Soaring Temperatures

There are various issues to report on this month but an appropriate place to start seems to be to do with the hot weather we have been experiencing! Are you being subjected to an arctic chill from the air conditioning above your desk or perhaps you are sweltering in the heat at work? Read on…

Maximum/Minimum Working Temperatures

The World Health Organisation has made a distinction in its guidelines between maximum comfortable working temperature (24°C) and maximum safe working temperature.

As guidance, the HSE has released a general statement:

“An acceptable zone of thermal comfort for most people in the UK lies roughly between 13°C (56°F) and 30°C (86°F), with acceptable temperatures for more strenuous work activities concentrated towards the bottom end of the range, and more sedentary activities towards the higher end.”

Regulation 7 of the Workplace (Health and Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 states:

1. Temperature is to be reasonable.
2. There is no maximum temperature.
3. If ill health is caused to the employee due to excessive heat or cold, this can result in civil liability.

Employers must therefore ensure that temperatures in the work place are reasonable and follow the guidelines of the World Health Organisation and the Workplace (Health and Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 to avoid the danger of any potential civil liability claims.

Whistleblowing

There was an important decision at the Leeds Employment Tribunal this month in the case of Lingard v HM Prison Service in which an employee who was constructively dismissed after whistleblowing, was awarded £477,600.

Mrs Lingard was awarded a basic award of £3,915, a compensatory award of £470,687.90 (for future loss of earnings and loss of pension rights) and £3,000 in respect of injury to feelings.

In this case, the employee who was a prison worker had reported incidents of other staff bullying prisoners. The tribunal found that the employer revealed the name of the whistleblower deliberately and consequently failed to afford her the protection she was entitled to.

As a result of the employer’s deliberate decision to reveal the identity of the whistleblower, the employee claimed she was subject to bad treatment and was named a “grass”. The employer failed to appreciate the risk of this.

The tribunal made the high award to act as a warning to employers to ensure whistleblowing claims are properly managed and correct policies are in place and adhered to. Failure to do so may result in a similar penalty.

Age Discrimination

October 2006 will see the introduction of the Regulations making discrimination on grounds of age, unlawful.

It will be unlawful to harass an employee on grounds of age and to directly or indirectly discriminate an employee on grounds of age unless objectively justified.

In relation to default retirement age, the Regulations will introduce a default retirement age of 65 and a retirement procedure. Employers will also be obliged to seriously consider retaining an employee after the default retirement age.

The Regulations will remove upper age limited for claiming unfair dismissal and redundancy and alter the way in which redundancy payments are calculated by reference to age.

In light of the arrival of the Regulations, it would be advisable for employers to check whether or not their current policies and procedures are sufficient to protect them from potential age discrimination claims by employees.

Comparing the Regulations with existing law – it is known that an applicant should not be asked for their ethnic origin or religion on a job application form. Similarly, the effect of the Regulations will be that applicants must not be asked for their age on the application form unless the employer can justify the reason for this.

Look out for our further updates on the Regulations nearer the time of their introduction in 2006, especially once the Government has completed consultation of them.

Redundancy: Alternative Employment

You want to make an employee redundant, but have you considered whether or not there is any alternative employment within your company (or an associated company if part of a group)? Have you given the employee all the details of the alternative job? If you fail to consider alternative employment or provide full details of the position before making a redundancy, you run the risk of the redundancy being unfair.

In the case of Fisher v Hoopoe Finance Ltd, F worked for HF Ltd as a New Business Manager. He earned £40,000 per annum. A decision was taken to close HF Ltd resulting in a redundancy situation. At the same time, SF Ltd was acquired and F was informed of a vacancy with SF Ltd for a Sales Account Manager. F did not express any interest in this role and HF Ltd did not inform H of the salary.

F was made redundant and SF Ltd advertised the post of Sales Account Manager at a salary of £40,000.

F claimed unfair dismissal on the grounds that HF Ltd ought to have informed F of the salary which the role would have attracted had he taken the position. The Tribunal held that F’s dismissal was fair as HF Ltd had notified F of the vacancy and he had shown no interest.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal did not agree with this decision and found that the employer ought to have given F salary details despite showing no interest in the position. As some relief however, the Employment Appeal Tribunal stated that in cases where and employee shows no interest, it would be appropriate for any compensation awarded to the claimant to be reduced to reflect their lack of interest in the position and contributory fault.

To protect yourself as an employer you must provide employees facing redundancy, with all details concerning alternative vacancies even where the employee shows no interest. This may be by adopting a procedure whereby all the job details are given to the employee as standard in a written form when the situation arises. A simple step such as this may avoid a claim against you for unfair redundancy.

National Minimum Wage

From 1 October the minimum wage will change as follows:

Adults - £5.05 per hour

Workers aged between 18-21 - £4.25 per hour

New Stress at Work Guides

It is something we can all relate to – stress!

HSE defines stress as "the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them".

It is important for employers to try to reduce stress in the workplace to avoid low levels of productivity caused by excessive stress. A booklet has recently been prepared (13/7/05) by various bodies including the Department of Trade & Industry and the Health and Safety Executive, to help employers with this risky and potentially very costly problem.

To view the guide, click onto:

www.dti.gov.uk/er/work_related_stress_guide.pdf

The TUC has also prepared a guide on 15/7/05 to help unions ensure that employers are doing what they can to reduce stress their employees may be facing by way of a risk assessment.

Guidance can be found on:

www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-10147-f0.cfm

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