A new report from Crossland Employment Solicitors reveals a strong prejudice among UK employers towards transgender workers with one in three employers admitting they are ‘less likely’ to hire a transgender person and nearly half (43%) unsure if they would recruit a transgender worker. The survey identified the retail sector as having the highest number (47%) of businesses unlikely to employ a transgender person, followed by IT (45%), leisure and hospitality (35%) and manufacturing (34%). The financial services industry is most open to the... Continue reading

Changes to self-employed tax law have had a seriously damaging effect in the NHS and across the public sector, new research by IPSE and the CIPD has found. The study, based on responses from 867 contractors and 115 hiring managers (84% of whom were from NHS Trusts), found that half (51%) of public sector hiring managers had lost skilled contractors as a direct result of the changes to IR35 regulations. A further seven in ten (71%) also said they were now struggling to hold on to their contractors. The study found that 40% of independent contrac... Continue reading

A report published this week by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) underlines the importance of better safety management systems and awareness, and personal responsibility, in creating a stronger health and safety culture across the resource and waste management sector. Supported by the Chartered Institute of Waste Management (CIWM), the research, entitled ‘Common human factors underlying worker fatalities in the waste and recycling sector’, was commissioned in response to the high rate of worker fatalities in the waste and recycling se... Continue reading

In an important ruling, which will potentially affect thousands of Hermes couriers, Leeds Employment Tribunal has ruled a group of Hermes couriers were not independent contractors, as Hermes argued, but are in fact workers who are entitled to essential workers’ rights. These include the right to be paid the National Minimum Wage, receive paid holiday and reclaim unlawful deductions from their wages. There will now be a further hearing in the Employment Tribunal to calculate the holiday pay, National Minimum Wage and any unlawful deductions ... Continue reading

Contractor Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions Ltd has been sentenced after exposing workers to a debilitating health condition over a nine-year period. The company was fined £500,000 after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that workers were exposed to hand–arm vibration between 2002 and 2011, which put them at risk of developing Hand–Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS). HAVS is a permanent condition affecting the nerves and blood vessels of the hand. It can cause pain, tingling and numbness, making it difficult to carry out everyday ta... Continue reading