What to look out for when Employing Young People
A recent Industrial Tribunal case was brought under the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 which resulted in the employer having to pay an award of £16,000. The worker in question had been employed for a couple of months as an office administrator in a small engineering firm. The firm contended that her performance was poor during the probationary period. Unfortunately for the firm, they were unable to support this argument and they had failed to use a competency-based procedure for recruitment or when her employment was terminated. The evidence failed to support their contention that the employee was not up to the job.
This was an expensive lesson for the employer to learn and some points need to be carefully considered by employers for the future. Follow these points:
- Make sure that any recruitment is properly undertaken based on a competency method.
- Ensure that the probationary and induction process is carefully documented. If the employee asks for support, as in this case, ensure that it is given where reasonable.
- Keep a record of meetings: record the failings and make sure that they are based on competency and capability. If the employee is young then it may be necessary to consider that in relation to work progress and expectations.
- If the probationary period is unsuccessful then make sure any termination is properly documented and go through the minimum Statutory Dismissal Procedure. This will provide the employer with documentary evidence of why the employee was dismissed, provide for a right of appeal and should prevent an uplift of 50% in the award, as was made in this case.
- This may only be a tribunal case, but it highlights the enormous risks that employers take where they lightly dismiss employees during probationary periods assuming that, because the employee has less than 12 months service, they can bring no claim.
The Statutory Dismissal Procedure should be followed as an essential defensive tool in the employer's armoury. This case highlights the need to have a proper probationary and induction process.
Crime
Local Police Inspector Chris Strickland attended the last meeting of the Chamber and we are indebted for him doing so. It was a great opportunity to discuss issues that concerned our members and we appreciated the full and frank responses given by him. We welcome the news that there has been a significant reduction in crime in the County and we have a high regard of the work that our Police men and women do, HOWEVER, a recent survey revealed that a large amount of crimes against businesses go unreported with some 28% not reporting all of the crimes against them during the 12 months prior to the survey.
While 36% of businesses who took part in the survey, carried out by the British Chambers of Commerce, claimed they would not report an incident due to the lack of confidence in a suitable police response, 68% suggested that they would consider not reporting a crime if there was only a relatively small loss or damage to their premises. Most (56%) are not confident that the police understand the issues they face, and 68% believe that the police are not adequately tackling crime against businesses.
Of the businesses surveyed, 58% said they had been victims of one or more crimes over the past 12 months. The survey revealed that crime has had a negative impact on business location decisions (73%), inward investment (62%), expansion decisions (57%), and recruitment (49%).
The Chamber takes the view that ALL crimes, however petty, should be reported to the Police.
Manslaughter
The Corporate Manslaughter Act came into force on the 6th of April. The Act will place greater responsibility on firms to ensure that they put in place stringent health and safety procedures. Failure to do so could lead to a business being publicly named and shamed, and fined up to 10% of its annual turnover should a death occur as a result of ‘gross management failure'. This is where a company's conduct falls considerably short of the duty of care it owed to the deceased.
Mike Waters, Chamber Chairman and professionally qualified Health & Safety Practitioner says “One area that managers frequently overlook when undertaking Risk Assessments is the relatively high instances of road fatalities, business owners in the transport industry – and those who provide company cars or who require employees to drive their own vehicles as part of their job – should make sure their employees are fully aware of health and safety best practice. The Corporate Manslaughter Act means that they must establish clear health and safety procedures, and monitor them, or face heavy fines and public censure."
He added: "The Act also means that firms must ensure their employees are given the correct training, and that the proper health and safety procedures are in place encompassing all of the significant hazards and risks that their employees face and this should be linked to contracts of employment. I'm sure that many smaller businesses are not doing this and place themselves at considerable financial risk as a result.”
Mike works on a self-employed basis for all types and sizes of business and offers a large discount to Chamber members employing his services, he can be contacted on Penzance 762888 or by email to mike@safetyuk.co.uk.
West Cornwall Hospital
The fight to maintain the services at West Cornwall Hospital continues despite numerous assurances from the management of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust that we have nothing to fear and that services will be enhanced. If all is well ask yourself this: “Why is it that whenever a hospital appointment is made for you it is invariably made to attend Trelsike Hospital ?”
One Chamber member has an eye condition which requires regular check ups, he lives in Penzance and has always attended the eye clinic at West Cornwall Hospital and normally makes a follow-up appointment at the hospital after attending the clinic. On his last visit he was told that the appointment system had changed and that he would receive an appointment in the post, he did several months later and it was for an evening clinic at Treliske in April. He immediately telephoned Treliske to change the appointment and later received one for West Cornwall in September!
Is this “new system” an underhanded way of running down services at West Cornwall Hospital ? If whomever had booked the follow up appointments merely looked at the person’s address or previous appointments surely he or she would have realised that West Cornwall Hospital was the preferred option? Perhaps the booking clerk has been told to always make appointments at Treliske initially, this would mean that the statistics for attending Treliske would increase and also show that there is a reduced usage of West Cornwall which would, in turn, provide justification for reducing the services provided in Penzance . There is also another reason why bookings are made at Treliske in the first instance, hospitals are paid on performance, that is to say that the more patients they treat the more money they get, they are not merely financed on an annual budget.
Bearing in mind the well reported financial mess that the Trust was/is in surely it would make sense to make appointments at the patients preferred hospital in the first place as there is a cost implication for changing appointments and sending out revised letters, multiply this by a few hundred a year and thousands upon thousands of pounds are wasted.
We urge everyone NOT to accept appointments at Treliske without first trying to change them to West Cornwall Hospital.
Penwith District Council
The Audit Commission has published the Annual Audit and Inspection Letter for Penwith District Council which provides an independent assessment of how the Council performed during 2006/07.
The Commission confirmed that Penwith had achieved an improvement in 78% of performance indicators that were used nationally to measure district council performance, which was significantly above the national average. In addition, 48% of Penwith's performance indicators were in the best performance of councils, which was also well above average. The Audit Commission confirmed that service performance continued to improve in the vast majority of the Council's priority areas and the Council had delivered a number of achievements against its outcome plans, such as exceeding the number of affordable homes built in 2006/07.
Well done Jim McKenna and staff BUT what a shame (or even a crime) that we are to lose such a well performing Council next April when the Unitary Authority takes over. With less than a year to go before District Councils disappear for ever Cornwall County Council still have not got full and firm plans in place which, we fear, will result in a shambles and increased Council Tax charges for all. The Chamber actively campaigned against the Unitary takeover for a variety of well founded and publicised reasons but, without the necessary political support, the wishes of the Cornish Community have been ignored……you know what to do come election time!!
Chairman’s Charity Motorcycle Run
It is now only a few weeks until Mike is off through France and Spain to raise money for CLIC Sargent, the charity which fights cancer in children. So far he has raised £1600 for this extremely worthwhile charity but he would be grateful for further donations!! If you are able to help please send your donation to the Secretary (shown below) cheques should be made payable to CLIC Sargent. You can also donate on-line at www.justgiving.com/barrysheenmotorcyclechallenge
Spotlight on Business - Watch this SPACE!
SPACE opened in Arcade Steps, Market Jew St, Penzance, at the beginning of Nov 2007. It is a lifestyle/gift shop focusing on beautifully designed items for the home and garden, as well as jewellery, bags, scarves, greetings cards and much more.
The proprietor, Adele Stanbridge, has been designing and manufacturing her own range of jewellery “Hastha Kala” meaning “Art with your hands” for the past 4 years. Selling at local fairs and national events, customers would often enquire if Hastha Kala had a shop. Adele knew a shop would be the next step and waited for a suitable property to become available in Penzance, where she has lived for nearly 20 years. She then set about filling it with her jewellery and other gorgeous items, many of which are produced locally.
While very keen to support local artists and designers as much as possible, Adele didn’t want to restrict herself to locally made items and sourced other items from elsewhere in the UK and abroad, focusing on items that were considered to be “a bit different”. To try and compete with big chain stores would be pointless, SPACE had to offer the public something different if it was to be a success.
After 4 months of trading, SPACE has now expanded by opening a new upstairs section. This includes a garden SPACE section, again the focus is on design and trying to offer “something different”. Garden seats, brightly coloured metallic trellises, and stunning stainless steel decorative wall plates are part of the range.
The feedback from customers so far has been very pleasing. Adele says the hardest part has been informing the public of our existence; this has been made all the more difficult by the fact that the Council have banned advertising boards from the pavements in Market Jew Street. Despite this, SPACE is building a reputation for selling beautiful, interesting, and affordable products, as the residents of Penwith and visitors alike continue to explore SPACE.
Have you been to SPACE?
Keep The Chamber's Cornishman Page Alive!
Everyone reading the Chamber's page in the Cornishman recently will have noticed that it was cut from its normal double page spread to just one page. This was not as a result of not having enough to put on it but directly as a result of there not being sufficient sponsors advertising around the side of the pages. This is an essential resource for the Chamber and all members are urged to consider taking out an advertisement in its support, discounted rates are available to all Chamber members, which is another good reason to join! If you would like to obtain cut price advertising and, at the same time, support your Chamber of Commerce please contact the Advertising team on 0845-6060311 or email trade.classifieds@c-dm.co.uk.
Your Chamber needs you
Joining up has numerous positives benefits for all businesses
Why join the Chamber of Commerce? Well, for a start, without its members, the Chamber ceases to exist, and if the Chamber does not exist, then it cannot provide its excellent services and benefits. But just what exactly are those services and benefits?
Membership of the Chamber has numerous positive benefits; firstly, and most importantly, you have the opportunity to make your voice heard on any issue that affects you and your business. We have an outstanding reputation amongst local government and other organisations with whom we liaise on a myriad of subjects and are, therefore, able to represent you extremely effectively. We have been able to solve several problems for our members, including planning issues, and continue to be consulted by the County, District and Town Councils regularly. Another very important reason for joining is the opportunity to network with other similar minded business people, thereby, realising that you are not alone and that we all have the same problems.
We don’t just get involved in purely business issues, as anyone reading this page will know, we also campaign for issues which affect the wider community such as the current battle for West Cornwall Hospital and St Michael’s in Hayle. We have are also very actively involved in the regeneration programme for Penzance and the surrounding area. Whilst we may not have exactly what we want what we will end up with will meet the objectives of securing employment and contributing to the financial growth of the district.
In order for us to continue to campaign effectively for all local businesses we need your support. We need a strong membership base in order to enhance our standing as THE voice of local business. With the current programme of developments locally there has never been a more opportune time for all businesses to come together in solidarity.
All in all, a fantastic service and huge benefits, in return for a small membership fee and the option of attending the monthly meetings. If you would like a membership pack please contact the Secretary on 01736-762888. We welcome membership from businesses throughout Penwith, not just Penzance.
We have meetings on the first Tuesday of each month in the Penzance and Newlyn Rugby Football Club in Alexandra Road commencing at 7.30pm, you are most welcome to attend whether you become a member or not and whether you currently run a business or not. Chamber meetings are a useful forum for those who are interested in starting a business as well as for members of the public who are interested in local issues that have an impact upon us all. We look forward to meeting you,
We invite membership applications from individuals and businesses large or small. For further information, visit the Membership Enquiry or Membership Application pages on this site.
Chamber meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month, the next meeting will be on Tuesday 6th May at the Penzance and Newlyn Rugby Club, Alexandra Road, commencing at 7.30pm.
ALL members and anybody else, whether running a business or not, is welcome to attend. Issues to be discussed at the next meeting include:
- Penzance Regeneration
- Cornwall County Council’s Unitary Authority status
- West Cornwall Hospital
- ... and many other subjects.
This is a great opportunity for everyone to get involved in discussing how our District is shaped in the future as well as bringing any issues to the attention of the Chamber which may need our support or involvement. Failing that, it is a great opportunity to network with other business people.
Secretary contact details
Everyone can now contact the Chamber as follows:
- By post - The Secretary, Penzance Chamber of Commerce, Sycamores, Relubbus Lane, St Hilary, TR20 9EG
- By email - penzancechamber@hotmail.co.uk
- By phone/fax - 01736-762888
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