40
DECEMBER 2014 PRO INSTALLER
PRO BUSINESS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
When employees take the
festive fun too far...
The Christmas adverts are on the
telly, lists of ‘must-have’ presents
are being compiled and carols will
soon accompany shoppers on their
travails, but as the works Christmas
party looms, it is important organisations don’t get too caught up in the
festive spirit.
Abigail Halcarz, Employment Lawyer at
leading UK law firm SGH Martineau, warns:
“Whilst no-one wants to play the Grinch, it
is worth reminding organisations that the
Christmas party is essentially just an extension of the workplace or work environment;
employers should be prepared in advance
and protect themselves from unnecessary
employment issues following the event.
“From an employment law perspective,
although the party may take place outside of the workplace and out of normal
working hours, there remains the risk that
an employer will be liable for the actions of
its staff.
“Most concerning from an employer’s
perspective, is the potential liability for acts
of discrimination or harassment by its staff.
At a Christmas party, where employees can
easily forget work and get carried away
with the atmosphere, many will say and do
things they would not normally consider
doing.
“The most likely form of discrimination or
harassment to be witnessed at a Christmas
party is sexual, but the discrimination or
harassment could be on a number of other
prohibited grounds, including race, age and
sexual orientation, we can all imagine the
scenario.
“Other types of inappropriate behaviour
are just as common, such as drink-fuelled
aggression directed at colleagues or indeed
senior management, often resulting from
the releasing of tensions that may have built
up over long periods of time in the workplace.
“Such behaviour could lead to claims for
potentially unlimited compensation against
both the employer and the employee responsible. The time and effort required by
management in dealing with any grievance
and/or disciplinary issues arising from any
such incident, should also not be forgotten.
“Incidents such as these are unfortunately
all too common and every January, employment lawyers will be inundated with calls
from clients that begin: “There was an unfortunate event at our Christmas party...”. To
lessen the risk of being that client, employers should firstly recognise the potential for
problems and take the following steps:
• Invites should go to everyone, including
those on family-related leave, or absent
through illness or injury, as not doing
so might result in claims of discrimination;
• When employees can bring partners, do
not discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation and assume all partners
will be of the opposite sex;
• Ensure that you have an equal opportunities/anti-harassment policy in place;
• Shortly before the Christmas party,
remind employees of the existence of
the policy and confirm that it applies
equally to business events outside of
the workplace and outside of work
hours;
• Tell employees to enjoy themselves and
have a good time, but remind them that
inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated and could result in disciplinary
action;
• f hired entertainers tell racist, sexist or
I
offensive jokes and the employer does
not fulfil its duty to protect employees
from this unwanted conduct, it could be
liable for harassment claims;
• Consider limiting the bar tab. Arguably,
it is irresponsible to provide limitless
quantities of free alcohol to staff and
a limitless free bar would not assist in
defending any legal action resulting
from an act carried out by a member
of staff that was aggravated by alcohol
consumption;
• Consider appointing a senior, responsible employee to stay sober, monitor
behaviour and step in if necessary.
Abigail Halcarz is an employment
solicitor in the Commercial
Group at UK top 100 law
firm SGH Martineau LLP
Christmas Gifts with
a hidden agenda...
Given the inevitable gifts and invitations
to other organisations’ Christmas festivities
it is important for employers to be mindful
of their potential liability under the Bribery
Act 2010. The failure to prevent bribery and
corruption is a strict liability and the only
defence is if the employer can show that it
has ‘adequate procedures’ in place to prevent bribery and corruption.
All organisations, irrespective of their size,
should have policies in place and employees should be reminded of what is and
isn’t acceptable. Liability arises from both
offering and receiving bribes. Reasonable
gifts and hospitality, such as a bottle of
wine or an invitation to dinner should not
raise too much concern, but if employees
are whisked away on a private jet, sipping
champagne to meet Father Christmas in
Lapland, questions may need to be asked!
Government Gives Housing Building a Boost
Announcements made by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander MP as part of the publication of the
National Infrastructure Plan place housing at the heart of the Government’s long term plan and shows a welcome
emphasis on the importance of small sites for housing delivery, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has said.
Brian Berry, Chief
Executive of the FMB,
said:
“Given the scale of the
housing crisis we face, I’m
encouraged to see housing
considered alongside longterm infrastructure planning. It is more pleasing
still that housing delivery
is being viewed in a much
more comprehensive way
than we have seen before.
As well as announcements
on major developments,
determination to speed
up planning and releasing
more public land, there
is an equal focus on the
importance of small devel-
opments in meeting long
term housing need.”
Berry continued: “Government, at a central and
local authority level, can
fall into the trap of being
excessively focused on
large projects, at the risk
of ignoring the enormous
cumulative capacity of
small sites to deliver new
housing. One of the major
barriers which small house
builders face in bringing
forward small developments is the disproportionate cost and complexity which the planning
process tends to inflict on
minor applications.”
Berry concluded: “The
publication of data, which
will ensure greater transparency around processing
times for minor development applications, is an
important step in maintaining focus on smaller sites.
A commitment to looking
at how to better support
the approval of more small
sites is also an extremely
welcome statement and we
look forward to engaging
with government on this
issue.”
This recent announcement
comes shortly after the Government said it would be
lowering the threshold on
the Builders Finance Fund
to five units. “The Government’s decision to open up
applications to the Builders
Finance Fund to the very
smallest house builders is
going to make a real difference to our sector,” Brian
explains. “We know that
access to finance is the main
barrier to SME house builders increasing their output
and the fact that Ministers
have taken our advice,
shows that government is
committed to empowering
small local builders and ensuring they can contribute
to the much-needed uplift
in new homes.”