Ask the Experts Update 10 – 23 June 2023

 

HR & EMPLOYMENT LAW Jackie Le Poidevin, Editor-in-Chief, HR Adviser Email: hr@agorabusiness.co.uk

7 Tips to Ensure Your Work Experience Placements are Open to Talented Young People from All Backgrounds

The summer holidays are a time when many school pupils take part in work experience. However, according to new research from KPMG UK, the class divide and nepotism are resulting in fewer opportunities for young people from low socio-economic backgrounds to gain exposure to the world of work. We look at the findings and give some tips to help you ensure work experience schemes are fair and inclusive.

What did KPMG Find?

Carried out to mark Social Mobility Awareness Day on 15 June, the study of 2,000 adolescents suggests that those from low socio-economic backgrounds are less likely to have gained formal or informal work experience. The key findings are that:

• 40% of survey participants from disadvantaged backgrounds had done work experience, compared to 47% of young people on average.
• Seven in 10 of those surveyed felt that certain professions – such as becoming a doctor or lawyer – are easier to get into if your parents or guardians worked in a similar profession.
• Those who obtained work experience said this was more commonly arranged via a family member or friend (45%), rather than via their school (32%).

Why Does this Matter?

 

It’s been well documented that businesses which attract employees who have diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives are typically more successful. Opening up your work experience schemes to a wider group of young people can help you access a greater range of talents and address staff shortages.

Customers and staff also prefer socially responsible businesses. Finally, supervising and mentoring a young person is a good way to develop your existing employees’ management skills and can be particularly rewarding if they’re taking someone from a less privileged background under their wing.

7 Tips for a Fair and Inclusive Work Experience Scheme

1. Reach out to local schools and colleges to discuss the placements you have available.
2. Avoid handing out placements to employees’ family members or their friends’ children, which prevents the majority of young people finding out about work experience opportunities.
3. Offer to pay pupils’ expenses so you don’t lock out young people who can’t afford to travel to your workplace.
4. Be flexible when choosing who receives a placement – don’t just pick those pupils with the highest grades or those who have previous work experience.
5. Give the young person a range of tasks to maximise their learning experience. Consider whether they can work in different departments or arrange lunch with a different team member each day.
6. If appropriate, offer to be a referee for the young person at the end of the placement and encourage them to stay in touch.
7. Think about other ways to encourage young people from a variety of backgrounds to consider a career in your sector. For example, you might attend local careers fairs or go into schools to talk about what your organisation does.

 

HEALTH & SAFETY Emma Lampka, Editorial Board Member, Health & Safety Adviser and Risk Assessment & Compliance Email: hsadviser@agorabusiness.co.uk

Firm Fined Following Legionnaires’ Outbreak: Your 6 Steps to Prevention

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has fined a company in West Bromwich £50,000 and £11,000 costs, after it put workers and the public at risk of being infected with potentially deadly bacteria. People can get Legionnaires’ disease when they breathe in small droplets of water in air containing legionella bacteria. In this case, five people were infected: one person was taken to intensive care and put on a ventilator. We offer 6 steps you can take to reduce your risk of causing a potential fatality.

How You Can Manage the Risk of Legionnaires’ disease?

If you are an employer, or someone in control of premises, including landlords, you must understand the health risks associated with legionella. Your duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 extend to risks from legionella bacteria which may arise from work activities, and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 provide a framework of actions designed to assess, prevent or control the risk from bacteria such as legionella.

The Approved Code of Practice, L8, provides detailed guidance to meet the regulations which we have condensed for you below:

Step 1. Identify and Assess the Risk

You, or the person responsible for managing risks, need to understand your water system, the equipment associated with it such as pumps, heat exchangers, showers, etc. Either carry out this risk assessment yourself if you are competent, or employ the services of a consultant.

Identify whether these systems are likely to create a risk from exposure to legionella. The more these points below apply to your premises, your risk increases. Check whether:

• The water temperature in all or some parts of the system is between 20-45°C.
• Water is stored or re-circulated as part of your system.
• There are sources of nutrients such as rust, sludge, scale, organic matter or biofilms.
• The conditions are likely to encourage bacteria to multiply.
• It’s possible for water droplets to be produced and, if so, whether they can be dispersed over a wide area e.g. in showers and aerosols from cooling towers.
• It’s likely that any of your employees, local residents, visitors, etc. are more susceptible to infection due to age, illness or a weakened immune system.
• Is the dust liable to be disturbed?
• How could my team be exposed to dust e.g. inhalation, skin contact, ingestion, contact with eyes?

Step 2. Provide Training and Ensure Competence

 You must appoint someone competent (someone with sufficient authority, competence, necessary skills, knowledge of the system and experience) to help you meet your health and safety duties and take responsibility for controlling any identified risks from exposure to legionella bacteria.

 If you decide to employ contractors to carry out water treatment or other work, it’s still the responsibility of the competent person to ensure that the treatment is carried out to the required standards.

Step 3. Prevent or Control the Risk from Exposure to Legionella Bacteria

Determine if your system can be designed to prevent Legionella growth, for example, by replacing a wet cooling system with a dry air-cooled system. If you identify a risk that you are unable to prevent, develop a written control scheme and implement control systems that:

• Ensure that the release of water spray is properly controlled.
• Avoid water temperatures and conditions that favour growth (20–45°C).
• Ensure water cannot stagnate anywhere in the system e.g. keep pipe lengths short and remove any dead legs.
• Keep the system and the water in it clean.
• Treat water to either control the growth of Legionella or limit their ability to grow e.g. chlorine based or UV treatment.
• Monitor any control measures applied.
• Keep records of these and other actions taken, such as maintenance or repair work.

Step 4. Keep Records

You should keep records that detail the:

• Person or persons responsible for conducting the risk assessment, managing and implementing the written scheme.
• Significant findings of the risk assessment.
• Written control scheme and details of its implementation.
• State of operation of the system i.e. in use/not in use.
• Results of any monitoring inspection, test or check carried out and the dates.

Step 5. Comply with Your Other Duties

You must notify the local authority in writing if you have a cooling tower or evaporative condenser on site, including where it is located. This is required by the Notification of Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers Regulations 1992.

You must report any cases of legionellosis in an employee who has worked on cooling towers or hot and cold-water systems under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).

Step 6. Understand Any Specific Risk Systems

You must also research any technical and further information regarding the following risk systems, if they apply to your business, for which you can find further information from the HSE:

• Evaporative cooling systems.
• Hot and cold-water systems.
• Spa pools.
• Other risk systems.

 

PAYROLL Sarah Bradford, Editor-in-Chief, Pay & Benefits Adviser Email: pab@agorabusiness.co.uk

How to Report Diesel Cars Correctly on the P11D

If you provided employees with company cars in 2022/23 and you did not payroll the benefit, you will need to provide HMRC with details of your employees’ cars on their P11D by 6 July 2023. This year, HMRC are only accepting P11Ds filed electronically, either using PAYE Online or commercial software.

The Information Required

When reporting company car information on an employee’s P11D, you are required to provide the following details to HMRC:

1. Make and model of the car.
2. Date that the car was first registered.
3. Approved CO₂ emissions for a car first registered on or after 1 January 1998.
4. For cars with CO₂ emissions of between 1 and 50g/km, the approved zero emission mileage.
5. The engine size of the car, if applicable.
6. Type of fuel or power used.
7. The dates for which the car was available during the 2022/23 tax year.

This information must be provided for each car that was made available to the employee in the 2022/23 tax year.

If the car does not have a CO₂ emissions figure, this must be indicated.

Fuel Type

The fuel type impacts on the amount charged to tax. Company cars are taxed on a percentage of their list price (and that of optional accessories). The percentage – the appropriate percentage – depends on the car’s CO₂ emission. The percentage is set for petrol cars.

However, a supplement of 4 percentage points is added to diesel cars not meeting the Euro 6d (RDE 2) emissions standards (subject to a maximum charge of 37%). The taxable amount is adjusted to reflect any capital contributions, any private use contributions and any qualifying periods of unavailability.

The fuel type of the car is indicated on the P11D by means of a key letter. The letters are shown in the table below.

Key Letter	Car Type
F	Diesel cars which meet Euro 6d (RDE 2) standard
D	All other diesel cars
A	All other cars

 

Key Letter for Diesel Cars

HMRC have published guidance in the June 2023 issue of their Employer Bulletin publication on reporting diesel company cars correctly.

The 4% diesel supplement does not apply to cars that meet the Euro 6d emission standard. Such cars should be identified as type F. Where a car is reported as type F, the obligation is on the employer to check that the car actually does meets the emission standard.  This can be done by checking the car’s vehicle log book (V5C), which will have an RDE of 2 recorded where the standard is met. You can also check the RDE status of a car by visiting the DVLA webpage.

All new cars registered from January 2021 should meet the Euro 6d emissions standard. HMRC accept that diesel cars registered on or after 1 March 2021 meet the standard and you do not need to check that this is the case.

Diesel cars that do not meet the Euro 6d emission standard should be identified using the key letter ‘D’. The 4% supplement will apply to these cars.