Workplace Law Magazine is available only to Premium Members of the Workplace Law Network. Produced 10 times each year, it is distributed in hard copy format in the first week of the month, and is also available online.
Reality bites: managing in a recession
The credit crunch. One of those phrases that seemed destined to become an over-used excuse for everything that goes wrong at work, like ‘political correctness’, ‘red tape’ or ‘health and safety’.
Until it became apparent that maybe – just maybe – the credit crunch was going to be a very real problem for workplaces indeed.
Yes, we here at Workplace Law had began to think that the credit crunch was just confined to scaremongering news reports and dipping house prices; until we started to hear from our members that redundancies are on the cards, departments are being merged, hours of work are being reduced, and corners are being cut to save a bob or two.
As one newly-redundant facilities manager said in the Workplace Law Network forum:
"Employers are just not advertising posts, and some posts that have been advertised have been withdrawn as companies out there are holding on to every penny they have, even at the expense of letting their company run without a facilities manager or not carrying out repairs that at any other time of the year would have been done."
Suddenly employers are wondering whether there is enough money to carry on as they were before – and, if not, wondering how to make savings without going under.
In this issue...
Latest
06 Legal calendar
Key legislative dates taking place in November and December.
10 Case law
- Age-related redundancy scheme could not be justified, says Tribunal
- Staff told to vary their terms and conditions were dismissed, says EAT
- Default retirement age is legal: 1st ruling in Heyday case
Comment
07 Credit crunch and cost cutting – a conundrum for FMs?
The results of failure to maintain are historically renowned, says Maurice Tidy.
09 A tax blighting Britain's fight-back against the slump
The Chancellor cannot dither over bringing back empty rates relief, says Andrew Teacher.
Focus
12 Redundancy: HANDLE WITH CARE
With the effects of a worsening economy now beginning to bite, the number of employees being made redundant is on the rise – nearly 150,000 people between May and July this year alone. For unwary employers already up against it, mismanaging redundancy can be a costly mistake.
18 Alternative therapies
Making jobs redundant is just one of the ways organisations can cut costs. But alternative solutions also have their problems, Kelly Mansfield reports.
20 The Heyday challenge: retire when you want to!
A decision in the legal challenge to the UK’s mandatory retirement age, which has been brought by not-for-profit membership organisation Heyday, is expected at the end of the year. Claire Fuller spoke to Ailsa Ogilvie, Director of Heyday, about the latest developments...
Challenge
22 Venturing into the unknown
Adventurous activities by their very nature involve an element of (often deliberate) risk-taking. So how do you enable these activities without either damaging the participants or facing a claim of negligence should things go wrong? This is the challenge faced by the outdoor sector in an increasingly risk-averse society.
Network
24 Man of Steeles
Oliver Brabbins’ first job was working in a colour factory, checking that dyes for paint had hardened sufficiently to be processed. He literally watched paint dry. The rest of his career, however, which has led him to being Head of the Employment Department at Steeles Law LLP, has not been quite so dull.
26 Clinic
Workplace Law members ask the experts for advice on redundancy.
Technical
28 Legal update
In-depth technical guidance on: alternatives to redundancy, proposed changes to the Construction Act, and Energy Performance Certificates in educational establishments.
The data
32 This month’s statistics
Key figures and information on health and safety and employment law.
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