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.
£20 if you can prove you’re competent
Are you quids in? Or did you, in the process of attempting to prove your competence in Workplace Law’s recent surveys, discover exactly how nebulous a term ‘competence’ is, and how impossible to prove that you have it? We received a fantastic response to the surveys, which asked health and safety and HR professionals to prove to us that they were competent, in return for which we would give them a £20 cash prize!With a definition so open to interpretation, and with the term ‘competence’ being used in so many different ways across various professions and pieces of legislations, our respondents did indeed find that it was difficult to prove successfully and convincingly that they were competent. So really, no matter how many qualifications or years’ of experience you have behind you, you can’t PROVE that you will do a job competently. And competence to do a particular job within a particular environment has to depend on the individual circumstances — does a generic health and safety qualification PROVE that you are competent to take responsibility for health and safety in any workplace?
In this issue...
Legal calendar 06
Check that you are ready for all the events and legal developments coming into force this month.
Forum 07
Thoughts and opinions from Workplace Law Network members on a current hot topic.
The competence game show
Just how competent are you? Very, judging by the torrent of replies to the Workplace Law ‘Are you a “competent person”?’ surveys for health and safety and HR professionals. But do your arguments convince the experts? Caroline Merz rounds up some of your responses.
Competency Q&A
Workplace Law Network’s forum and online advice services attract numerous questions surrounding the issue of ‘competency’ including some more ‘unusual’ ones.
Competence - how clear is the meaning of the word?
Katy Brown examines the varied, confusing and sometimes contradictory definitions of competency.
Not up to the job?
We may joke about our pitiful parking or deplorable DIY, but incompetency at work is no laughing matter. Bernie Sheehan looks at cases where know-how – or lack of it – has been an issue.
Competency in fire safety
The issue of who is the ‘responsible person’ and who are ‘competent persons’ under the new Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is one of the issues likely to cause the most confusion until cases come through the courts. Caroline Merz addresses some key questions.
Workplace Law News
A round up of some of the recent activities and events undertaken by Workplace Law Group and associates.
Case law
Legal experts offer their advice to employers on the implications of recent case law.
Technical guidance
Stress in the workplace: Protection from Harassment Act 1997; Immigration update; and an overview of energy regulations for UK business.
Clinic
Should I ban the wearing of open-toe shoes in the office for health and safety reasons?
Analysis
Employees’ attitudes to data theft
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