UK heatwave: What does the law say on employee rights during hot weather?

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The hottest day of the decade could be on its way to the UK – with the mercury set to climb to highs of 34 degrees on Wednesday 25 July, according to the Met Office.

But, for employees, the sun’s rays can make the working environment almost unbearable.

Laura Kearsley, partner and solicitor in the employment team at East Midlands-based Nelsons Solicitors, explains what the law says on employee rights during hot weather.

Can I leave my workplace if it becomes too hot?

Not unless staff feel unwell and need to take sick leave. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 places a legal obligation on employers to provide a “reasonable” working temperature in the office. Employers have a duty to determine what reasonable comfort will be in the particular circumstances.

Are there any other regulations that protect workers during hot weather?

In addition, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires employers to make a suitable assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their employees.

The temperature of the workplace is one of the potential hazards that employers should consider when doing risk assessments.

Read more here.

The secret of great learners: Focus on the process, not the outcome

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The history of orthopaedic surgery offers some surprising lessons for self-improvement.

Learning is so vital today that we can think of ourselves as living in a learning economy. We can’t just be knowledge workers; we must also be learning workers. In the words of Jeffrey Immelt, the former chairman and CEO of General Electric, ‘You never hire somebody, no matter what job you’re hiring for, for what they know. You’re hiring them for how fast you think they can learn.’

But we’re bad at learning. Supremely bad. In fact, we’re our own worst enemies. Instead of doing the things that will help us learn, we often do just the opposite. One of the most common mistakes is obsessing about outcomes while neglecting to examine carefully the process through which we achieve them.

I have three sons who, at least for the moment, all love baseball (as does their father). I have the good fortune to help coach each of their baseball teams, although soon their skills and knowledge will surpass mine. Recently my eldest son came to the plate with the bases loaded against a hard-throwing but wild pitcher. Most of the team was either striking out or walking. He ripped a pitch, but unfortunately it went straight to the shortstop, who fielded it on one hop and, given how hard it was hit, easily turned a double play from second base to first base.

Read more here.

Sainsbury’s & Asda: will it go ahead?

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The supermarkets are playing a positive tune, but there is a long way to go.

If you haven’t heard already, J Sainsbury has announced that it has ‘agreed terms’ for a £15bn deal to ‘combine’ with the Asda Group. Walmart (which currently owns Asda) will retain a 42% holding in the combination.

Although the two brands will remain seperate, Sainsbury’s hopes the move will strengthen the group’s position in a dynamic market by allowing it combine Asda’s low-cost groceries and the George clothing brand with Sainsbury’s traditionally higher end products and catalogue retailer Argos (which the chain purchased in 2016).

The man who is set to lead the new merged behemoth, Sainsbury’s CEO Mike Coupe, has said that there will be no store closures and has all but promised consumers that there will be an overall reduction in prices – some by up to 10%.

However, given that the deal is not expected to be completed until autumn 2019, is it all a bit too soon for such confidence?

Read more here.

Fail well

Fail well: How to handle business mistakes

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Looking at how companies deal with mistakes is like staring deep into their souls. Corporations that emphasise culture seem to take failure in their stride, while everyone else falls flat on their faces. Suppose your employee was trying to do something great, and instead failed. What if that mistake cost you money or a client account? How would your organisation deal with that? Assuming you cringed at this scenario, here are 10 ways you could handle mistakes positively – and suck a lot less.

1. We’ve got your back

One of the gleaming examples of how to deal with failure comes from Southwest Airlines. When I interviewed Southwest’s director of people Shari Perez-Conaway and VP of people Julie Weber on my radio show, they revealed a startling party line on the issue. If employees truly believe they are doing what is best for the customer and slip up, the airline has their backs. Southwest will retrain or coach staff – not punish them – toward better solutions.

2. Culture of learning

Does your company view mistakes as part of the learning process? Or are they weapons of shame and grounds for demotion or dismissal? Leverage a perception shift by accepting that to err is human and necessary to growth and improvement. Being prepared for mistakes helps companies face the inevitable. It leads to flexible and creative thinking, sometimes prompting breakthroughs and successes that would otherwise never have happened. Making mistakes should be tied to learning, not shaming.

3. Mistakes vs errors

When formulating policy on failure, it is important to distinguish between mistakes and errors. Mistakes, as in the Southwest Airlines example, are about trying to do something good or awesome and not quite making it. New, bold, or innovative acts are risky but can pay off with practice. Errors, on the other hand, are dumb moves that should be caught, fixed, and not repeated. If a clerk keeps miscalculating payroll time and again, that employee might need to go.

Read more here.

St Anne’s Court – Urban Regeneration  

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ESRG Developments (the property arm of The ESRG Group) unveiled their latest project, with the launch of St Anne’s Court in Digbeth. They secured £20 Million pounds build finance from the city to commence this residential urban regeneration scheme.

St Anne’s is an ambitious flagship development located in the heart of Birmingham, one of a series of similar ESRG Developments enterprises forming a billion-pound portfolio. Digbeth has a strong industrial history that is reflected in the concept and design of the modern luxury living spaces. Comprising a total of 170 one and two bedroom apartments, St Anne’s fits entirely with the ideals of The Big City Plan. These luxuriously appointed apartments have a beautiful roof garden taking full advantage of the impressive view of the fast changing, dynamic city.

ESRG Developments, project leader has over 30 years of sector experience, owning and directing a vast number of projects throughout Worcestershire and the Midlands. He is a focused and dedicated property developer, with a clear working knowledge and good relationships with city councillors and planners.

David Evans, Executive Chairman of The ESRG Group, which funded the formation of ESRG Developments, commented – “this success is a testament to hard work, and the clear judgement in selecting the right people and partners to invest in. I am truly delighted both with our current performance, and with the forecast for the future we hold in ESRG Developments and its team”.

Tony Copsey, Fourth Dimension Director and ESRG Group CEO, commented “I’m delighted with the realisation of our vision, our land assembly skills and the strong team we have carefully assembled to produce such amazing projects, which we will bring to the fore for the future and the enjoyment of our investors and end users”.

St Anne’s court is already 30% sold but early release apartments are still available. St Anne’s Court is a stunning development of 170 beautiful urban apartments set in the heart of Birmingham’s creative quarter, Digbeth. This newly emerging residential zone of Birmingham is placed in the heart of the city, with easy access to The Bullring Shopping Centre, Birmingham Grand Central and the proposed HS2 station is just moments away.

Unilever Marmite

Unilever has left London, but it hasn’t gone

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The Anglo-Dutch giant is now just a Dutch giant, but the UK retains the bulk of corporate jobs.

It could be Rotterdam, or anywhere, Liverpool or… no wait, it’s Rotterdam. After months of debate, Unilever has chosen the Dutch city as its sole global headquarters, over London.

The consumer goods behemoth has had a dual structure ever since the merger of Lever Brothers and Margarine Unie in 1929, with Unilever Plc in London and Unilever NV in Rotterdam.

Now there will be a single legal entity in Holland, with three divisions. Beauty & Personal Care and Home Care will be based in London, while Food & Refreshment will be based in Rotterdam.

The changes, which the company calls ‘Building the Unilever of the Future’, won’t involve moving jobs – the UK will continue to have 7,300 and Holland 3,100. It also won’t affect the stock’s triple listing in London, Amsterdam and New York.

Find out more here.

GKN

How GKN’s boardroom woes left it vulnerable to attack

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They call it the corporate jungle, and not without reason. Life at the top of UK plc can be red in tooth and claw, and any sign of weakness or vacillation may be pounced upon by investors hungry for a more substantial financial meal.

Such is the case with the recent £7bn cash and shares bid made by turnaround specialist Melrose for troubled FTSE 100 engineer GKN. After being rejected out of hand as ‘entirely opportunistic’ by the GKN board, Melrose then turned hostile, upping the bid to £7.4bn, an increase largely attributable to the rise in Melrose’s share price after making the first bid. That, plus the fact that GKN’s shares have now hit an all-time high of 442p, is a pretty unambiguous sign that the market is up for the deal and that GKN now has a real fight on its hands.

Melrose wasn’t likely to retire without a fight, especially after it received the blessing of US activist investor Vulcan Venture Partners, which holds around 4% of GKN’s shares. Vulcan’s boss CT Fitzpatrick stated in an email yesterday that he wanted GKN to open negotiations with Melrose.

Find out more at here.

Crane

Carillion collapse puts thousands of suppliers and sub-contractors at risk

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The collapse of construction giant Carillion could be highly damaging for thousands of small British firms, according to a number of leading industry organisations.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is one of a growing number of business groups to have called for payment protection for Carillion’s small suppliers and sub-contractors, of which there are thousands.

The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) and the electrotechnical and engineering services trade body, the ECA, are also among the organisations to have expressed concerns for Carillion sub-contractors in the wake of the company’s demise.

The UK’s second biggest construction firm was believed to have debts amounting to around £1.5bn when it went into liquidation in 15 January, owing roughly £800m in retention payments to small suppliers and sub-contractors.

Worries have arisen that much of this money may now be lost, putting the survival of many of Carillion’s sub-contractors at risk.

Read more here.

Poundstretcher

£1m fine for health and safety breaches at Poundstretcher

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Breaches to health and safety legislation at three Poundstretcher stores in Newbury, Newhaven and Swindon have resulted in the retail chain being hit with a £1m fine.

The chain pleaded guilty to a total of 24 counts of breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 following inspections by environmental health officers.

The case came after checks at a warehouse in Swindon following a complaint from a worker and investigations at the other stores.

Inspections discovered in the Newhaven store in December 2014 that emergency exits were blocked and stock was stored in a dangerous fashion. Further enquires revealed that the firm did not follow its own safety procedures and guidance.

The firm said that the issues were due to local management.

Read more here.

Luton Magistrates Court

£60k fine for plasterboard recycling firm following inspections

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A Bedfordshire-based plasterboard recycling company has been fined after health and safety concerns were identified during a routine inspection of their premises on 22 September 2015.

Luton Magistrates’ Court heard that health and safety standards at the site were generally poor; inspectors found:

  • no measures on site to prevent pedestrians from coming into contact with moving vehicles
  • machinery on site inadequately guarded
  • unsupported plasterboard stockpiles leaning against buildings.

A proactive inspection carried out by two inspectors from the HSE also found that Plasterboard Recycling Solutions Ltd had failed to ensure that the buildings on site were safe for workers to use because one of the walls of the process building was bowing and the internal roof trusses were bent and damaged.

Find out more here.