations are not prosecuted on the basis of isolated, low-level management failings. It will no longer be necessary to prosecute a director or senior manager in order to prosecute a company.
Employees and their managers have been urged to 'Break the Sound Barrier' and test their hearing
For the second year running, the RNID, the charity for deaf and hard of hearing people, and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) are urging people to benefit from a free check which has already been used by 300,000 people.
The TUC will be encouraging the UK's 28 million workers to take the unique hearing check as one of their New Year's Resolutions, as it believes that there are many more who could benefit from the check to discover their level of hearing loss. Employers are also being urged to encourage staff to take the confidential, five minute check on 0845 600 55 55.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Hearing loss is a real problem at work for many employees, who may be reluctant to own up to the fact that they can't hear as well as they used to be able to because they are worried that they may be sidelined as a result. Employers should be supportive to staff who are losing their hearing and encourage them to take this important check, without fear of being treated less favourably, whatever the outcome."
John Low, chief executive at RNID, said: "Hearing loss can have a significant impact on an employee’s ability to interact with colleagues, managers and clients. Staff may be hiding their hearing loss which can lead them to become increasingly isolated and withdrawn".
Do you have a problem with noise in parts of your workplace? Have you undertaken the necessary noise assessments to comply with the new noise at work regulations?
If you need assistance then why not take a look at some of the clients that MESH has worked with.
New requirements regarding the installation of sprinklers in new buildings and developments in England and Wales are among the amendments to be introduced to the Building Regulations
The amendments will enter into force on 6th April 2007 and also feature new guidance on fire protection for residential care homes, the authorisation of a number of new competent persons self-certification schemes, and notes on the use of door-closing devices in dwellings.
It is hoped that the new guidance represents better, more focussed regulation that will deliver real benefits for both occupants and fire fighters alike. The review that led to the changes looked at fire safety in all types of premises, including dwellings, residential care homes, public buildings and warehouses. It also considered the important role that sprinklers and other types of fire protection measures may have, particularly in buildings where the occupants are most at risk from fire.
More details on the new requirements can be found at: www.dclg.gov.uk.
Eighty five per cent of UK workers fail to take a full lunch break, a new study shows
Health and fitness website Realbuzz.com questioned over 2,000 workers and found that 70 per cent have a shorter lunch break than five years ago while 40 per cent never take a lunch break at all due to heavy workloads.
Realbuzz.com founder Tim Rodgers said: "Working long hours without a break increases workplace stress, contributes to low morale in the organisation, and has serious health and safety implications.
"We would urge all employers and employees to turn over a new leaf for 2007 by taking proper breaks and recognising the importance and benefits of a good work-life balance."
Construction companies and developers have been dealt a stark reminder of the need to ensure that excavation work is carried out safely, after an investigation and prosecution by the HSE
Rosekey Limited and director Mr Kashmir Singh Atwal of Bexleyheath, Kent, were fined after both pleaded guilty to breaches of s.3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, at Croydon Crown Court.
The prosecution follows an incident in 2004 when a bookshop and the two flats above it partially collapsed in the middle of the night. Rosekey Limited had been contracted to build a new shop and flats next door, and over the previous few days excavations had taken place on the site to form the foundations of the new building. A trench was dug alongside the bookshop wall, at a depth that undermined its foundations. There was no suitable support provided for the excavation or the shop.
The investigating HSE inspector, Alec Ferguson, commented after the hearing: "This was an utterly needless and preventable incident caused by a company with a poor health and safety record. Mr Atwal was in everyday control of the site, but failed to ensure that construction work was carried out safely, due to his neglect."
"Although it is fortunate that nobody was injured or killed, he has caused untold hardship, misery and distress to those affected by his ill-managed enterprise. I would remind all contractors of the dangers associated with excavating near to existing structures, and to take every necessary precaution to provide adequate support to prevent a similar incident."
The HSE has published new guidance for safety representatives on the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006
The brief guidance explains the dangers of asbestos generally and highlights the key changes brought in by the new regulations.
Issues covered include:
Company fined that forgot to manage workplace transport risks
A printing firm that had so many high-risk processes to manage that it “forgot” about workplace transport was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £18,895. This was following an accident where an employee was crushed by a tow tractor.
The company had failed to undertake suitable and sufficient risk assessment and failed to maintain the tow tractor in an efficient working order. The court heard that the 21 year old employee was driving the three-wheeled battery-operated tow tractor and that the vehicle was not fitted with a seat belt and that its cab doors were missing. The employee also had not received sufficient training in how to drive it.
When driven over an uneven floor surface the tractor toppled over and the rim of the cab crushed the driver, causing him to sustain fatal injuries.
The Stannah worker denied a stairlift at company HQ
The name Stannah Stairlift has become a byword for making life easy for the elderly and infirm.
But when a disabled employee asked the company to install one of its devices at its head office to help him get to his second floor office, a manager laughed at the idea.
"Everyone would want to ride on it and no work would get done," he was told.
David Ratcliffe, 36, failed to see the joke and the company has now been ordered to pay £6,000 compensation by an employment tribunal for discriminating against him on the basis of his disability.
The married father-of-three, who has several collapsed discs in his back and walks using crutches, joined the firm's head office in Andover, Hampshire, as an IT designer in October last year.
He had difficulty negotiating the stairs to his office and had to go to the first floor every time he needed the toilet.
When he approached line manager Alison Dickson the day after joining the firm to ask whether one of its own stairlifts could be installed, she ridiculed the suggestion.
In a written judgement the tribunal ruled the company had failed to make "reasonable adjustments" for a disabled employee and this week awarded him compensation.
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