ACAS GENDER EQUALITY SCHEME
Acas (the Government’s Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) has published its Gender Equality Scheme which is now available online.
NEW GUIDES FROM ACAS
Smoking at work
Acas has produced a guide on drawing up a policy on smoking at work in anticipation of the smoking ban coming into effect in England on 1 July 2007. A similar ban became effective on 2 April in Wales and Scotland has been non-smoking since 2006.
The guide recommends setting up a task group of representatives from management and both smoking and non-smoking workers to explore policy options for implementing a smoking ban and a likely timetable. It also provides a checklist of items to consider when drawing up a policy on smoking at work.
Redundancy payments
Acas has also put together a booklet on drawing up redundancy agreements. The aim is to provide guidance for employers, trade unions and employee representatives on how best to handle redundancies.
It emphasises the importance of planning labour requirements to avoid or to minimise the need for redundancies; the benefits of establishing an agreed procedure for handling redundancies; and the need for fairness and objectivity when selecting members of the workforce for redundancy
To download a copy of the guide, go to:
http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=773&submit=Previous