For the first time, parents who are employed and have suffered the death of a child will receive statutory paid leave to grieve, under a new law being supported by the Government and introduced to Parliament on 19 July. The Government expects employers to be compassionate and flexible at such a difficult time, but not all employers will respond in this way. This can have a devastating impact on parents, especially those who need time away to grieve. The Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Bill will seek to ensure grieving parents in employme... Continue reading

“We are conducting one of the largest criminal investigations outside of counter terrorism operations,” the Metropolitan Police Service has said in a letter circulated to residents of the Grenfell Tower, following the fire in which more than 80 people lost their lives. At this point in the investigation, the letter said, police now have ‘reasonable grounds’ to suspect multiple corporate manslaughter offences. “We have seized a huge amount of material and taken a large number of witness statements,” the MPS said. “After an initi... Continue reading

Fees for those bringing Employment Tribunal claims have been ruled unlawful, and the government will now have to repay up to £32m to claimants. July 2013 saw the introduction of a fees system regarding any claim made to an employment tribunal, this fiercely fought at the time by a variety of unions across the UK. Today saw a ground-breaking outcome from the Supreme Court that found the fee system unlawful, further it added that the Government had acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally back in 2013 when the scheme was introduced. Unison is ... Continue reading

If you’re involved in construction or facilities management, there’s a unique opportunity to meet the man in charge of the Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Programme at a key industry dinner. The 1,100-room Palace of Westminster dates from the mid-1800s and is now one of the most iconic and significant buildings in the world. The previous building was devastated by fire in 1834 but the oldest part of the Parliamentary Estate, Westminster Hall, built in 1099, survived and is still in use today. The Palace is now a Grade I liste... Continue reading

The latest version of the IOSH Managing Safely syllabus – version 5 – introduced some major changes to the content and structure of the course. We’ve also used it as an opportunity to bring out a brand-new eLearning version. When we reported back in November 2016 that IOSH was introducing yet another new version of its popular Managing Safely syllabus (version 5), we noted then that it would be the second upgrade within twelve months, and that more significant changes were afoot. Version 4 had seen some relatively small changes: the prin... Continue reading