Featured Articles
Agency Worker Regulations 2010
The Agency Worker Regulations 2010 came into force on 1 October 2011. Under the new legislation temporary workers are entitled to receive the same pay and benefits as permanent staff employed at the place they carry out their assignment after just 12 weeks in a job.
The new legislation has caused concern among some smaller businesses who may be obliged to match certain elements of a permanent worker’s remuneration package such as bonus schemes, overtime and paid holiday....
Corporate Manslaughter Act Prosecution
In February 2011, Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings (CGH) became the first company to be sentenced under the new offence of Corporate Manslaughter. It was fined £385,000 after being found guilty by a jury at Winchester Crown Court when an employee died after an unsupported trench collapsed in on him while he was taking soil samples.
Companies and organisations can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter (or Corporate Homicide if under Scottish jurisdiction) if an employee dies as a result of management failures resulting in a gross breach of duty of care....
Equality Act 2010
The majority of the Equality Act 2010 came into force on October 1, 2010. The Act simplifies, strengthens and replaces previous U.K. discrimination legislation (such as the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995).
The Act covers discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation....
Happy Birthday Corporate Manslaughter Act
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into force on 6 April 2008, creating a new offence called Corporate Manslaughter in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and Corporate Homicide in Scotland. There are no new duties or obligations under the Act, nor is the new offence part of health and safety law....
Thefts Rise as Economic Climate Bites
We are all a little tired of hearing about the doom and gloom surrounding the current recession. Snivelling apologies from fat cat bankers and profit warnings from our favourite retailers are just daily sound bites washing over our psyche. One of the consequences of the current climate could be more damaging to your business and your home....
Why You Need to Reveal All
Utmost good faith is one of the fundamental duties under a contract of insurance. It requires those applying for insurance cover to disclose all material facts about the risk being proposed to the insurer. It also requires insurers to deal openly and honestly with policyholders....
Top Tips for Securing the Right Insurance Deal
The Willis Commercial Network is delighted to be a branded service partner of the British Plastics Federation. We have put together our top tips for securing the right insurance deal, which we would like the opportunity to discuss with your clients following an introduction to them:
1....
A Real Life Plastics Industry Claim
Employers' Liability (EL) claims are probably more common than you think with typical claims ranging from loss of digits and limbs through to loss of life. The story below is an actual Employers' Liability claim handled by one of our major insurer partners and illustrates what can go wrong.
“Two maintenance men were working on their own overnight, cleaning and renovating a granulator machine (a machine which reduces bulk plastic into small granules.) The machine had a safety device operated by two switches some distance apart, which had to be pulled simultaneously. The men circumvented the safety by wiring both switches together so that one person could operate the machine....
RSS Feed