A group of factory workers who have to clock off and have deductions made from their pay every time they go to the toilet are taking their employer to an employment tribunal, according to the Daily Mail website.

Mental health charity Mind (external website) has produced a guide for employers on protecting the mental health of their workforce. Taking care of business: employers' guide to mentally healthy workplaces (PDF format, 300K) is available to download from the Mind website.

Presenteeism - when employees come into work despite feeling unwell - would appear to be rife among UK workers, according to a recent study from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists (CSP) highlighted by the BBC. The survey suggests that stress is a key risk area.

Employers’ procedures on annual leave have been put to the test over the last few months. First we had the European Court of Justice decisions of Stringer and Pereda, which dealt with the interplay between sickness and annual leave. Then the snow arrived. Again and again. With schools on the cusp of the summer holidays, HR professionals will once again need to get their heads round annual leave matters, as employees make competing and last-minute holiday requests.

The Indianapolis Star website has reported that an American employee who has a severe allergy to paprika spent $10,000 on an assistance dog trained to alert her to its presence, only to find on her first day back at work that an asthmatic colleague was allergic to the dog.

Workers at a Copenhagen Carlsberg warehouse returned to work yesterday after striking over their right to drink beer on the job.

Workers were previously allowed to drink the produce while working, but Carlsberg has changed its policy, limiting the warehouse staff to one bottle of free beer a day, to be consumed while on their lunch break. The Associated Press reports that the brewery's drivers are still entitled to their three bottles a day.

An interesting story in the Independent this week highlights the negative reporting in the British media of health and safety issues. The article, by the Chief Executive of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health Rob Strange, singles out Richard Littlejohn and the Daily Mail as purveyors of myths and misrepresentations about health and safety law (possibly the source for parts of David Cameron's speech (on the BBC website) on the subject last December).

The trial of the first company to be charged under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 has begun, reports the BBC website.

Employers, particularly those that have had to make redundancies as a result of the recession, need to be aware of the signs of work-related stress in their staff. Redundancy survivors may have to work longer hours to cover the work previously carried out by redundant ex-colleagues, while at the same time facing the threat of redundancy themselves.

Some mothers may have attributed a lapse in memory or concentration to their pregnancy or new born baby. Australian researchers, however, have confirmed that a woman’s brain is not adversely affected by pregnancy or motherhood.

Guidance on preventing workplace harassment and violence (PDF format, 822K) has been published jointly by the CBI, the Partnership of Public Employers and the TUC.

The guidance is intended to raise awareness about how to protect employees from the risk of harassment and violence, both from colleagues and from third parties.

Do you need to know about employment law in France? The latest European employment law guide added to XpertHR looks at key elements of employment law in Frances as it applies to: recruitment and selection; pay and benefits; employee rights; contracts of employment; training and development; equal opportunities; industrial relations; health and safety; and termination of employment.

XpertHR regularly publishes information on industrial relations law and practice across Europe - providing expert analysis of developments at European level and in individual European countries. In addition, other guides to national employment law in European countries include: the Netherlands; Italy; Germany; Greece; Poland; and Ireland. For ease of reference, we’ve rounded our European information up on one European employment law and practice page.

Remember that we want to provide information on the countries that are relevant to you in your HR role - so let us know which countries you’d like to see guidance on in the future.

Cold out isn't it? But for employees working in an office, how cold is too cold?

A video produced by a union representing Disney employees in California has questioned Disney's approach to managing the risk of swine flu in its hotels and theme parks.

The video (on the Unite Here! website) highlights the issue of Disney employees attending work when they are sick with swine flu, in order to avoid losing out on pay.

With snow across much of country once again, your organisation may be affected, with employees perhaps unable to get to work because of transport problems. Take into account the need to be flexible and make sure line managers use their common sense when dealing with the issues that arise. Guidance and a model policy on severe weather conditions and their impact on the workplace are available on XpertHR:

• Severe weather and disruptions to public transport policy
• Dealing with employment issues caused by severe weather or disruptions to public transport - a guide [subscription required for both]

Four new frequently asked questions on swine flu in the workplace have been added to the XpertHR dedicated swine flu resources page.

We asked XpertHR subscribers to suggest any questions they would like answered on how to deal with the impact of swine flu on their organisation. We have added the suggested questions to the swine flu FAQs already published on the site.

Issues covered by the new questions include how an employer should deal with sickness certification when employees with swine flu symptoms are advised not to attend their GP, and the risk of employees coming to work when sick because of absence policies that trigger disciplinary action.

Around 50 new model policies and documents have been added to XpertHR in 2009. But what have been the most popular? The XpertHR employment intelligence blog provides a round-up.

In a move that somehow makes perfect sense, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has chosen Homer Simpson as the new face of its health and safety at work campaign (on the RoSPA website).

Hewlett Packard is facing an unusual problem after seven IT workers in a Liverpool office won over £6m each in their workplace EuroMillions syndicate. The workers are said to have immediately resigned en masse after the news was broken to them.

Werner Heubeck, whose exploits as managing director of Ulsterbus during the worst of the Troubles included personally boarding buses to remove suspect packages, has died at the age of 85. The Daily Telegraph has published an obituary of Heubeck on its website.

Yesterday, I went to the Public Service Partnership staff protection and wellbeing conference. Although the speakers were from the public and private sectors, some common themes emerged as to how businesses can improve staff protection and wellbeing.

The IRS essential HR update on surviving pandemic flu in the workplace takes place in London on 6 October 2009. We’ve put together a pandemic flu resource pack to help XpertHR subscribers attending the event get the most out of it.

Why is it that women care so much about their shoes? This mystery deserves rigorous investigation and may never be fathomed. We just do.

Proving this point, a TUC motion  condemning retailers who "force women workers to wear high heels" has sparked some feisty debate.

The motion, submitted by the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, says:

"Congress calls on all employers who have dress codes that promote high heels to examine the hazards their women workers face and ensure that proper risk assessments are carried out, and that where these show the wearing of high heels is hazardous the high heels should be replaced with sensible and comfortable shoes."

It continues: "High heels may look glamorous on the Hollywood catwalks but are completely inappropriate for the day-to-day working environment."

An extraordinarily high number of staff suicides have occurred in recent months among staff at France Telecom, according to a Guardian report.

The reported numbers - more than 20 workers in the past 18 months (and six since mid-July) - are quite staggering. Some of the individuals specifically blamed workplace issues in suicide notes. One employee, who survived and is currently in hospital, stabbed himself during a management meeting after being told his job was to be cut.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has published new guidance on the employment of children under the school leaving age.

The guidance covers areas including the restrictions on the hours children can work and the types of job they can be permitted to do.

Guidance on the employment of children (PDF format, 297K) can be downloaded from the DCSF website.

Interesting post from the Pannone law firm blog on a Tate Modern employee involved in an employment tribunal claim alleging - among other things - that her workplace is too cold.

See also:
Is there a maximum workplace temperature beyond which employees cannot be expected to work?
XpertHR quick reference > Temperatures > Recommended temperatures in the workplace

• Swine flu: Government predicts 12% peak absence rate in August/September 2009
• Warning for employers on swine flu litigation
• Swine flu drives threefold increase in UK sickness absence rates
• A 2009 swine flu pandemic could scupper UK economic recovery, says Ernst & Young

Swine flu and the workplace - it comes as no surprise that many of the most frequently accessed FAQs on XpertHR throughout July were on this subject (see Swine flu - guidance for employers for up-to-date information and guidance). Other popular questions cover breaks for new mothers to express milk and the special rules for employees made redundant while on adoption leave. Most employers are aware of the laws protecting employees made redundant while on maternity leave, but remember that they apply to employees of either sex on adoption leave too.

Employers are being warned of the risk of litigation resulting from employees contracting swine flu at work. The article on the Guardian website quotes employment lawyers highlighting potential personal injury claims and claims resulting from breaches of employers' health and safety duties.

This seems like a good opportunity to remind employers of the resources available on XpertHR to help manage the risks swine flu presents to their organisations...

Every day this week, we'll be adding new swine flu FAQs to XpertHR in response to employers' questions about the impact of swine flu on their organisations. The first three questions have been added to the XpertHR dedicated swine flu resources page.

Now you can catch up on the latest information from XpertHR on swine flu, and check links to key external resources for employers, quickly and easily. Just follow the link in the dedicated swine flu resources box on the XpertHR.co.uk homepage.

> Swine flu - guidance for employers.

To help employers keep up to date with the swine flu pandemic, we have gathered together the latest information on XpertHR on the subject, along with links to external resources for employers. These include links to the Health Protection Agency’s weekly epidemiological update and influenza report, to assist employers in predicting, and planning for, absence levels. My colleague Luke Smith will be checking that the information is up to date on a daily basis. Meanwhile Susie Munro, who looks after the XpertHR FAQs section, is compiling employers’ questions on the swine flu pandemic and its impact on the workplace, to create new additions to the FAQs section. If you have any unanswered questions, let her know.

Twenty-nine year old factory worker, Vincent Smith Jnr, fell to his death yesterday after slipping and falling into a vat of hot chocolate. Read more on the Telegraph website

It looks like the Met Office’s prediction (on its website) of a warmer summer than average is, at last, coming true. While most of us are happy to see the sun, the problem of trying to work in an overheated workplace should not be underestimated. Although employers are required to ensure that the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings is reasonable, no upper temperature limit is specified.

There has been a recent flurry of termination of employment relationships, as a result of disregard for employers’ dress codes put in place to promote health and safety.

Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings is the first company to be prosecuted under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, according to the BBC.

Also:
What is the basis for the prosecution of an organisation under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007?
Following a fatality, can directors and senior managers be prosecuted under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007?

Most employees can feel fairly secure in the knowledge that their home will not be vandalised as a consequence of their job. Not necessarily so for teachers.

Forget Mondays as the worst day of the week - a recent survey [on the Telegraph website] has found that 11.45am on a Tuesday is now officially the time at which your working woes are likely to peak.

Alcohol misuse is rife in Britain’s great orchestras, according to a report in The Guardian (on its website) on 28 February 2009. Bill Kerr, the orchestral organiser of the Musicians’ Union spoke at the Association of British Orchestras annual conference last week, about players performing while drunk.

Given the continuing spread of the norovirus across the UK and statistics showing an increase in the number of measles cases (on the BBC website), it's no surprise that XpertHR has had a number of recent queries from employers in relation to infectious diseases hitting the workplace.

NHS Stoke on Trent has launched the unlikely health initiative of issuing pedometers to 7,000 workers, in a bid to identify which staff are most at risk of falling ill because of their lifestyles.

The recent news that two Britons have managed to get themselves locked up after a drunken romp on a beach in Dubai highlights the potential dangers of alcohol to individuals. The risks that organisations face in dealing with substance misuse are somewhat different but can potentially be serious.

(Photo: Pete the Painter)

Warning: Don't read this if you are of a nervous disposition or you're having your lunch break. The BBC reports that more than one in four commuters tested by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine had faecal bacteria on their hands. Yuk.

The introduction of "multi-faith and reflection rooms" is among a raft of new health and wellbeing initiatives for Downing Street staff, according to the Cabinet Office's annual report.

As if employers don't have enough to contend with in terms of sickness absence, another issue has been highlighted recently: websites selling fake doctors' sick notes.

One of the most frequently asked questions throughout July highlights the changes to rights during maternity leave affecting those with an expected week of childbirth on or after 5 October 2008 - the issue of payment of a car allowance during additional maternity leave. Other questions consider a requirement to take outstanding holiday during garden leave and dismissing an unsatisfactory probationer during the probation period.

Some of the most frequently visited FAQs on XpertHR during June concern the calculation of statutory payments - redundancy pay and SMP - where the employee in question has had a recent change in hours. Questions on the length of time that an ex-employee’s personnel record should be kept, and a change of heart on the employer’s part after a job applicant has accepted a position also feature.

To coincide with the launch of its new online archive, The Times has published a list of 100 "cases that changed Britain", including some colourful employment decisions.

Two new model policies added recently to XpertHR [subscription required] provide timely guidance on employee wellbeing.

Many of the questions featured in our 10 most frequently visited FAQs during April relate to legislative changes that came into force on 6 April, including the amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 in relation to harassment and rights during maternity leave, and the new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. Meanwhile, the statutory retirement procedures are still a source of confusion, with subscribers viewing FAQs on the number of requests that can be made in connection to a proposed retirement date, and whether or not an employer can seek to retire an employee at a later date where it has previously granted a request for him or her to continue working indefinitely beyond retirement age.

The US senate has approved legislation to prohibit employers from using genetic information to discriminate against individuals.

Many of the questions featured in our 10 most popular questions during February are new additions to the FAQ section of XpertHR – the majority published as the result of subscriber suggestions. So, if you have a question that you would like to see in the FAQ section of the site, don’t forget you can make use of the suggest a question button [subscription required]. Even if your suggestion isn’t suitable for publication as an FAQ, it might still provide useful ideas for guidance that could be published in other areas of the site, or prompt more detailed examination of a problematic subject.

The Health and Safety Executive has come out fighting this year in a bid to see off accusations that it is some sort of over-zealous killjoy body out to ban Christmas decorations and games of conkers.

First deputy chief executive Justin McCracken wrote to the London Evening Standard to take issue with mayor Ken Livingstone over what it judged to be some ill-judged comments about gas holders.

Did you spend the Christmas break fretting about what employment law cases are coming up in the next twelve months? Help is at hand, with my round up of ten significant decisions expected in 2008.

Once again, pregnancy and maternity featured in the month’s top 10 most frequently asked HR questions. Throughout December you asked questions on bonuses for employees on maternity leave, poorly performing pregnant probationers, fixed-term contracts due to terminate while the individual is on maternity leave and paid work during maternity leave. With regard to leavers, you wanted to know if it’s permissible to withhold the P45 of an employee who has been overpaid until the sum in question is repaid, and what action can be taken in relation to someone who fails to return company property.

With the office Christmas party season fast approaching, it’s time for HR to fulfil its traditional role of Scrooge with a reminder to staff about acceptable behaviour at work-related social events [subscription required].

Incoming president of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, Ray Hurst, used his speech at an awards ceremony last week to complain about the “offensive, untrue and derogatory” terms with which the media commonly refer to his profession.

With bird flu back in the news (on the BBC website), don’t forget that XpertHR’s policies and documents service provides employers with a model bird flu pandemic contingency plan [subscription required].

With the start of the workplace party season just weeks away, check out XpertHR's top 10 tips for a claim-free event.

Employers who ban their workers from putting up Christmas decorations in the workplace for "health and safety" reasons are going over the top, according to the Health and Safety Executive.

Now this may sound a little obvious, but scientists have apparently proved that if you want a long and happy life, you might want to avoid selecting rock star as your occupation of choice.

Two recent Court of Appeal decisions, reported on XpertHR this week [subscription required], demonstrate some of the difficulties facing employees who bring stress claims against their employers.

The number of deaths through accidents at work increased by more than 10% last year to 241, according to fatal injury statistics released today by the Health and Safety Executive and Health and Safety Commission.

A model policy on domestic violence [subscription required] has been added to XpertHR’s policies and documents service.

Bad news for health-conscious employers who want to encourage cycling as a viable alternative to the traditional car-based daily commute. It may cut your company’s carbon footprint, but apparently the risks of being mown down by less eco-conscious types are just too great.

The British Psychological Society always has something new to say about work-related stress at its annual conference. This year’s event, now under way in Glasgow is, of course, no exception.

Unsurprisingly, the XpertHR FAQs on the smoking ban in England have been the most frequently visited on the site this month – but what else have HR professionals been asking? Leaving aside smoking-ban related questions, we look at the top 10 most frequently asked HR questions during June.

For many employers today will be the last working day before the long-awaited smoking ban comes into force. From 6 am on Sunday 1 July, all public places in England – including workplaces – will become smoke free. When they turn up to work on Monday morning, employees used to smoking at work will no longer be able to do so, as the ‘smoking room’ becomes obsolete. In the last remaining days, employers need to ensure that all ashtrays are removed, and that the correct no-smoking signs are displayed. Fitting smoke alarms and providing assistance with giving up smoking should help send out the message that the ban is being taken seriously.

How many employees within your organisation are currently suffering from mental ill-health? ONS figures (PDF format, 1.19MB) show that in any one year, one in four British adults experience at least one mental disorder and one in six experiences this at any given time - so even if you are not aware of it, it is likely someone you work with is dealing with some form of mental ill-health.

As such, the cost of mental ill-health in the workplace to employers is significant. Mental ill-health is the second largest cause of time lost due to sickness absence (PDF format, 420KB) in the UK with an estimated cost of £9 billion every year. But can anything be done to reduce these costs and can organisations manage the process to ensure less sickness absence?

The smoking ban in England comes into force one month from today.

XpertHR has recently published practical guidance on how to comply with the smoke-free legislation [subscription required] to help employers prepare for the ban.

With just over a month to go before the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces, including workplaces, comes into force in England, it's no surprise that smoking-related issues currently feature highly in the suggestions for new FAQs that the XpertHR team receives.

We've therefore just added the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions, including:

Can an employer permit customers or clients to smoke on its premises?

Can employers permit their employees to smoke on the pavement outside the workplace?

Can an employer continue to provide a smoking room for employees, so long as no smoke enters the surrounding rooms and corridors?

Must employers ensure that homeworkers don't smoke at home?

Are employers obliged to specify outside smoking areas on their premises?

Where an employer provides company cars, is it obliged to make the cars no-smoking areas?

Where employees receive a car allowance instead of a company car, must their employer ensure that they don't smoke in any car purchased with the allowance?

What requirements are there for no-smoking signs in buildings?

What requirements are there for no-smoking signs in vehicles?

Where an employer has had no smoking premises for some time, is it still obliged to comply with the smoke-free legislation signage requirements?

USA Today reports that support groups for workaholics are springing up all over the United States.

In cities such as Minneapolis and Denver, groups of residents gather regularly in church basements and hospital meeting rooms to talk about their addiction. They share stories about how their addiction has damaged their physical health, destroyed friendships and hurt spouses or children. All have different jobs, but there is one problem they share.

They are addicted to work.

Support groups for workaholics exist around the country, in nearly 20 states including California, Arizona and Wisconsin. The Workaholics Anonymous gatherings, whose aim is to bring members together to battle their compulsion to work, is a sign of how employees are finding it harder to maintain boundaries between work and life.

The article reports one New York member saying "I can't even fathom having a boyfriend. I couldn't do that. The only relationship I have is really with my BlackBerry."

Are there any such groups in the UK? Not that I would consider going along - I'm just too busy at work.

According to the BBC, office workers who want to lose weight should swap their desks for a treadmill.

Employees can now lose weight as they work, thanks to a vertical workstation attached to a treadmill that has been developed by the Mayo Clinic (a medical research centre).

Researchers found that sitting at a desk while typing will burn no more than 72 calories an hour. However, if a worker uses the treadmill workstation he or she could burn up to 191 calories an hour.

Surely this just a little too extreme? There are plenty of other ways to burn a few calories during the working day, for example use the stairs instead of the lift, go for a walk during lunch breaks or even do a bit of dancing while you wait for the photocopier to warm up!