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First Corporate Manslaughter Conviction Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd has this month become the first company to be convicted and sentenced under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. The Company, which was described by the sentencing judge as being in “a parlous financial state” was fined £385,000 payable in 10 annual instalments of £38,500. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To flash or not to flash? A motorist has been prosecuted after warning several approaching cars of a mobile speed camera. He was convicted and fined £175 and ordered to pay £250 costs for wilfully obstructing a police officer in the execution of his duty after he flashed his lights to warn motorists there was a speed trap. Inspector Martin Bishop, Lancashire Constabulary’s road policing inspector, said the practice was an “obstruction” to officers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Default retirement age to be abolished In a move welcomed by anti-age discrimination groups, the government has announced its intention to scrap the default retirement age of 65. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Changes to the drink driving laws? Pressure continues to mount for a change to the existing drink driving laws. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Environment Agency to start using civil sanctions Most people will be familiar the Environment Agency’s ability to initiate and manage criminal prosecutions, but the Agency has now announced that it will additionally use civil sanctions from January 2011 onwards. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New statutory payment rates from 11 April 2011 On 9 December 2010 the government announced the proposed rates of statutory benefits which are expected to apply from 11 April 2011, including: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Attention all farmers The Gangmasters (Licencing) Act 2004 and regulations made pursuant to it were the legislative reaction to the tragic deaths of at least 21 Chinese cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay on the night of 5th February 2004. The Act regulates individuals and businesses supplying workers to the agricultural, horticultural and shellfish harvesting industries and related packaging operations. Such operations must now be registered with the Gangmasters Licencing Authority and will be required to hold and maintain a Gangmasters’ Licence. The GLA has prescribed minimum standards which licence holders must adhere to and the Act contains provision for revoking licences from those who cease to fulfil the requirements of being “fit and proper persons”. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bribery Act 2010 The Bribery Act 2010 is a major piece of legislation of immense practical importance to the conduct of business whether in the public or the private sphere. The Act creates new offences of giving and receiving bribes as well “bribing a foreign public official”. There is also a corporate offence of “failure of a commercial organisation to prevent bribery”. The non-corporate offences all carry the possibility of prison sentences on the part of individuals up to a maximum of 10 years on indictment. All offences carry the possibility of unlimited fines. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Illegal Working – Do you know who your workers really are? Do you know who your drivers or operatives really are? Recent legislation has introduced much more stringent penalties for employing illegal workers. The effect for most employers in the transport and waste management sectors is a likely need to revisit their procedures for checking that employees are not working illegally. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The meaning of waste - the debate continues The question of whether a material or substance is waste or not is, to say the least, troublesome. The European Commission has published an ‘Interpretive Communication’ to assist with whether or not something is waste or a non-waste in the context of production processes – the distinction between products, production residues and by-products is discussed in the Communication. The concern of the Commission is that currently the lack of consistency in decisions of National Courts on similar facts as well as the excessively wide interpretation of the definition of waste is imposing unnecessary cost on businesses and is furthermore reducing the attractiveness of materials that would otherwise be reutilised. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Red Diesel - What's in your tank? There has been a wholesale review of what types of vehicles are entitled to use rebated fuel. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive News |
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