​Towergate Insurance, one of our sponsors, provides an insight into health and wellbeing support as one of the major factors in the recruitment and retention of talent.

In a significant survey* of 500 decision makers in the UK, undertaken for our sister company Towergate Health & Protection, 42% stated their support for the health and wellbeing of staff is a key reason people stay with their employers. In addition, 31% said health and wellbeing support is a key reason people choose to work for them.
 
The research supports our anecdotal evidence of the wider reaches of health and wellbeing support, and why it is so important that employers have a clear and well-communicated strategy. The wider the health and wellbeing support offered, the better the array of talent it will attract and retain.

On the flipside, nearly one in five (18%) employers stated that not offering enough health and wellbeing support impacts their ability to recruit and retain people: a stark warning for all.
 
Health and Wellbeing
Support for health in general was viewed by 42% of employers to have increased the most in importance for enhancing the recruitment and retention of talent. 26% percent of employers said support for mental health had increased most in importance, and 19% said it was the overall health and wellbeing package that had grown most in terms of priorities.
 
Social interaction through work (11%), communication of support offered (9%), support for financial health (9%), and an environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy (8%), were also identified as increasing in importance. So, the support offered needs to be wide and holistic.
 
Implementing a Strong Health and Wellbeing Programme
According to the survey results, and evidence seen by Towergate Health & Protection across its client base, implementing a strong health and wellbeing programme is vital in the recruitment and retention of talent. Moreover, the programme must be widely communicated to employees and easily accessed and managed by employees and employers alike if it is really going to make a difference.

The Four Pillars of Health and Wellbeing
A strong programme must support all four pillars of health and wellbeing: emotional, physical, financial, and social health - to add the most value to recruitment and retention.

Research shows that all four are not only important in keep existing employees healthy, and to retain their loyalty, but also to attract new employees.
 
Employees’ needs and demands have shifted dramatically since before the pandemic struck.
We have all had a realignment of priorities, and employers need to match these if they are to attract and retain the best staff, which is only going to become more important.
 
*Research conducted by Opinium on behalf of Towergate Health & Protection. Sample: 500 UK HR decision makers. Field dates: 28 January to 7 February 2022.

Contact
To find out how Towergate could assist your school in finding the right employee benefits for your staff, contact Adrian Henley.

​We recently saw the release of the Government’s response to their consultation on the proposed Data Reform Bill.

It is still early days for the proposed legislation and there is a lot to go through from this response. In addition, the timeline for the new legislation and exactly what it will look like based on this response is unclear at this stage.

But our sponsor, SchoolPro TLC, has looked at the consultation outcome and you can read their initial reaction and thoughts about how it might impact on working with schools in the future.

Privacy Management Programmes to be a Compliance Requirement
This is one that we have been expecting and we have built the online audit/accountability tool in the new portal with this possibility in mind.

Essentially, the proposal is to reduce down the accountability requirement to the following six key areas (from the current ten):
 

• leadership and oversight
• risk assessment
• policies and processes
• transparency
• training and awareness of staff
• monitoring, evaluation and improvement

 
This potentially simplifies the process and our audit tool has been developed to be fully configurable.
So, if this change goes ahead as suggested, the existing tool can be adapted to the new Privacy Management Programme and relevant information, actions etc already in the tool, can be ported across as required. The Government have been keen to highlight that this is not to reduce the rigour of accountability and lower standards, but to create a more flexible tool that can scale depending on the risk level of the organisations. This may well ease some of the burden on smaller schools, for example.

Data Protection Officers (DPO) to no longer be mandatory and to be replaced with a ‘senior responsible individual’
This proposal removes the need for an independent DPO with no conflicts of interest and allows the role to be taken on by a senior individual within the organisation. That person will still fulfil many of the existing roles of a DPO, so it is likely that many organisations will simply continue with their existing arrangement. The ‘senior responsible individual’ will be responsible for:

• representing or delegating a representative to the ICO and data subjects
• ensuring appropriate oversight and support is in place for the programme and appointing appropriate personnel
• providing tailored training to ensure staff understand the organisation’s policies
• regularly auditing the efficacy of the programme.

 
At present, it is not fully clear if this will apply to all organisations; or whether it will be only small organisations and those that do not process high levels of sensitive data that are able to drop the requirement for a “DPO”. We are obviously going to keep a keen eye on this one!

Removal of Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs)
The thought here is to provide a more flexible and tailored approach to organisations.

Again, the Government are keen to emphasise that this is not to reduce rigour and lower standards and they state that organisations will still have to identify, assess and manage risk. This may allow for a more risk-based approach where lower risk processing has a simpler risk management approach and higher risk processing still follows a similar DPIA process to what is currently in place.

However this is implemented; thankfully, this should not involve new risk management for legacy systems as the Government has stated that “existing DPIAs would remain valid as a way of achieving the new requirement.

Removal of the Record of Processing Activities (RoPA) Requirement
As with DPIAs, this is to provide a more flexible approach that can be tailored to different organisation depending on size and the nature of their processing activities. This will link to the Privacy Management Programmes and will require organisations to have “personal data inventories” that “describe what and where personal data is held, why it has been collected and how sensitive it is.”

​From what we have read so far, we believe that our existing data mapping tool will allow for these inventories to be created still with very little need to be adapted from their current format.

It is also clear that not everyone is happy with the proposals.

​Reading through the response, the prevailing theme appears to be “we asked about this, most of you weren’t happy with proposed changes… so we’re going to make some anyway;” which is an interesting approach to a consultation.

All we can say is, watch this space…
​
Report by Ben Craig CIPP/E, Director of SchoolPro TLC Ltd

The Met Office has warned that temperatures could hit 43C over the coming week, which would make it the hottest day ever recorded in the UK. 

Our sponsor, Wolferstans Solicitors, provides some guidance for employers as summer temperatures soar.

If it’s too hot to work, can employee’s leave?
Under UK law there is currently only a minimum working temperature set, which is 16C. However, if the employee’s work involves rigorous physical effort, the temperature should be at least 13C. 

There is unfortunately, no meaningful figure that can be placed on high temperatures, to indicate if it is in fact too hot to work. That said, employers are responsible to ensure their employees and workers are comfortable and in their working environment. This extends to helping them keep cool. Health and safety should also factor into an employer’s consideration as to whether it is too hot to work.  

Can employee’s legally ask for air conditioning in their workplace?
Employers are obliged to keep employees comfortable, which falls within them needing to ensure the working environment is of a reasonable temperature for those using it. From this, the concept known as "thermal comfort" has been established. By managing the thermal comfort within the workplace employers are more likely to improve morale, productivity and health and safety.

The Health and Safety Executive note the six basic factors to cause temperature discomfort are:

1. Air temperature;
2. Radiant temperature;
3. Air velocity;
4. Humidity;
5. Clothing insulation and 
6. Metabolic heat.

A way in which they suggest you can control the thermal comfort of these factors is by using air conditioning units or air dehumidifiers. If you want further advice on whether you should be installing air conditioning, as you feel are having employee complaints about the temperature in the workplace, then please get in contact via the below contact details.

Do employees have to wear their usual work attire in sweltering heat?
This very much depends on the organisation.

For example, if you are employing tree surgeons you would not be complying with the health and safety laws and organisational policies if you allowed you employees to not wear their personal protective equipment, such as the thick heavy chainsaw trousers which they most likely do not wish to be wearing on an extremely hot day.

In circumstances where it is reasonable for there to be a flexible dress code, such as in an office environment, employers should be doing this to help with employee’s thermal comfort and productivity.

If in doubt whether this applies to you, the Health and Safety Executive provide further information on this.

How else can employers ensure that "thermal comfort" is managed well?
Hybrid working is becoming increasingly popular and making the most of this on an extremely hot day could benefit employers and employees. Employers need to consider whether the building they have is equipped for a heatwave. In doing this they should factor in whether there is a lot of glass, if it is an older building, whether there is good ventilation, and whether or not they already have air conditioning installed.

Employee productivity could be higher, should they be allowed to work from home in a cooler environment. If this is not possible then employers need to control the thermal comfort of their employees in the workplace as best as they can, given their circumstances. Ways to do this is by providing fans, if safe to do so, in the event they do not have aircon.

If you have any concerns over your workplace, or employees refusing to attend work during the heatwave, please make contact via our new enquiries section of the website.
​
By Rachel Lee, Wolferstans Solicitors

In short, it will depend on the facts!

​Let Wolferstans solicitors, one of our sponsors, guide you on this potential discrimination issue.
Wolferstans provide a wide range of legal services to meet the needs of individuals, families, SME’s, public sector and voluntary organisations based throughout Devon and Cornwall.
 
Background
In the case of Mackereth v (1) Department for Work and Pensions (“DWP”) and (2) Advanced Personnel Management Group (UK) Ltd, the question of whether it was discrimination to refuse to use the preferred pronouns of transgender clients was deliberated.
 
The Claimant was a Christian doctor and provided health and disability assessments for the DWP. Early in his career, he stated that due to his religious beliefs, he would not use the preferred pronouns of any transgender clients; however, this was in contradiction to the DWP’s policies, which stated that those undergoing transition should be referred to by their presented and preferred gender at all times.
 
Clearly the Claimant was going to be in breach of this policy, so decided to resign and bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal. Christianity, as a religion, is a protected characteristic, but this was not the issue in this case; rather it was whether he could demonstrate that his beliefs that a person cannot change their sex/gender, that it would be irresponsible for a health professional to encourage transgenderism and his lack of belief in transgenderism generally could amount to direct discrimination, harassment and indirect discrimination.
 
Ruling
The Employment Tribunal held that the Claimant’s beliefs did not amount to protection under the Equality Act, and further, even if they had done, he had not suffered any less favourable treatment/harassment.
 
Further, the DWP’s policies were justified and were necessary and proportionate in meeting their legitimate aim of ensuring that transgender clients were not discriminated against and were treated with dignity and respect.
 
The Claimant was clearly not happy with the decision and appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Unfortunately for him, the EAT agreed with the initial decision, finding that he had not been subject to discrimination. Although, the EAT did point out that some of his beliefs would qualify for protection under the Equality Act.
 
How does this impact employers?
One reason that the Claimant’s claim failed was that his employer had tried to accommodate his beliefs, but he had resigned before they were able to implement any strategies and adjustments.
Employers should ensure that if they require employees to use certain terms when dealing with transgender clients, the requirement is proportionate to achieving a legitimate aim, for example treating those clients with respect and promoting equal opportunities.
 
If you would like any further advice, or would like us to review any policies then please get in touch with a member of the team on 01752 663295.

​It is undisputable that accounting for all staff, students and visitors in a timely manner is critical to the success of a fire evacuation.

To ensure the safety of students during an emergency schools must have an effective evacuation plan in place, that is simple enough to follow for all staff and students.

During an evacuation, it is important to know exactly who is on your premises to ensure all pupils, visitors and members of staff are located for. Often schools track this information through spreadsheets or paper documents; however, ensuring these documents are up-to-date can be difficult to manage.

An effective way to overcome this concern is to look at alternative methods that can provide live data for who is currently on site, with the ability to pull one report that can be easily accessed by all teachers.

In the event of a drill or fire evacuation, the InVentry Anywhere app allows you to access a real-time copy of everyone who is onsite from any mobile device to improve the efficiency of your evacuation procedure.

Find out more with InVentry and understand how you can ensure the safety of students during an emergency – all at the touch of a button.

Read here this informative blog from our sponsor Wolferstans Solicitors.

It’s been a while since we mentioned the dreaded Covid-19 pandemic, but the Government has recently announced new guidance for living safely with Covid.

The guidance provides information for those with symptoms of respiratory infections, such as Covid-19; people with a positive Covid-19 test and their contacts; and advice on safer behaviours for everyone.

Workplace Guidance
One of the main changes for employers is that the working safely guidelines for the various sectors has been removed, with employers instead needing to consider the needs of those at a higher risk of serious illness.

Employers are encouraged to be aware of Covid symptoms in order to reduce the risk of transmission between employees. If a member of staff has Covid-19 symptoms, then the respiratory infection guidance below should be followed. 

To limit transmission within a business, employers should ensure that there is adequate ventilation in the workplace, that hygiene facilities are available and that any workspaces are kept clean and sanitised.

The requirement to explicitly consider Covid in a risk assessment has been removed, as has the need to inform public health of an outbreak, but employers can still consider it in their assessments should they choose to do so.

Previously, employers could reclaim SSP paid due to Covid related absences, but this is now not the case following the closure of the rebate scheme.  Employers will need to ensure that they pay employees SSP for Covid absences if they have been absent for at least four days in a row (including non-working days), in line with regular sickness absences.

Whilst there is no obligation on someone who has symptoms to refrain from coming to the workplace, the guidance suggests that employers should allow them to work from home where possible, where that is not the case, to look at alternative options.

People with Respiratory Infections
From 1 April 2022, anyone with symptoms of a respiratory infection, such as Covid, and who have a high temperature or are not feeling well should limit contact with others and stay at home where possible.

Anyone who has a positive Covid test result (whether because they chose to carry one out or were asked to) should again try to limit contact with others and stay home for five days following their positive result.

As has been the case throughout, anyone that tests positive should refrain from close contact with those who have a reduced immune system and are at risk of serious illness. The guidance in this case is that contact should be avoided with those at a higher risk of serious illness for 10 days.

Employees who are at higher risk of serious illness should be taken into account.
They should be able to wear a face mask where possible and may need to work from home to reduce their risk, however the requirement for them to shield has been removed.

Leaving Home Whilst Positive
In a slightly controversial move, those with a positive result will not be forced into isolation and instead, will be able to leave their homes, and continue to go to work, even whilst they have symptoms. However, there is guidance which should be taken into account:

• well-fitting face covering or masks should be worn
• exercising should be done away from others
• crowds and enclosed spaces should be avoided

If you would like any further guidance on how Covid-19 might impact you, then please get in contact with a member of the Wolferstans Team on 01752 663295.

Introducing, Lyfta, the award-winning digital learning platform that broadens horizons and brings learning to life.

Lyfta invites students to explore, and connect with, real human stories from across the globe, through interactive 360° spaces and powerful short films.
 
The platform provides an impactful and captivating way for students to experience human diversity, and for educators to build cultural capital and nurture the vital skills and values children need to thrive in our changing world.

“I have been blown away by what Lyfta has put together. This is a fantastic platform that can be used across all subject areas. The significant impact on student personal development is huge as is being able to show our students what diversity truly looks like. The stories are wonderful and emotive, giving students the opportunity to be part of the lives of strangers they will meet around the globe.”
Zena, Dixons McMillan Academy
 
“Lyfta really has been a lifeline this year – not a bolt-on, but a resource to enrich and enliven the curriculum. Cannot recommend highly enough.”
Dan Morrow, CEO, Dartmoor MAT
 
Do you want to find out more AND receive £100 for your school?
Attend a one-hour call with the team to be part of our national study, designed by our Head of Educational Research, Dr Harriet Marshall and hear more about what Lyfta can offer and we will transfer a £100 payment to your school for your time.
 
We are looking for 100 primary and 50 secondary schools to be part of the study.
We look forward to hearing from you. 

For More Information ​

We are pleased to introduce our new sponsor, Goosemoor Educatering.

Goosemoor Educatering are proud to provide the very best in quality fresh food, in exciting, child- led meals, all within any school’s current budget. 

Since its inception as a family business in 1957, Dart Fresh / Goosemoor Foodservice has built a reputation as the leading provider of quality food products and produce across the South West of England, based on the constant strive for perfection for its customers.