First Prosecution Under Corporate Manslaughter Act

The first company to stand trial under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 has been fined £385,000 after being found guilty by the jury at Winchester Crown Court.

The conviction of Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd came after a two-week trial at the court, where the company answered charges by the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to the death of employee

Alexander Wright in September 2008.

In handing down the sentence on 17 February, the judge, Mr Justice Field, confirmed the company could pay the fine over a 10-year period, with £38,500 due every year of that period. The company does not have to pay any costs.

The judge said the fine marked the gravity of the crime and the deterrent effect it would have on companies to adhere to health and safety guidance. He said a larger fine would cause the small scale company to be liquidated, and four people would lose their jobs. “It may well be that the fine in the terms of its payment will put this company into liquidation. If that is the case it’s unfortunate but unavoidable but it’s a consequence of the serious breach,” he said.

Mr Wright, 27, had been left working alone in a 3.5m-deep trench to ‘finish up’ after the managing director of Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings, Peter Eaton, left for the day. A short time later, the trench collapsed on Mr Wright and buried him.

Peter Eaton had originally been charged with manslaughter by gross negligence, as well as a health and safety offence, in his own capacity but these charges were dropped after a successful application by his defence team last October on the grounds of his poor health. The company also originally faced a separate health and safety offence, but this was dropped by the prosecution in January this year after the judge raised the issue of whether the two different burdens of proof for the two remaining charges might confuse a jury.

In convicting the company, the jury found that the company’s system of work in digging trial pits was wholly and unnecessarily dangerous. The court heard the company ignored industry guidance.

Detective Inspector Giulia Marogna, of Gloucestershire Constabulary, who investigated the case with the support of the HSE, described Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings’ approach to health and safety as “cavalier”, and the way it taught and supervised its junior engineers as “inherently dangerous”.

Some commentators have argued that the Act was not designed to prosecute small businesses like Cotswold. However, the case was seen as a test case for the legislation. To secure the conviction,

the prosecution needed to demonstrate that:

• Cotswold’s conduct caused the employee’s death and amounted to a gross breach of a relevant

duty of care owed to the employee (section 1(1)).

• A substantial element of the breach was in the way the organisation’s senior management managed

or organised its activities (section 1(3)).

The successful prosecution of Cotswold demonstrates the importance for businesses to have a

health and safety culture and to ensure that everyone takes responsibility for improving health and

safety.


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Rebranding of Empire HR

Here at Empire HR we have recently launched our new image as part of our rebranding programme to compliment the range of services that we provide. In a brave move, we have decided to drop the HR from the title and will now be marketing ourselves as just Empire. 

The decision to rebrand follows continual growth and expansion for the business in recent years. In the last 18 month we have increased our clientele significantly and have seen a 25% increase in turnover.

The company is now one of the Scotland's leading HR, Employment Law and Health & Safety firms working with a wide range of clients with between 5 to 12,000 employees.

The new branding, name and logo was designed specifically to fully support the wide range of services that Empire has to offer.

Also to coincide with the new branding and image, we have just launched a new interactive website, offering free downloads, networking events and an online discussion board called The Empire Wire.

To find out more or to just simply have a look at the new website please visit http://www.empirehr.com/ or contact them on 01224 701383.

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Extending Sick Pay Not A Reasonable Adjustment

The case of Ashton v Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has confirmed that the obligation to make reasonable adjustments to those with a disability does not extend to increasing the amount of sick pay an employee gets.

Ms Ashton had frequent absences caused by her disability, and RBS made several adjustments to her working pattern and role allowing her employment to continue. However, RBS did enforce its absence policy by giving Ms Ashton a formal disciplinary warning once her absences reached a certain level, which consequently affected her sick pay.

Ms Ashton claimed that by issuing the formal warning and withholding her sick pay, RBS had failed to make reasonable adjustments. However, the Employment Appeal Tribunal found that she was not at a substantial disadvantage in comparison to those who were not disabled because all employees were treated consistently in accordance with the absence policy, and confirmed that extra sick pay would only need to be paid in exceptional circumstances. In RBS’s favour was fact that the policy was sometimes relaxed for those with disabilities.

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Dismissal of Lewd Nurse Unfair

A nurse who was dismissed after she made a lewd comment whilst restraining a patient has won her

case in an Employment Appeal Tribunal.

In Bowater v NW London Hospitals NHS Trust, the nurse was sitting astride a patient who was having a fit and jokingly said “it’s been a few months since I was in this position”. Despite the fact that only her colleagues heard the comment, she was dismissed on the grounds of gross misconduct. The case highlights that it is crucial to take all the circumstances into account prior to a dismissal. In this case, the tribunal took her unblemished record and the fact that no member of the public heard her comments into account.

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Requests For Time Off For Training Delayed

Small businesses are to be spared from being forced to deal with requests for time off for training – for the time being.

Employers with more than 250 employees have been required to deal with requests since 6th April 2010, and the right to request time off for training was due to be extended to all businesses from 6th April 2011.

Following a consultation, the Government has confirmed that the right will not be extended as planned, so that the potential impact upon small businesses can be investigated further.

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Conservatives Criticised for Internship Auction

The Conservative Party was heavily criticised after hosting an auction of internships at its annual Black and White party. 900 supporters of the party paid at least £400 each to attend the party, at which internships at leading companies were auctioned off for an average of £3000.

Internships are an increasingly contentious way of getting a step in the door of businesses, and they have become more popular during the recession. Desperate graduates often spend several months working for free, in exchange for a chance of a paid job at the end of it.

Unfortunately the only people who tend to be able to afford a spell as an intern are those who have

wealthy parents who can pay the accommodation, transport and general living costs incurred during

the internship. The reality is that most graduates simply cannot afford to work for free, leading to

claims that the best jobs will only be available to privileged children of the wealthy.

On the other hand, most business owners would jump at the chance to have well educated staff

working for free. During difficult economic times, it makes financial sense to use cost effective recruitment

methods.

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Managers on the Drink!

An Office for National Statistics’ Lifestyle Survey has revealed that managers drink more than those

in manual occupations. Managers drink an average of 13.5 units of alcohol each week, whilst

manual staff drink an average of 10.7 units per week.

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No Boardroom Quotas Required

Lord Davies, the former banker chairing an enquiry into gender equality in the boardroom, has indicated that businesses will not be bound by quotas stipulating how many women should be on their boards.

As business owners breathe a sigh of relief , this is a welcome indication of the trend towards reducing the red tape  businesses are forced to negotiate. The introduction of quotas would have forced businesses to ensure a minimum percentage of women on boards.

However, the decision is likely to disappoint female managers. Research carried out by the Institute of Leadership and Management  (ILM) found that half of female managers think board room quotas should be introduced and almost 75% of women managerial roles believe a glass ceiling exists which will prevent them from reaching their full potential.

Board room gender quotas have been introduced in Norway, France and Spain, and the European Commission is considering the introduction of mandatory targets. However, UK business groups remain very resistant to these quotas.

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