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  The Government has just announced details of impending legislation requiring employers to inform and consult staff on key business decisions. The new law is the implementation of the EEC Directive requiring employee consultation in all countries by 2005. For the first time, business employing more than 50 people have a statutory requirement to consult employees on an array of business matters.  Businesses must set up formal consultation processes if more than 10% of employees request it.  Businesses who don�t consult face fines of up to �75,000 from tribunals. Companies who demonstrate existing arrangements (formal agreement with employee representatives or union officials) may hold a further workforce ballot where more than 40% have to vote in favour. Employers have 6 months after a vote in favour to reach agreement with employee representatives on the best way forward. However, no compulsion to set up �continental style� workers councils. If employees and employers cannot agree arrangements the EEC Directive requires a committee to be formed. This must meet regularly to discuss the business situation, structure and probable development of employment within the organisation. Businesses must discuss decisions likely to affect the organisation with the committee in the first instance. Discussions must be genuine, "with a view to reaching an agreement"; but no requirement to obtain consent before proceeding with any plans. Ed: One of the best ways to survey your workforce is with Lightning Survey

Employers need to be aware of new laws that come into force on 14th April 2003 which extend the protection given to blind or partially sighted people. The legislation makes it clear to employers that people who are certified blind or partially sighted will be classed as �disabled� for the purposes of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.  This means that blind and partially sighted people cannot be discriminated against in employment the supply of goods, facilities and services the disposal of premises in education The updated legislation has resulted from recommendations made in the ‘From Exclusion to Inclusion’ report published by the Rights Task Force, set up by Government in 1999. You can get a copy of the regulations from the Government at  www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2003/20030712.htm

ACAS has produced a guidance document to help employers with the new "sexual orientation anti-discrimination" laws which came into force at the end of 2003. The document can be found at http://www.acas.org.uk/publications/pdf/guide_sexualO.pdf  Employers need to be aware of the risks to them of possible claims of "harassment in the workplace", an area where the greatest number of claims are likely to arise.  The lobby group, Stonewall, have also produced a guide highlighting a list of Best Practice bullet points for employers. This can be found at http://www.stonewall.org.uk 

  The Civil Aviation Working Time Regulations are law from 13th April 2004 and are the UK�s implementation of the European Working Time Directive for Mobile Workers working in the civil aviation sector. The regulations apply to all people employed as crew members on board a civil aircraft flying for the purposes of public transport. Under the new rules each person must have a minimum of four weeks paid annual leave health assessments to ensure fitness to work at night  a pattern of work that affords adequate rest breaks  no more than 900 hours flying time a year  a total working time no more than 2,000 hours in a year  at least 7 rest days a month and no lees than 96 in a year Employers must  supply the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on demand with information relating to the working patterns and Time & Attendance information of crew members retain this information for at least 2 years maintain some form of Time & Attendance system Any person, body corporate, director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate who fails to adhere to the above will be guilty of offence and shall be liable to prosecution. Click here to review the Tensor Time & Attendance and Personnel systems  that help aviation companies adhere to the new laws.

Fire crews tackled a substantial fire at a derelict school. The blaze broke out at about 02:45 on Tuesday morning. A fire service spokesman said about 30 per cent of the school in the east end of Glasgow had been affected, resulting in a large amount of smoke. He added that at the height of the fire, it was being tackled by 35 firefighters. It was quickly contained and there are not thought to be any injuries. Time and attendance and security products from Tensor can be integrated with fire roll call software to ensure health and safety at schools, factories or offices. As employees assemble at their fire roll call points, they use their proximity read smart cards or key fobs to record their presence. If employees have not brought their cards or fobs with them, they can be checked off manually using the generated reports that are printed off automatically. The cards grant exit in a quarter of a second.  

Found out on Facebook: a thief ended up being fined for his foul play. The 29-year-old chicken thief was apprehended after posting a photo on the popular social networking website. Anthony Campen had stolen the bird from a local school but made the mistake of publishing his new feathered friend online. Campen, who posted a photo of himself with the chicken on Facebook on January 28, was ordered to pay £135 compensation by magistrates this week. If only the ultimate in Access Control is good enough for your firm or organisation – then look no further than Tensor. The equipment is fully expandable and can control an access control system of one door all the way to a multi-site, multi-national enterprise. Our access control units can be directly connected via a peer to peer cable connection, or be part of a network using your existing Ethernet IT backbone. Tensor access control can also include USB port PC security with optional fingerprint reading.  

Police are looking into the alleged ill treatment of pupils. The investigation means the head teacher and five staff members have been replaced with temporary teachers at Revoe Community Primary School in Lancashire. A statement from Sarah Riding, cabinet member for education and schools, said parents had been informed of the situation. She added: “We were made aware of an issue… that raised concerns to us about the professional judgement made by a number of staff in relation to pupil well-being.” Tensor has the solution to better discipline and pupil attendance in schools with WinTA PC Clock, which involves technology ideal for a school or college. PC Clock is a simple PC based booking system ideal for schools where each pupil has access to a PC. Automatic and definable reports showing registrations or clockings can be viewed and printed. The reports can be customised using the Report Generator and can be printed automatically at any given time of the day.  

An attempt to rob a shop left a volunteer very shaken by the incident. The volunteer, who only wanted to be identified as Heather, said she had been working at the shop for a few weeks and was alone on the shop floor when the attack happened on a weekday afternoon. She explained the shop was empty due to the bad weather keeping people away. The unknown assailant grabbed her and shouted: “Open the till, open the till.” Tensor can help commercial premises tighten up security and staff safety. For high security measures choose biometrics, which is the technique of studying the physical characteristics of a person such as a fingerprint, hand geometry, eye structure or voice pattern. Biometric methods of identification work by measuring unique human characteristics as a way to provide irrefutable proof of identity, for example, finger or iris scanning. Our recommended product for use with your Tensor System is our smart card access control scanner with built-in fingerprint reader.  

A funding website is helping to raise the cost of a community project that is refurbishing a disused public toilet in Somerset. The Loop de Loop scheme is raising £11,000 through Spacehive.com, which collects online contributions. It is turning the former WC into a gallery and food bar to drive footfall back into town. Loop de Loop, which has received backing from the presenter of Grand Designs Kevin McCloud, requires a further £7,000 in donations to reach its target. Tensor are specialists in Toilet Turnstiles that control access to loos, using coin, token or smart card methods. Styled in a tripod design, both single and double half height turnstiles are available allowing you to double your throughput while keeping the amount of space used by the turnstile to a minimum. They put up with high traffic volumes and can be placed in prestige access points – either interior or exterior installations. All of our turnstiles come complete with a two year warranty.  

Union members are planning a number of protests for today (Wednesday) over the pay of agency workers. The Communication Workers Union (CWA) says large recruitment agencies are skirting around the EU legislation that requires equal pay by employing staff permanently. The CWA maintains that many agency workers have been signing “pay between assignment,” or PBA, contracts without realising it would mean lower pay.

An under-fire council has gone public on its financial strategy options, which include dropping wage rises for its top staff. Also up for discussion is dismissing the senior employees at Caerphilly council and offering to re-engage them on their previous terms and conditions.

Equipment from summer Olympic venues will come to the aid of a school gutted by fire. The school’s insurers have arranged temporary accommodation from London 2012 sites to be transported over and they will be reassembled as classrooms. A second fire to strike in a dozen years at Lytchett Minster Upper School had destroyed the arts and theatre block last month. The blaze at the Dorset school is believed to have been started by a lightning strike.