Feature Articles

Fraud, forgery and falsification in the field of workplace health and safety can put people’s lives at risk — both members of the public and employees. We consider some cases and their consequences.

Pregnancy can be an exciting but challenging time for your workforce and it is vital that you know how best to support employees in this situation, writes Croner consultant Carol Smith.

With an ageing population, UK employers are experiencing an increase in numbers of those within their workforce who are undertaking unpaid care. In 2019, research by Carers UK revealed that one in seven of all workers have caring responsibilities that they are managing alongside their professional lives, with over two million having reduced working hours in order to meet their responsibilities. A staggering nearly 2.6 million people are reported to have given up work in order to care full time, with around 600 people leaving work every day over the past two years.

At Ramadan, participating employees often have to manage extra physical and mental stresses, fatigue and dehydration. Jon Herbert describes how flexibility, discussion and forward planning from employers can help everyone involved.

Ramadan is the holy month of the Islamic Calendar during which Muslims partake in religious observance, including ritual fasting from sunrise to sunset. This year, Ramadan is expected to run from 5 May to 4 June and we have outlined some key ways to support staff during this period.

Treating women as equal to men does not mean treating the two sexes the same. Women are different biologically and this may need to be taken into account at work. Gordon Tranter investigates how the menopause can affect women’s health in the workplace and suggests how employers can provide support to enable women to continue to work comfortably and productively during this time.

In this feature Thoreya Swage, Healthcare Consultant, highlights the key changes to the GP contract published in January 2019.

Barrister Robert Spicer examines the case law dealing with injury after manual handling, and risk assessments.

Stuart Chamberlain, author and senior employment consultant at Croner-i, considers the implications for employment law and immigration if the Government is unable to obtain Parliament’s approval for withdrawal from the EU and there is “no deal” when the UK leaves the EU. He distinguishes between the short-term and long-term effects and implications and offers some advice to employers.

Dismissal for gross misconduct in the workplace or during working time is well documented. But what if the alleged misconduct takes place outside working hours, in the individual’s private time? How should an employer respond? Will a dismissal be fair? We examine the issues.