The Help Tabloid

An accident in a paper firm showed up the horrific consequences of lack of safety measures deployed in many workplaces. In the accident, a worker lost his arm as no basic safety provisions were incorporated into the work area.

The paper firm based in Inverurie has been asked to pay a fine of £6,000 following this accident. HSE investigators expressed shock that such accidents are still allowed to happen at workplaces in this century, when many safety features and options can be implemented with minimal effort and cost. The sentence was pronounced by Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday who imposed the fine and costs on International Paper (UK) Limited after they pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The incident occurred when an employee was working with machinery in the paper firm. The machine had run out of paper, and the employee attempted to replace the paper rolls by throwing a fresh one into the machine. In the process, his arm was wrapped by the paper sheets and it was caught in the equipment. The arm was mangled so badly that it had to be amputated. The accident would have been worse had a co-worker not switched off the machine immediately during the incident.

Speaking about the incident, HSE inspectors said that even the safety barriers that were present at the accident site were inadequate to prevent a mishap like this from happening. They pointed out several serious accidents in the paper industry as examples to make employers doubly aware of the importance of safety measures. In light of this, it is shameful that such incidents still take place, added the inspectors.

Companies need to be sure that they are giving the correct instructions with effective policies around health and safety decisions to help protect their staff. Workplace Law Training offer ‘working safely’ courses covering all kinds of workplace situations; the IOSH working safely programme can be tailored to meet the needs of an individual organisation; click on IOSH Training for course details.

It is an accepted fact that the mental health of workers is affected due to workplace conditions. Recently, this has become a serious point of debate and discussion between health academics in the UK, more so because Heath and Safety Executive (HSE) figures for the year 2007-2008 show that a whopping 13.5 million working days were lost due to work stress. Not only this, nearly 442,000 people were reported to be facing this problem.

Dr David Wainwright, a senior health lecturer at the University of Bath, recently made a presentation on this at the Royal Society of Medicine. He challenged the popular perceptions that stress is caused due to conditions at the workplace. While accepting that the work conditions have changed over the years, he stated that the lack of resilience in workers to deal with the changes gives rise to the chronic stress-related conditions.

Dr Wainwright pointed out that it was only since the mid-1980s that work-related stress was recognised as a medical condition, and the number of such cases had steadily risen since then. He also said that measuring the relation between mental health and work conditions on a model, which equates a worker to a machine, was not correct.

Dr Wainwright believes it is wrong to suggest that after a certain threshold limit of stress the workers will snap, because humans have an innate ability to withstand mental and physical pressure and this ability helps a person to guard against conditions like mental stress.

According to Dr Wainwright, the reason for the rise in stress cases is deterioration in this ability for stress management as compared to the workers of an earlier generation. Thus, this lack of resilience rather than the change in work conditions is to be blamed for the rise in work stress.

However, Dr Neil Shah of the Stress Management Society opposed this view. He said that one should not compare the present-day work conditions to those existing sixty years ago. He added that the mind of the present-day worker is always occupied with work and thus the stress.

Stress management is an important part of good management. It not only leads to increased motivation and dedication among employees but also results in fewer conflicts. For anyone involved in human resources management, training and development, click on CHRP Course for information on training for a Certificate in Personnel Practice to help boost team performance.

The origin of the paralegal dates back to the late 60s and early 1970s. The position was created to free-up time for lawyers to focus more of their time on key aspects of their clients’ cases like trial preparation. Although paralegals now perform many duties once only performed by lawyers they still cannot do things like give legal advice or present a case in court.

Vital aspects to remember when breaking down a paralegal program:

1. Paralegal school curriculum should focus on teaching practical job skills alongside a solid legal theory foundation. Concentration courses should revolve around topics like litigation and legal writing, legal ethics, contract and business organization. In addition to developing a usable knowledge of the law, a high quality paralegal training program will emphasize creative and critical thinking, organizational and computational skills. The overall development of the student should also be a critical objective along with some type of real world experience like an internship before graduation.

2. Who are players behind the scenes? Who put the paralegal curriculum together and who is teaching it? Do the staff and the paralegal schools program director have top notch credentials? The paralegal teaching staff should have field experience in the subject they are teaching be considered an “expert” on that subject. The curriculum director should have an advanced degree in a related field at worst but preferably they have a law degree or a bunch of paralegal work experience and an advanced paralegal degree.

3. Are you searching for a conventional college campus learning environment or does online paralegal degree training appeal to you? Online paralegal programs have become more and more popular among paralegal schools but if you’ve never taken an online class you need to ask yourself if online learning is right for you. Moreover, it’s imperative that you find out (before you enroll) what type of online training will be use. Will it consist primarily of web-based content or interactive video or both or something else? How much interplay will there be between you and the instructors and do you have the self-discipline and motivation to attend all the lectures and do all the assignments on you own?

Fine, your goal is to become a lawyer, but rather than take the so-called “traditional route” of going directly to law school, why not get your paralegal degree first. The benefits are many; like making contacts within the industry, getting a feel and an understanding for the field of law before you plunk down big bucks and 4 years of life and who knows; you may like being a paralegal so much that you’ll never want to leave. Think about it!

In the aftermath of conclusion of a consultation on the proposed fit note by the government, Thompsons Solicitors, a UK based law firm, has warned employers against the usage of fit notes in place of sick notes that can lead to forcing sick workers to return to work even before they are completely fit to take up their jobs. The firm has also added that the proposal by the government to introduce fit notes would neither be of any avail in decreasing the cost of sick leaves nor help in reducing the compensation paid to employees who fall sick due to negligence of employers.

The fit note as proposed by the government will ask GPs to make sure that sick employees fall in the categories of fit for work, not fit for work or may be fit for some work. In the last category, the employers would ask employees to do phased work with lesser hours, or give a different mode of work, as well as make changes in work conditions.

The head of policy at Thompsons Tom Jones stated that his firm is not trying to curtail the choices to be made by employers or employees, as it is always good to get back to work after a brief period of sickness than staying home. However, he added that a number of employees stay at home merely because employers are unable to make temporary adjustments for them to return to work. This state leads to a situation where there are a lot of people willing to work but cannot do so.

He added that the indiscriminate application of fit notes could actually make employers force employees back to work even when they are not feeling well, and later terminate their services if they are not able to perform. This is harmful for the industry as a whole as it does not address the issue of health and wellbeing of employees at all. A government consultation on the new ‘fit note’ policy ended this week. Employers can keep themselves up to date with employment relations developments with accredited CIPD Training such as the Certificate in personnel practice from Workplace Law Training.

Many American’s receive joint replacements each year. It is a method for senior citizens or anyone with worn out joints to obtain additional years of being active and enjoying life. Because this procedure has become so routine, many do not question their doctors, or the manufacturers of their joint replacements about the quality of the technology that they are using. This has tended to cause practices which could even produce damage to you or those you care about. If you know someone who has received a hip replacement, read on for this important information about the manufacturer zimmer hip lawyer.

The modern hip replacement operation has been taking place since the 1970’s, which is why the idea may seem so commonplace to you. A hip replacement, like those made by Durom, typically involve three individual pieces designed to mock how an organic knee joint would. They include a metal replacement for part of the femur. A bone cement or screws to hold the contraption in place allows movement like the joint naturally would.

Click here in order to check more information about the zimmer hip recall

One of the most common issues with hip replacements is the need for revision, or a further surgery to correct issues with the implant. Regrettably, this is an issue that a lot of older people and actually healthy younger patients can’t handle. This is primary with the zimmer hip recall. The Durom device was used by doctors in younger patients that would normally need a hip replacement, as it was designed to be long lasting. However, almost 12 percent of these patients needed surgery again within two years, prompting an outcry.

In the last several years you or someone you know had a hip replacement, ask your doctor if it was done by Zimmer Durom. If it was, even if you have not had a failure of your hip replacement yet, you may be able to join a class action law suit. You will lose your rights if you sign a legal release by Durom.

‘Sickness presence’ or ‘presenteeism’ is a common practice seen among the people of working age, who go to work despite being unwell. Though long-term effects of this practice are still being researched, a new Danish study shows that people who resort to this are much more likely to fall prey to a longer sickness in the near future.

The research was carried out on 12,000 people to find out their attitudes towards their work, their willingness to take a leave when not feeling well, and their overall health. They were questioned on the number of times they went on work when not feeling too good in the past year and the data showed 42% of the people not going to work or doing it just once in such a situation. 50% reported for work two to five times and 8% did so six times or more when not in good health.

Researchers then studied official resources to find out whether the people being studied took a 15-day or longer leave over the next one and half years. It was found that people who came to work when unwell had a much greater tendency to fall sick for two weeks or more. The 8% of the respondents who had said that they came to office six times or more despite illness were 53% more likely to fall sick for two weeks and 74% more likely to go on a leave for more than two months during the study period.

It was also found that a senior position at work, inability to balance work and family life, obesity, and overall poor health were some of the factors that were closely related to presenteeism.

In a study on similar lines, which was conducted in 2005 on British civil servants, it was found that individuals who had a habit of going to work despite poor health were at double the risk of heart problems compared to those who took proper rest and precautions during bad health.

Employers need to keep themselves up to date with health and safety developments to avoid potential legal action from employers by taking a health and safety courses such as the nebosh distance learning course available from the experts at Workplace Law Training.

Although whiplash symptoms are understood to only be caused in motor accidents this isn’t the case. As any solicitor will tell you there are numerous other ways that people attain whiplash symptoms. The damage caused to the neck from injured tendons and ligaments can have serious long term effects. Whiplash symptoms sound far less serious than can be imagined.

Mild whiplash symptoms can evaporate within a week but those that result in accident claims are a very different matter. When the injury occurs in a serious traffic incident it will take up to a month to regain full health, the whiplash symptoms can be reasonably managed. In exceptional cases the whiplash symptoms, sometimes caused by a head trauma and also by repetitive straining of the neck, can have debilitating consequences.

Thankfully the whiplash symptoms that a solicitor has to deal with occur from a common jolt of the head during a car collision. If the whiplash symptoms are mild a bit of tautness in the joints is all that will really take place. Whatever way the head has moved the whiplash symptoms are the same. Repeatedly whiplash symptoms require only anti inflammatory drugs and plenty of rest, an accident claim can’t really be justified, although often they are pursued.

Overseas companies receiving interest on borrowings utilised in India are liable to receive such interest subject to applicable withholding taxes in India.

In a recent ruling the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) has held that interest on debentures paid to an investor, who is a resident of Mauritius, is subject to withholding tax in India, unless it is specifically exempted.

The AAR had been approached by an Indian company for ascertainment of its liability to deduct tax at source for payment of interest on partly-convertible debentures to a company incorporated in Mauritius. The Indian company argued that the interest income payable was exempt from tax in India owing to Article 11(4) of the Indo-Mauritius tax treaty. In terms of Article 11(4) of the treaty, interest arising in Country A derived and beneficially owned by any person who is a resident of Country B shall be exempt from tax in Country A subject to and to the extent approved by the Government of Country A provided that the transaction giving rise to the debt claim has been approved in this regard by the Government of Country A.

It was contended by the Indian company that all conditions laid down under Article had been met as (a) the recipient of interest was a resident of Mauritius and beneficial owner of the debentures, and (b) the Indian company had obtained Reserve Bank of India approval for payment of interest on debentures, which approval amounted to approval by the government.

The AAR, however, held that Reserve Bank of India’s approval was under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act whereas tax exemption under Article 11(4) can be granted only by the finance ministry. In the absence of any tax exemption accorded under Indian tax laws or the tax treaty, the Indian company was obliged to deduct tax at source at the prevailing rates in force. Mere approval from the Reserve Bank of India for the issue of such securities to a non-resident does not imply approval for tax exemption, the AAR said.

Alishan Naqvee has substantial experience in areas of transactional law and dispute resolution and he regularly authors articles on Indian legal issues.

Family law courts take up cases relating to all kinds of family related issues. These can be adoption, prenuptial agreements, marriage, divorce, separation, legal separation, annulment, alimony, division of the property accumulated during the marriage, domestic violence, negotiation, adjudication, child custody and support, child abduction, kidnapping or child seizure, emancipation, abuse in the marriage, parental rights, paternity, juvenile, felonies, and many such cases related to family.

Family law courts also deal with regular cases relating to criminal laws, property related laws, probation law, trusts, and so on. However, the majority of the cases that come to family law courts are the divorce, separation, abuse or child custody cases. A number of details need to be considered when it comes to these cases. Family law courts are specialized in all the legalities involved in such cases.

As you can imagine, family law courts are some of the most crowded courts in America. They deal with social and economic issues so universal that the courts can hardly bear the brunt of the demand. As a result, family courts are notoriously underfunded. Economically disadvantaged people often get left by the wayside when trying to gain monetary compensation for just cause.

Family law courts are the subject of much criticism as well for prejudice. Many think one gender or the other is favored in family courts. This may or may not be the case, but it might be impossible to study, since the numbers are so great. Until then, the family courts are a necessary aspect to a society in which people can treat each other unfairly sometimes.