New Living Wage announced

The Chancellor George Osborne announced in the budget last week that a new living wage of £7.20 per hour will come into force in April 2016 for over staff over 25 years old.  Companies should start budgeting now for the salary increase.

Use of mobile phones when driving

A company has a duty to ensure that their employees do not use their mobile phones whilst driving.  There have been two recent cases that have highlighted the importance of company policy being fair, consistent and reasonable. 

In a recent case (Ruparell v East London Bus Coach Co Ltd) a bus driver was in the bus station and was seen on CCTV leaving the bus station and whilst driving he took his hands off the steering wheel to put the mobile phone into his pocket.  He returned one hand to the steering wheel whilst using his other hand to secure his phone.  The employee was dismissed for breaching the company policy on mobile phone use.  The Employment Tribunal held that the dismissal was fair as the employer had a strict and clearly communicated ban on mobile phone use policy, which included a prohibition on the “visible presence” of mobile phones in the cab area of the bus. 

In contrast in another case (Whitehead v FirstGroup Holdings Ltd) the employee was observed in his car entering the company car park using his mobile phone.  The employee was dismissed for breaching the company policy on mobile phone use.  The Employment Tribunal decided that the dismissal was unfair for two reasons:

1. The company mobile phone policy was not clear as to whether it applied to staff when entering the company car park in their own car.
2. The employer should have taken into account mitigating circumstances that the employee had 36 years’ unblemished and impeccable service and also the stress that he was under in his personal and work life.

It is important that the policy is communicated to employees and any situation takes into account the context and is applied in a fair manner.

To discuss mobile phone policy please call us on 01245 261883

Check employee driving licences

On 8 June 2015 the paper counterpart to driving licences was abolished.  As an employer you still need to check driving licences for employees who are driving on company business.  You can do this through a number of options:

Option one:

You can ask the employee to show you their personal online driving record.  This can be accessed by logging on to the link https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence and follow the instructions on the screen.  This will show any endorsements that the employee may have on their licence, which would have been shown on the paper copy.

Option two:

You can register for the new share driving licence service.  This allows an individual to generate a unique code which will then allow third parties such as their employers to check their driving record.  For more information follow the link https://dvladigital.blog.gov.uk/2015/05/21/dvla-guide-to-use-share-driving-licence-service

Please note that you must not access an employee’s online driving record without their permission as this is a criminal offence.

We would recommend that you carry out checks on employees’ driving licences at least annually if they drive on company business.  Also you should have a provision in your car policy, handbook or contract that requires an employee to immediately inform you of any changes to their licence.

Call us on 01245 261883 for more information