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Employment Law News - March 2008 Newsletter |
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| THE BIG BIG CHARITY BASH, 2008. |
 This is your last chance to respond and get yourself booked on the best night out in town! Tickets are selling fast, so act now!
An evening of fun and frivolity is planned for Friday 28th March, 2008 at the new MK Football Stadium. The evening kicks off at 7.30pm with a pre-dinner Cocktail reception, followed by a magnificent three course meal. During the meal, music is provided by ChristAL, followed by a night of dancing with King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys as well as a disco. Fund raising activities will also make the night go with a bang - an auction, table raffle and a roll-a-dice to win a SMART car competition!
Tickets are available at £60 a head, or £575 for a table of ten. To book your place at this exciting event, then please email without delay!
Donations or auction and raffle prizes will also be gratefully received! |
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| EMPLOYERS FACE NEW PENALTIES FOR EMPLOYING ILLEGAL WORKERS |
New penalties came into force on 29 February under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. A new system of civil penalties has been introduced which could result in employers who negligently hire illegal workers by not checking that they are legally allowed to work facing a maximum fine of £10,000 for each illegal worker found at a business. Employers who are found to have knowingly hired illegal workers could now face an unlimited fine and a prison sentence.
Since 2004, employers have been required to check either one secure document or a combination of two documents that show the person is permitted to work in the UK. The required documents are contained in two lists published by the Home Office. Under the new civil penalty regime, those lists have been revised to include new documents, some of them containing biometric data.
It’s in your interest to make sure that the migrant workers you employ are eligible to
work in the UK. Checking the documents of prospective employees before you hire
them provides you with what is known as a “statutory excuse”, which may prevent you from having to pay a civil penalty.
You will be excused from paying a penalty if the employee gives you any of the documents or combinations of documents described in either of two long lists (List A and List B) set out in the Schedule to the Order provided you also:
take all reasonable steps to check the validity of the document(s)
securely retain copy(ies) for a period of two years after the employment has come to an end
satisfy yourself that the photo and date of birth are consistent with the applicant’s appearance
copy all the required pages of the passport or travel document.
For workers with a time limit on how long they can stay in the UK, you must repeat the document checks at least once a year to retain the excuse. Failure to do so could prove very costly for you and your business and could also severely damage your business reputation.
Under race relations legislation, it’s illegal to discriminate on grounds of race, colour, ethnic or national origin or nationality. The best way to ensure that you don’t discriminate is to treat all applicants the same way at each stage of the recruitment process. In other words, you should carry out document checks on all prospective employees and not make presumptions about a person’s right to work in the UK based on their background, appearance or accent. |
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| FORMAL BUSINESS WEAR IS KEY TO PROMOTION SAYS UK WORKERS |
51% believe that dressing smartly helps win promotions
87% wear suits for Interviews
Jeans and comedy ties are banned from majority of work places
It seems that Richard Branson’s ban on his employees at Virgin from wearing jeans is not unusual. According to a Reed Employment survey of 3200 office workers registered on their database, jeans and comedy ties are banned from the majority of offices, with 47% of workers wearing smart casual business wear to work every day and 40% wearing formal office attire such as suits. What’s more, the majority of people questioned felt that dressing smartly will advance their careers, with 51% believing it will help them win a promotion.
Office workers seem to like their work uniforms believing it creates a separation from their office and home lives (37%), whilst 37% stated that they feel proud to wear a uniform as it represents their company’s brand image. Only 16% stated they are unaffected by what they wear to work and just 1% stated they felt uncomfortable in their work clothing. We are not a rebellious lot either – 90% of respondents stated that they strictly adhere to their work dress codes every day.
85% feel that in today’s office environment having a dress code is still highly relevant; 87% would always wear a suit to an interview and 62% also believe that wearing a suit is important to create the right impression on the first day at a new job.
However, some casual elements have crept into work dress codes – wearing a tie is no longer the norm in most offices, with 61% of men stating they never wear ties, 20% wear a tie only for business meetings, with only 19% wearing one every day. On the other hand comedy ties, together with jeans, short skirts, flip flops, trainers and sportswear are deemed unacceptable by the majority of businesses.
‘Dress down Fridays’ is still quite popular and a third of respondents claimed that their company had a policy in place to allow more casual business wear on Fridays.
Lewis Woodward, Head of Network Marketing at Reed stated, “The old adage ‘dress for success’ clearly rings true, with the majority of office workers happily embracing their company’s dress code and feeling proud to represent their brand. It is however, surprising that so many people feel that wearing smart office attire is still highly relevant in today’s business climate and that it is key to advancing their careers.” |
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| WHERE'S THE FIRST AID KIT? |
Less than six out of ten UK workers know the location of first aid kits in their work place.
According to research published by the British Red Cross, only 57 per cent of office staff possess such knowledge. This compares with 86 per cent who know where their first aid kit is situated at home.
It was also found that employees have limited knowledge of how to treat minor injuries, with 55 per cent reporting that they had never received any such training.
"Accidents do happen in the workplace. In 2006-07, over 150,000 injuries were reported and nine million working days were lost due to workplace injury. At the very least, every worker should know where their first aid kit is located and who is their first aider," stated Amanda Jenkins, head of PR for the British Red Cross.
The British Red Cross is part of the International Red Cross, a worldwide humanitarian organisation. |
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| DID YOU KNOW? |
| Q:Do we really have to check the passport or other documents of every single person we recruit? |
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A: Yes. You cannot make assumptions about a person’s right to work in the UK based on how they look or act. The UK population is very diverse and many people from many different ethnic backgrounds will hold British passports or be eligible to work here. By only checking some workers, you run the risk of a potential discrimination claim. The immigration document check must be carried out before the person commences their employment with you. |
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Crispin Rhodes, a UK based company that provides human resources and outsourced personnel services in Milton Keynes and surrounding areas. |
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