Despatches news - Focus on Business

Dismissing the dismissal ‘black book’ -

A government-sanctioned national blacklist of staff sacked for dishonesty is struggling to attract employers because they are too worried about the bad press. The National Staff Dismissal Register, launched by a government-funded body in May last year, had less than 10 businesses signed up as of 1 December 2008. The register allows employers to share details of staff members who have been dismissed or have resigned while under investigation for dishonest actions including theft, fraud and forgery.

The Home Office entered into a joint venture with the British Retail Consortium in 2004 "to set up and maintain business crime reduction partnerships", providing almost £1m in funding over the next three years to set up Action Against Business Crime, before cutting financial ties in 2007.

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Small firms flex their muscles -

Research reveals small to medium sized businesses are getting more litigious in response to economic downturn. The number of SMEs taking legal action to force clients to pay up has risen sharply, as the credit crunch takes its toll on UK businesses. Research by the Credit Management Research Centre (CMRC) showed county court judgements against listed companies in England and Wales had risen by a quarter since the beginning of last year. September 2008 saw almost 2,000 cases compared with just over 1,500 in January, and in sectors such as property and retail, research showed the number had increased fivefold.

Fire message -

Insurer Norwich Union is warning businesses to ensure they carry out fire risk assessments and review them frequently, or face prosecution for non-compliance. The insurer found that more than a third of firms it surveyed failed to carry out a fire risk assessment, which is a requirement of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The main requirements of the Order are: The responsible person is required to -

• Carry out or nominate someone to carry out a fire risk assessment identifying the risks and hazards.
• Consider who may be especially at risk.
• Eliminate or reduce the risk from fire as far as is reasonably practical and provide general fire precautions to deal with any residual risk.
• Take additional measures to ensure fire safety where flammable or explosive materials are used or stored.
• Create a plan to deal with any emergency and, in most cases, document your findings.
• Review the findings as necessary

Parity for temporary workers -

The European Union (EU) has announced that the Agency Workers Directive must be implemented in the UK by 5 December 2011. The announcement comes as the EU sets out the official wording of the directive, which will give temporary workers the same rights as permanent workers after a period of 12 weeks with an employer. However, UK employers have said they hope the Government does not bring the directive into force any earlier than the EU deadline.