What to look for when Obtaining a New Job

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It can be daunting starting a new job. There is a lot to learn: who does what, where things are located, what procedures need to be followed, how to fit into the organisation. It is, therefore, of great importance that your new employer provides you with adequate induction training.

Why is an induction programme important?

A good induction programme will give you the tools you need to do your job effectively. It will tell you about what other staff take for granted: where the toilets are, how to book leave, whether you can work flexibly. It will also outline the company’s ethos, where you fit into it and the job that you required to do.

Health and safety

It is also important that your new company ensures that you understand how to work safely. Any organisation is required to comply with health-and-safety regulations. If your new employer does not, then you may find it necessary to seek employment law advice.

Different industries

Of course, what is appropriate in one industry may not be appropriate in another. Those working in offices should expect that a health-and-safety assessment of their workspace set-up will be performed. Those who are required to do any heavy lifting should receive manual-handling training. Workers on construction sites should get a detailed health-and-safety briefing that covers a number of areas, including site safety, the use of protective equipment and the management of fire risks.

Whatever industry your new role is in, it is important to ensure that you are given the appropriate tools and information to do your job to the best of your ability. Your new employer’s induction programme should give you a clear direction about how to do this and enable you to work in a safe environment.

Finding The Right Solicitor Is Important When Getting Divorced

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Divorce is a difficult experience which can be stressful and upsetting: not only do you have to accept the fact that your marriage has ended, there also needs to be agreement regarding assets, children or pets (if any), and any other matters that were the couple’s joint responsibility. Having the right solicitor can make the difference between divorcing as amicably as possible, or a having a lengthy, costly battle. You need to be sure that the person representing you will understand you, be honest and realistic about fees and any expectations about settlements, and work hard to protect your interests. Many solicitors are jack of all trades; an experienced specialist in Divorce and Family matters may be the best choice. The age, sex or ethnicity of the solicitor can also be a deciding factor, you need someone you can feel confident and at ease with.

Personal recommendations may not suffice. Take the time to interview solicitors, many offer a free half hour consultation. You need to stay in control and be listened to, not treated as just another case. Find out if they will be acting for you personally, and not pass you on to someone else. The adversarial system, which is lengthy, stressful and costly, is being replaced by Collaborative Divorce, but there are still many lawyers who are happy to lengthen the proceedings for their own gain. Be sure that the solicitor can provide the services you want, and that you can afford them, as fewer law firms are undertaking publicly funded Legal Aid work. Lists of UK solicitors can be obtained from the Law Society, or from the Citizens Advice Bureau.

The choice of divorce solicitor will also be governed by individual circumstances; cases involving children have to be resolved with their needs in mind. Divorce can be especially traumatic for children: as many as one in three lose permanent contact with their father, the same number end up living in poverty, and many develop mental, physical and emotional health problems. It is important not to allow children to be caught up in the middle, or for them to be used as bargaining tools. Finding a solicitor who is trained in Collaborative Divorce, where both sides work as a team and negotiate face to face before going to court, is best for voiding future bitterness and ongoing conflict. Collaborative Law is not suitable where a partner has a problem with mental health, alcohol or drugs, or where domestic violence is involved.

If you are divorcing a tycoon or someone who has behaved abominably, a solicitor with a “Take them for all they are worth” approach may fit the bill. For those wanting to end their marriage with dignity and fairness, stay on good terms with their ex-partner, extended family and friends, a solicitor with a calm, sensitive, conciliatory and non-confrontational attitude would be a better choice. A good solicitor will help you to secure a favourable outcome, which will enable you to move on and to start afresh.

Fire Safety Regulations

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The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to all non-domestic premises in England and Wales, including the common parts of blocks of flats and houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). The law applies to you if you are:

1.       responsible for business premises

2.       an employer or self-employed with business premises

3.       responsible for a part of a dwelling where that part is solely used for business purposes

4.       a charity or voluntary organisation

5.       a contractor with a degree of control over any premises

6.       providing accommodation for paying guests

Failure to comply with this requirement means you have broken the law.

Further information on what you need to do when carrying out a risk assessment is available in the 5-step fire risk assessment checklist below.

1.       Identify the fire hazards

2.       Identify people at risk

3.       Evaluating the risks

4.       Record your findings

5.       Review and revise

If, having completed a fire risk assessment, you need more practical advice or information, you local Fire and Rescue Authority may be able to help. You may feel more comfortable employing a fire safety specialist to help you.

How Solicitors can help you with industrial claims

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Industrial claims are brought for all kinds of reasons. In the UK, exposure to asbestos accounts for the majority of deaths caused each year by industrial disease, which is sometimes referred to as occupational illness. Whilst there are many types of industrial disease claims, all require the help of a specially trained personal injury solicitor.

Professional Guidance

Without legal representation of the highest quality, claims for compensation are at greater risk of failing in court. Solicitors help their clients initially by discussing details of their claims in order to establish whether there is a good chance of a settlement being agreed. Personal injury solicitors in Liverpool and other major cities in Britain are often called to deal with cases involving industrial disease. The importance of seeking professional legal counsel in such circumstances cannot be overstated.

Expert Representation

If a claim has merit, the personal injury solicitor specialising in industrial disease will obtain various details from their client, including the nature of the health condition, when symptoms were first noticed and what probably caused the illness. The solicitor will also seek evidence in the form of medical records and, more often than not, they will obtain the opinion of an independent doctor to better understand how the illness is likely to affect their client.

Personal injury solicitors are also adept at tracing defendants. In the case of claims involving mesothelioma or asbestosis, which usually only present symptoms several decades after exposure, the cause of the client’s illness might be difficult to identify. Even after the source has been identified solicitors prove their worth by tracing defendants who might have relocated or gone out of business.

Industrial Claims

Occupational illness usually develops over time. As noted above, asbestosis, mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer typically produce symptoms many years after exposure, making it especially difficult to establish negligence in law.

Other claims are more straightforward. The manufacturing worker who is required to operate loud machinery without ear defenders, for instance, would be able to identify the source of their hearing loss, whilst construction workers who develop vibration white finger should have little trouble establishing negligence.

Work Accidents: More than Just a Television Commercial

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Television advertisements are not always meant to be taken seriously, but when a commercial highlights a serious issue in a manner that could be described as overly dramatic or unintentionally comical, is the message likely to be lost on the viewer?

Have You Been Injured?

An accident at work claim is no laughing matter, but some of the commercials advertising personal-injury legal services are hilarious to some. The adverts tend to employ one of two formats.

The first involves a television personality – perhaps a former actor from The Bill or EastEnders – striding through an office building explaining the virtues of claiming compensation while being followed by equally serious-looking people dressed in suits and carrying briefcases. Such is the level of testosterone on display that the message to claim compensation could easily be interpreted as a threat.

The second format provides an illustration of what might happen to a person at work. Walking slowly and sensibly through an office reception, a smartly dressed woman fails to spot a spillage of water on the floor. Slipping on it, she falls backwards, flinging important documents into the air and landing to the ground with a bump. The woman is later shown with a relieved smile on her face, explaining that personal injury solicitors won several thousand pounds in compensation on her behalf and that she was able to return to work within a few weeks or months after recovering from her injury.

Reality

Of course, it is entirely possible that personal injury commercials are filmed in a deliberately absurd manner so that people are able to remember them more easily. In reality, claiming compensation for a workplace injury – or any other type of negligence for that matter – is very often neither a war on injustice nor a matter of convenience.

Claiming Compensation

Many workplace accident claims are brought because the claimants were left with little alternative. Few people are happy to claim compensation from their employer, but sometimes legal action is necessary. The process of claiming compensation is usually straightforward. The injured worker should seek medical treatment for his or her injuries without delay before discussing the possibility of making a claim with a specially trained personal injury solicitor.

Accident Compensation Claim After Fall From Height

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One of the most common accident compensation claims in the workplace involves falls from heights. Any job where the employee has to scale heights has a certain intrinsic risk which is why it is vitally important for both employers and employees to minimise the risks by taking precautions as laid out by government in health and safety guidelines.

This has been highlighted by a recent case where an employee at one of the UK’s most famous golf courses has launched a compensation claim after a fall from height workplace accident.

The injured party in the case is Peter McCloy who was once a famous goalkeeper for Rangers FC during the 1970’s and 1980’s. Now aged 64 Peter was working at Turnburry golf course when he fell from a height of 10ft whilst making a repair to a net.

Peter has now requested his personal injury solicitors launch a personal injury claim claiming the Ayrshire Golf Club had ignored health and safety rules and this contributed to his accident. The injury forced McCloy to be taken to hospital and it was discovered that he had suffered a bone broken in the shoulder.

His former employers are disputing the compensation claim, maintaining that it was Peter’s own fault as he was up the ladder on his own without it being footed.

The compensation claim has now been deferred by a court in Edinburgh until next year.

Defending An Employment Tribunal Claim

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Having been used to dealing with their employment law obligations in house, Midland Healthcare were finding increasingly more of their time was being taken up understanding complex legislation that had to be dealt with on an almost daily basis.

This was valuable time that could have been spent promoting the group and maintaining the high standards of care offered to their service users. Further pressure was being put on the senior management team to understand their obligations and responsibilities in areas such as recruitment, flexible working and disciplinary and grievance procedures.
Towards the end of 2009, the Management team at Midland Healthcare took the decision to seriously look at outsourcing their personnel and employment law. This was prompted when a senior member of staff lodged an employment tribunal against them. Midland Healthcare realised that they required a specialist who could deal with the tribunal and also provide ongoing support for all employment law issues to mitigate this risk in the future.
Citation plc was approached due to their strong understanding of the care sector coupled with their long standing relationship with West Midlands Care Association. Citation were appointed to provide Midland Healthcare with ongoing specialist employment law services and provide tribunal representation for the tribunal currently lodged against them for unfair dismissal, equal pay and unauthorised deductions from wages.
Upon becoming a Citation client, Midland Healthcare had immediate access to 24/7 personnel and employment law advice regarding any issues they were currently facing, including getting advice and support on how best to deal with the pending tribunal. The Citation tribunal department quickly arranged for all the necessary paperwork to be completed on time and allocated an experienced advocate to review and prepare the case on the clients behalf.
All relevant documentation was sought from the claimant, and all negotiations with ACAS and the claimant were managed by Citation. Once all the relevant documentary evidence had been inspected and collated, and all witness statements prepared, Citation represented Midland Healthcare at the tribunal and handled the case through to its conclusion.
After hearing all the evidence from both sides, the tribunal judge ruled in favour of the Citation defence, resulting in Midland Healthcare saving thousands of pounds in potential awards, not to mention avoiding negative publicity and damage to business reputation. Solo Nagra, owner of Midland Healthcare commented “Of course we were apprehensive when we found there was the possibility of being taken to tribunal. We needed Citations help to not only make sure that we had the best chance of defending the claim, but to also help safeguard our business in the future.
We were extremely pleased  with the outcome of the case and would certainly recommend Citation to other care providers.” By using the Citation service going forward, Midland Healthcare can now be confident that they have the most up to date employee documentation, correct management processes and the expert advice  they need to ensure the business is protected from future tribunal claims. Citation hopes to work with them for many years to come.

Failure of Property Code Standard Leads to Compensation Claim Defeat For Hollywood Star

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A compensation claim involving Hollywood film star has demonstrated the importance of keeping your property in line with official building standards if you are having work completed in or around your business or residential property. Failure to keep to these standards could leave businesses or householders open to personal injurycompensation claims if accidents occur.

Sharon Stone has been ordered to pay £144,000 in compensation to a man who was injured while working on her house. The agreement follows legal proceedings, and the original compensation claim involved a considerably higher sum. Stone must, however, now pay worker Peter Krause after his work accident claim was successful.

Krause was installing a sound system in actress Stone’s home when the incident occurred. The worker claims he lost his footing and attempted to steady himself on a lattice fence, but problems arose when that fence gave way.

He asserts that he fell 15 feet into a concealed drop, landing on top of a fence before tumbling into a neighbour’s garden and suffering major personal injuries as a result. These injuries are said to have prevented him from working since.

Stone contested the compensation claim, in which Krause originally sought almost a million pounds in damages.

The proceedings of the trial included the participation of several witnesses including the actress herself, and jurors were shown detailed diagrams of her garden layout. Doctors and State Compensation Witness Fund representatives were also called to give evidence.

Sharon Stone was found guilty of negligence and her fence deemed not up to standards dictated by Los Angeles’ property code. As the fence was not strong enough to hold Mr Krause and prevent his fall, a compensation package was approved.

Los Angeles Superior Court refused to award the original compensation sum sought, which amounted to £930,000, but did order Stone to pay £144,000 to Krause who, it was revealed during the trial, had not worked since the event and had suffered internal injuries as a result of the fall. The amount awarded was deemed reasonable to account for pain and loss of earnings.

Neither Peter Krause nor Sharon Stone have been available for comment since the decision.

Your Rights As An Ebay Buyer.

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When you buy things on eBay, you pay the seller before they send you anything. This means that you, as a buyer, are vulnerable to all sorts of problems. You might not get the items you have paid for, or they might be damaged or faulty. Luckily, you have two very important rights when you buy on eBay.

The Right to Receive Your Item.

Maybe the seller never sent the item, or maybe it got lost in the post. Whatever happened, you paid for the item. If it doesnt arrive in the post as described, you have the right to a replacement or a refund, whether its the sellers fault or not.

The fact that you bought something on eBay doesnt mean that you dont have the exact same rights that you would have if you bought it in a shop (these rights are pretty much the same all over the world). Plus, under eBays rules, the seller isnt allowed to change their mind about selling you the item: once the auction ends, it becomes a contract you must buy and they must sell, or face eBays penalties.

The Right for Your Item to Be as Described in the Auction.

Sometimes sellers dont wrap items properly, and so they get broken. Occasionally they write descriptions that are misleading or just plain wrong to begin with, leaving out vital details that would have caused you to change your mind about buying. If this happens to you, you again have the right to a replacement or a refund.

So How Do I Use My Rights?

First, you should take it up with the seller most will be responsive, as do not want to have their reputation damaged when an upset buyer leaves negative feedback for all their future buyers to see. If that doesnt work, report them to eBay.

While eBay dont have many people handling complaints, they do have a relatively effective set of automatic process to handle common problems buyers and sellers have with one another.

Finally, if that doesnt work, then you should seek advice from consumer groups in your country, and as a last resort from the police. You should never have to get this far, though: problems on eBay that cant be resolved easily are extremely rare.

Dont Be Too Quick.

Remember not to get too annoyed and be unfair to the seller: nice sellers have agreed to give me refunds for undelivered items, only for me to find out a few weeks later that they were being held for me at the post office! Always try your best to communicate and think of everything that might have gone wrong: eBay works best when buyers and sellers sort out their problems together, instead of reporting each other to the authorities straight away.

More often that not receiving what they paid for, buyers have an altogether different problem: they knew what they were paying for, but didnt realise that what they were paying for was overpriced, low quality or a scam. The next email will give you a list of tips on how to avoid being ripped off on eBay.

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Sometimes, things happen that can cause credit problems: a temporary loss of income, an illness, even a computer error. Solving credit problems may take time and patience, but it doesnt have to be an ordeal.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces the credit laws that protect your right to get, use and maintain credit. These laws do not guarantee that everyone will receive credit. Instead, the credit laws protect your rights by requiring businesses to give all consumers a fair and equal opportunity to get credit and to resolve disputes over credit errors. This article explains your rights under these laws and offers practical tips to help you solve credit problems.

Your Credit Report

Your credit report contains information about where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether youve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. Consumer reporting companies sell the information in your report to businesses that use it to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting a home.

The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuracy and privacy of information in the files of the nations consumer reporting companies. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act:

You have the right to receive a copy of your credit report. The copy of your report must contain all the information in your file at the time of your request.

Each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion is required to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. Consumers from coast to coast will have access to a free annual credit report if they ask for it.

Under federal law, youre also entitled to a free report if a company takes adverse action against you, like denying your application for credit, insurance, or employment, and you ask for your report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action. The notice will give you the name, address, and phone number of the consumer reporting company. Youre also entitled to one free report a year if youre unemployed and plan to look for a job within 60 days; if youre on welfare; or if your report is inaccurate because of fraud, including identity theft.

Otherwise, a consumer reporting company may charge you up to $9.50 for another copy of your report within a 12-month period.

You have the right to know who asked for your report within the past year two years for employment related requests.

If a company denies your application, you have the right to the name and address of the consumer reporting company they contacted, provided the denial was based on information given by the consumer reporting company.

If you question the accuracy or completeness of information in your report, you have the right to file a dispute with the consumer reporting company and the information provider (that is, the person, company, or organization that provided information about you to the consumer reporting company). Both the consumer reporting company and the information provider are obligated to investigate your claim, and responsible for correcting inaccurate or incomplete information in your report.

You have a right to add a summary explanation to your credit report if your dispute is not resolved to your satisfaction. You also can ask the consumer reporting company to provide your statement to anyone who received a copy of your report in the recent past. You can expect to pay a fee for this service.