industry news

Articles and insights from the Sentient team

The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025

The aim of the above new Act is to simplify data protection matters for organisations, whilst continuing...

Employment Rights Bill - Update

The Employment Rights Bill is progressing towards the end of its passage through Parliament (the Lords...

Hand Arm Vibrations (HAVS)

Do your employees/workers use hand tools such as routers, hand held saws, drills, staplers, air operated...

Employment Rights Bill - New Legislation

Following the publication of the new Employment Rights Bill last year, we sent out an Information update...

East Yorkshire Firm Fined More Than £533,000 After Fatal Fall of Shift Worker

An East Yorkshire company has been prosecuted and fined more than half a million pounds after a fatal...

The Importance of Safe Working at Height

Falls from heightremain the leading cause of workplace fatalities in the UK. On average, 50 workers lose...

How to manage legionella

Legionella has hit the headlines recently, Bibby Stockholm Barge and more recently, Amey Community Ltd...

Animal Feed Manufacturer Fined After Employee's Arm is Severed

An animal feed manufacturer has received a fine of more than half a million pounds as a result of an...

Forthcoming Family Friendly Legislation

The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 will come into force on 6th April 2025, the Government...

National Living Wage / National Minimum Wage and the Statutory Rates that take effect in April 2025

The National Living Wage   Rate from 1stApril 2024 Rate from 1st April 2025 Approx...

Farm Partnership Fined After a Man is Killed by Exploding Tyre

A farm partnership has recently been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and fined £80,000...

Snow Days Off: Paid or Unpaid?

Extreme winter weather conditions can cause problems resulting in difficulties for people getting to...

Our 2025 Webinar Programme

Our industry leading webinars are an opportunity for you to access expert insights from our HR and Health...

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Earlier this year we circulated an Information Update advising of the implementation of new legislation...

HR Update: Sexual Harassment Example Case

An employer has had to pay compensation in excess of £50,000 to a former employee who was sexually harassed...

Civil Unrest: The HR Implications

As we are all aware the last couple of weeks has seen civil unrests on the streets in England and Northern...

Rescinded Resignation: The Rules

Do You Have to Accept an Employee’s Request to Rescind Their Resignation? Generally speaking, an...

Metalworking Lathe Safety - Using Emery Cloth

A company has recently been sentenced after an employee sustained serious injuries whilst using a centre...

Election Results: What it means for HR & Employment Law

As you are no doubt aware Labour won a landslide victory in the election on 4th July 2024. What...

The Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024

One of the last pieces of legislation to come into law following the conservative party calling an election...

The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023

The above Act will now come into force on 1st October 2024 (instead of 1st July 2024 as originally proposed)....

iosh managing safely course

IOSH Managing Safely®, the market-leading health and safety course for line managers, is tried, tested...

Stress In The Workplace Webinar

Stress is a key factor in managing your employees wellbeing. By not being able to identify the signs...

Company Fined After a Delivery Driver Fell From a Vehicle

A delivery driver fell and suffered a traumatic brain injury while working at a company’s site. The company...

April is Stress Awareness Month

Do you know that April 2024 is ‘Stress Awareness Month’? This campaign has been around for over...

Council Worker Wins Record £4.6m at Tribunal

Claimant awarded ‘unprecedented’ payment after being sacked while on sick leave. A council employee who...

Employment Tribunal & ACAS Webinar

Our latest webinar, hosted by our Human Resources and Employment Law experts, will cover the topic of...

Rate Increases Update 2024

The Government have announced the following rate changes that are due to take effect in April 2024; some...

Driving at Work: Fleet Risk Management

Driving for work is completed by most businesses, to varying degrees. It can be defined as operating...

Menopause Guidance

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has issued new guidance for employers on Menopause in...

Managing Workplace Relationships

Workplace Relationships Acceptable conduct in the workplace is an essential element in what makes a truly...

Amendment to National Minimum Wage Regulations

Under the 2015 National Minimum Wage Regulations, an exemption applied to live in domestics, which decreed...

Asbestos – Are You Managing The Risk?

It is now over 20 years (and two changes in regulations) since law was introduced, requiring duty holders...

Sexual Harassment: A Recent Case Example

An employer has had to pay compensation in excess of £50,000 to a former employee who was sexually harassed...

Paternity Leave Changes

The Government has published draft legislation in the form of the Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations...

Family Friendly Employment Law Changes On The Horizon

As we have advised previously, a number of changes to family friendly legislation were announced during...

Legislation Impacting Holiday Pay & Other Miscellaneous Provisions

The Government, last week, published draft legislation to implement changes to holiday rights under the...

Home Working Update

Approximately, 4 years ago, back in 2019, the country was periodically put in ‘lockdown’ as a consequence...

HSE Ramp Up Inspections on Metal Working

The HSE has just announced that they are undertaking Metalworking inspections, starting in October 2023....

Fire Door Safety Week

We’re recognising Fire Door Safety Week – 25th – 29th September 2023 – as an...

The Evolving Virus & Its Impact

Since the start of the Covid 19 pandemic in 2019, the virus has continued to mutate and there is growing...

Civil Penalties Increasing for Employing Illegal Employees

All UK employers are required to prevent illegal working by conducting right to work checks to ensure...

The reason our team of Health & Safety Consultants repeat the importance of carrying out risk assessments...

The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023

As we told you in a previous Update [2022/31] The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill was introduced...

Inside Sentient: Meet Fiona McQuillan

Fiona McQuillan, Sentient Director Fiona has been helping her team adapt to the acquisition and change...

The Importance of Staff Wellbeing

For those of us lucky enough to have a job – love it or loath it – that job plays a crucial...

More Employment Law Changes on the Horizon

New rights derived from three Government backed cross party bills were given Royal Assent towards the...

Employment Law Changes on the Horizon

The Government have made some recent announcements with regard to changes to Employment Law in the future. We...

Dealing With Mental Health Within The Workplace

Sadly, mental health problems are on the increase in society and this inevitably impacts on the workplace....

Health Assessments for Night Workers

Information Update: 10/2023 • Issue Date: 09/05/2023 By way of general reminder, employers are required...

We’ve had a makeover!

new year, new sentient style Our visual branding and brand values have been given a fresh new look and...

SENTIENT WEBINAR

PROBATIONARY PERIODS 14TH MARCH 2023

Government Consultation on How to Calculate Holiday Entitlement

(For Part Year Workers (e.g. Term Time Workers) orWorkers with Irregular Hours) The Government have...

RECENT HEALTH & SAFETY PROSECUTION

The Incident:A 59-year-old HGV driver was waiting for his trailer to be loaded when he was hit by a forklift...

IOSH MANAGING SAFELY® TRAINING COURSE

Brush up on your Health and Safety Skills We are hosting another IOSH Managing Safely® Training...

TEACHERS’ STRIKE ACTION

You cannot help but have noticed that a large number of Teachers in England and Wales have voted for...

The End of EU Law in the UK?

The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (‘the Bill’), is part of the Government’s commitment...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Time to consider some New Year’s resolutions! The following case, which has been published by the...

FLEXIBLE WORKING CHANGES

The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill was introduced on 15th June 2022 by Labour MP Yasmin...

Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill

An investigation in 2017 by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that 54,000 mothers each year...

AUTUMN BUDGET

Jeremy Hunt – the Chancellor of the Exchequer – has unveiled the contents of his Autumn Statement...

ARE YOU WORLD CUP READY?

All English and Welsh fans and those from other nations, involved or not, will be eagerly awaiting the...

SENTIENT WEBINAR

CONDUCTING WORKPLACE INVESTIGATIONS 17TH NOVEMBER 2022

World Mental Health Day

Today, 10th October is World Mental Health Day and the theme this year is ‘Make mental health and wellbeing...

Lock-Out/Tag-Out (LO/TO)

Last month, a company in Shropshire was fined £115,000 after a worker’s hand was cut off in a machine....

Changes to Right to Work Checks for Employers

All employers should be aware there is a requirement to ensure they check that any applicant for work...

HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II

We join our country in mourning the passing of The Queen.May Her Majesty Rest in Peace. The Funeral is...

Fire Door Safety

With Fire Door Safety Week approaching – 19th to 25th September 2022 – this is an opportune...

Are Your First Aiders Prepared For Body Fluids?

Body fluids are an inevitable outcome of injuries or becoming ill at work and it’s something that’s not...

CLIENT HEALTH AND SAFETY REMINDER

Selection, Control and Coordination of Contractors by Clients The case below should be a horrific...

THE NEONATAL CARE (LEAVE AND PAY) BILL

An announcement in the Budget in March 2020 confirmed the Government’s commitment (at the time) to support...

EXTREME RED, LEVEL 4 HEAT WEATHER WARNINGS ISSUED

Current Extreme Weather Warning Period:Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th July 2022 The Meteorological...

COVID UPSURGE

With the news that Covid-19 cases have surged again, we thought it might be useful to remind you what...

NEW GUIDANCE ON FIT NOTES

As previously advised in our Information Update 2022/15 (15th June 2022) the law changed on 1st July...

EMPLOYING CONTRACTORS -
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HEALTH & SAFETY?

It is a commonly held misconception that when you employ a contractor to carry out work on your site,...

Changes to Statement of Fitness for Work ("Fit Notes")

The Social Security (Medical Evidence) and Statutory Sick Pay (Medical Evidence) (Amendment) (No. 2)...

Pregnant Workers and Risk Assessment

The HSE have updated their guidance in relation to Employers now having a legal duty to carry out an...

SEXUAL HARASSMENT
(Be Careful What You Say …)

An Employment Tribunal has ruled that calling a man ‘bald’ at work was a violation of his dignity and...

IOSH MANAGING SAFELY® TRAINING COURSE
Brush up on your Health and Safety Skills

We are hosting another IOSH Managing Safely® Training Course, in advance of the summer holidays. This...

SENTIENT ARE FUNDRAISING FOR
SUE RYDER MANORLANDS HOSPICE

Following the success of last year’s fundraising event, where Fiona and Paul bravely leaped from...

FACE MASKS
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE)

Are you protecting employees effectively from harmful dusts?If one of your control measures is the use...

COVID-19
APRIL UPDATE

Managing COVID-19 in the workplace now that most restrictions have been lifted – what do you need...

BUSINESS IMMIGRATION

On 15th March, the Home Office published its Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules providing...

NATIONAL LIVING/MINIMUM WAGE
AND STATUTORY RATE INCREASES

Below is a summary of the changes to the National Living Wage/National Minimum Wage and the statutory...

MAINTAINING AGING
PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

Performing non-routine maintenance operations when the work involves aging plant and equipment can be...

LEGISLATION UPDATE:
PPE REGULATIONS

The PPE Regulations were introduced in 1992 and set out the legal requirements for employers with regard...

The “Living with Covid” Plan:
How Does This Affect Employers?

The Prime Minister has announced an end to all remaining Covid restrictions in England. The Government...

Company Sick Pay Scheme –
Withdrawing the Benefit for the Unvaccinated

You may have noticed that a number of large organisations (Ikea/Morrisons/Next) have recently hit the...

FURTHER CHANGES TO SELF-ISOLATION REQUIREMENTS

England Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, has announced today that the self-isolation period for people...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Welcome to 2022 and our first Information Update of the year, let us start by wishing you a Happy New...

CHANGES IN SELF ISOLATION GUIDANCE AND RETURN OF THE SSP REBATE SCHEME

Self-Isolation GuidanceThe latest guidance from the government has said that people infected with Covid...

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