Health and safety breaches could lead to jail terms under new laws

Breaches of health and safety law could land directors, managers, officers and other employees with a prison sentence experts have warned.

The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 broadens the range of offences that could incur a custodial sentence and applies to employees at all levels of the business.

Fines for health and safety offences could also be unlimited under the new legislation if a case reaches the higher courts.

Under the new rules, employees at any level could be sent to prison if they take short-cuts with health and safety, even if no-one has actually died or been hurt.

Businesses should check their health and safety policies and practices in the light of the new legislation and protect themselves and their management from both civil claims and criminal prosecutions.

The new law quadruples the maximum fine for minor health and safety breaches from £5,000 to £20,000.

above: Employees at any level could be sent to prison if they take short-cuts with health and safety

No stealth tax on parking

The British Chambers of Commerce believes that the Workplace Parking Levy is a stealth tax which singles out business. As the economy is now in a recession, this tax will be detrimental for businesses, cities and towns.

Companies will be hit with an additional tax at a time when they least need it while towns and cities will see companies refusing to invest or in the worst case scenario relocating.

The British Chambers of Commerce urges the Secretary of State to reject Nottingham City Councils application and to abolish the tax nationally.

Employers sign up to receive the Train to Gain e-newsletter

Why not subscribe now to Train to Gain News the LSC’s quarterly e-newsletter providing employers with the latest updates on the Train to Gain service, with interviews, case studies and articles.

Issue 9 of the e-newsletter Train to Gain News was recently emailed and among the articles was a Q&A session where five employers who run small and medium-sized businesses quiz Karen Woodward, Director of Skills at the Learning and Skills Council about how Train to Gain can help them, their questions range from how to offer the best customer service to the benefits of leadership and management training.
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HSE has launched its updated work-related stress website

It includes all you need to know about how to tackle stress at work using HSE’s Management Standards approach. There are updated guidance and advice, new case studies and a brand new self-assessment tool for line managers.
Visit HSE stress at work website

‘Mummy bonds’ to help aid work return

Parents who take long career breaks to look after their children are to be eligible for £500 in training grants to help them back into work. The grants, dubbed ‘mummy bonds’, will be made to every person who has taken more than five years off work to care for a child or sick relative. The government’s intention is to help parents retrain after a spell out of the workforce and to ensure that those who have sacrificed some of their career to caring duties do not slip down the career ladder.

The initiative comes in response to widespread concerns that women’s earnings and careers are damaged after having children.
Source

New PAYE coding notices

You may have recently received or will receive a PAYE Coding Notice from HM Revenue and Customs telling you what your new tax code will be for the tax year 2009–10. Your new tax code will be used by your employer or pension payer from 6 April 2009 to make sure you pay the right tax and get the tax allowances and reliefs to which you’re entitled.

Not everyone will receive a new Coding Notice, so don’t worry if you don’t—your employer or pension payer will still be able to update your tax code on 6 April. Your Coding Notice is for you to keep. HM Revenue and Customs will tell your employer or pension payer what your new tax code is.
More about tax codes and your PAYE Coding Notice

Staff sharing

Companies have to get creative to beat the recession. Staffshare is part of a new approach that is needed if the country is to avoid the waste of talent and human tragedies that occur if companies rush prematurely into redundancies when conditions start to get tough.
More on Staffshare

March for Jobs, Justice and Climate

The ‘Put People First’ demonstration on the eve of April’s G20 summit will urge world leaders to focus their efforts on supporting jobs, promoting social justice and tackling climate change.

Almost 30 organisations including Oxfam, Friends of the Earth, and Save the Children have helped to organise the demonstration on Saturday 28 March. It will gather along the Embankment in central London from 11 am and proceed at noon to a rally in Hyde Park.
Visit Put People First