In case anyone missed it, in this last week President Obama declared Swine Flu a “National Emergency” in the US.
The move means that certain powers can be unlocked under US law - to allow the real threat of the condition to be addressed appropriately.
Have a look at this excellent post - from the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog - for some tips about the sorts of things employers in the US might consider.
Will it happen here?
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As most people now know, a new law comes into force this weekend outlawing driving whilst on a cellphone (without an appropriate handsfree kit).
But what about if you drive while you’re working? Could it be a disciplinary offence for you to phone or txt while behind the wheel?
An article in the New Zealand Herald this week says it could be - and I agree. Every situation will, of course, turn on its facts, but one can imagine that a breach of this law could result in a health and safety breach in a workplace context - and disciplinary consequences.
See what you think.
There is a great catch cry in the law called “the floodgates of litigation”. Most often, the phrase is used by Courts as a reason not to allow a certain case to succeed for fear that it would overburden both the Courts and society in general with a new class of legal claims.
Put another way, as a matter of policy it is just not a good idea to encourage lots and lots of litigation.
In 2003 New Zealand’s health and safety legislation was amended to recognise workplace stress as a possible cause of harm to employees. At about the same time a trilogy of cases in the Employment Court recognised an employee’s ability to claim for damages for harm caused by workplace stress.
And, at the time, there were many commentators who thought that such an apparent change in the law – and the attitude to this type of claim – would open the “floodgates of litigation”.
A survey reported on Boston.com this week suggests that American workers are – partly as a result of the recession – becoming more unhealthy.
Amongst other things, the article suggests that an increase to levels of workplace stress (amongst other things) has caused employees to be stressed-out and time strapped – and therefore fat, sick, sleepless and inactive!
One might also suppose that, in addition to increasing demands on employees’ time, the removal of things such as workplace-funded gym memberships might also be a contributing factor.
And it will come as no surprise that workers in poor health are less likely to be loyal, engaged and satisfied with their jobs.
This is the sort of thing that is very hard to measure – unless one looks at the increase in workplace sickness records over time.
Is it possible that New Zealand workers are less health in times of recession? A thought to ponder.
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case reported from the UK in personneltoday.com suggests that an employer could be liable for a civil claim based on a criminal act that allegedly took place in an apartment owned by it.
The allegation is that a partner of a recruitment firm attempted to rape a secretary from the firm in an apartment – which appears to have been owned by it for the purpose of allowing employees to stay in town when they worked late.
Under New Zealand law, this type of incident could give rise to an employment relationship problem (as well as a criminal prosecution) – so, in that respect, there is some parallel.
It is an interesting read.
Over the last few weeks I have posted on a couple of occasions about social media – and policies that responsible employers might like to consider.
This week (thanks to a tip from Richard Best) I can refer you to an excellent site from eGov Australia which gives over 100 examples of policies to draw from.
Have a look, at see what you think.
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