Feature Articles

The Operator Licensing requirements for vans, pick-up trucks or cars weighing between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes and which operate internationally for hire or reward, come into effect on 21 May 2022. Operators that fall within this category will be required to hold a standard international licence and meet most of the same requirements as those that operate heavy goods vehicles. Michael Jewell looks at the new rules and the mandatory requirement to engage a Transport Manager who resides in the UK and who is of good repute and professionally competent.

The number of individuals with dementia continues to rise. In the UK there are currently around 900,000 with the disease. It is projected by 2025 there will be over one million, potentially increasing to around 1.6 million in 2040. Dementia Action Week, which this year runs from 16 to 22 May, aims to raise awareness and encourage people to “act on dementia”.

August 2020 saw substantial changes coming into effect with regards the requirements placed on drivers to record their daily duties and activities from previous days and weeks. These revisions are the largest change to record-keeping since the introduction of digital tachographs and have substantially altered what drivers are expected to record, but many operators remain unaware of the increased obligations on drivers. Here Andrew Woolfall, from Backhouse Jones Solicitors, considers the new record-keeping rules and how to achieve compliance with them.

VAT is a complex tax that is administered entirely by the taxpayer, the business. HMRC expect the business to know how to manage the tax and to operate reliefs, simplifications and apply all the complex VAT rules to comply.

It is unfortunate that the chances of new employees having an accident in their first six months at a workplace are equal to those during the rest of their working lives. Jon Herbert highlights why it is crucial that young workers receive the right training and supervision needed as they come face-to-face with unfamiliar risks.

Recognising the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic and other problems that have caused supply chain difficulties, a number of relaxations have been made by the Government in order to maintain essential transport.

The Government’s Office for Health Improvement and Disparities recently published its updated Covid-19 mental health and wellbeing surveillance report. This report looks at population mental health and wellbeing in England during the coronavirus pandemic. Its information is used when deciding on policy, planning and commissioning in health and social care. However, individual organisations can also benefit from the findings of the report and use these to develop their own HR strategies.

To commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, there will be changes to bank holidays in 2022. The late May Bank Holiday, which would have fallen on Monday 30 May 2022 will be moved to Thursday 2 June 2022 and there will be an additional Bank Holiday on Friday 3 June 2022. The adjustment will take effect in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Looking back to December 2019, before the world was irrevocably changed by the Covid pandemic, employers had another issue on their minds: the Employment Bill. This much lauded piece of legislation, containing many of the recommendations from the Taylor Review and subsequent Good Work Plan, was set to bring in a raft of new rights for employees and make Britain the “best place to work in the world”.

Employers often find absence a tricky thing to manage. There is a need to balance compassion for the individual, the realities of life (we all get ill or injured at some point) and the sound running of the business. What must employers consider when applying absence management policies?