The Insider - September

The Insider - September

September 2017

MONITORING STAFF EMAILS Is it legal?

MENTAL FATIGUE Why it is just as dangerous as drink driving

HEPATITIS E IN SAUSAGES Is there actual ly a health risk?

IS IT ILLEGAL TO MONITOR STAFF EMAILS?

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that employees must be notified in advance if their work email accounts are being monitored without unduly infringing their privacy. This was in response to a 2008 case from Romania where Bogdan Barbulescu was fired for using a work messaging account to communicate with his family. The court ruled that Romanian judges, who had previously backed Mr Barbulescu’s employer, had failed to protect his right to a private life and correspondence as he had not been informed in advance of the extent and nature of his employer’s monitoring staff emails or the possibility that his employer may gain access to the contents of his messages. The court also found that there had not been sufficient assessment of whether there were legitimate reasons to monitor his communications. Enrique Garcia is an employment law consultant with the ELAS Group. He says: “The main thing to take from this is that workers have a right to privacy in the workplace. If an employer has a rule that equipment is to be used for business use only, then before monitoring staff emails for personal use they would need to forewarn employees. This should be clearly stated in a use of company equipment policy.

Although, in this case, the company had a policy stating that he would use company equipment for business purposes only, the policy did not state that the company were actively monitoring staff emails for personal use, only his use of the equipment, and he had not been told that this would happen. "THE MAIN THING TO TAKE FROM THIS IS THAT WORKERS HAVE A RIGHT TO PRIVACY IN THE WORKPLACE" “Basically, employers should only monitor personal communications where this is necessary. Furthermore, when an employer has a reason to monitor personal communications, this should be communicated to the employees. “Unless in specific circumstances e.g. where an employee is suspected of breaching confidentiality, exposing the company to risk such as damage to IT systems or liability in the case of illegal activities online, all employees have the right to privacy in the workplace and, therefore, should not be monitored without forewarning.”

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MENTAL FATIGUE IS AS DANGEROUS AS DRINK DRIVING

It’s easy to be tempted to take the easy option and reach for highly caffeinated drinks, fast food, crisps and snacks but these can be counter-productive. While they might provide a quick hit of energy you are sure to crash later on. The best thing to do when exhausted is drink lots of water and eat naturally. Fresh fruit particularly bananas are good sources of energy. You should also look for foods which release energy slowly throughout the day such as porridge or foods rich in protein. If you find yourself really flagging then you might want to consider a power nap. Find somewhere quiet and get your head down for about 20 minutes during your lunch break. Evidence suggests that mental fatigue is as dangerous as drink driving. This can be particularly dangerous if you work in a high risk industry such as rail or transportation. Have you ever driven somewhere and found yourself wondering how you got there? This can be a result of mental exhaustion. When a person is fatigued they can lose concentration without realising, often losing awareness for seconds at a time.

Your body can go into automatic mode while your brain tunes out. Productivity, attention to detail and  standards can all drop and mental fatigue makes it harder to prioritise. You should try to do anything you can to maintain concentration, whether this be writing down everything you need to do and working through the list one step at a time, getting up and moving around or popping out for some fresh air on your break. When it comes to catching up on sleep later on then as many parents with young children know it’s all about winding down and routine. Take a warm bath, read a book and switch off. Stay away from social media, television or anything else that stimulates your brain. If you have drunk a lot of caffeine earlier in the day then you might struggle to sleep at night but don’t be tempted to turn to alcohol to help you sleep. Alcohol can alter your sleep patterns. Whilst you may initially fall into a deep sleep the overall quality of sleep is worse, meaning you wake up feeling even more fatigued the next day. Have some warm milk or hot chocolate instead.

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HEPATITIS E FOUND IN TESCO SAUSAGES

The press is full of reports that pork products sold at a leading UK supermarket may have infected shoppers with hepatitis E. Public Health England (PHE) decided to investigate after an increase in the number of people reporting hepatitis E infection and looked at the 60 people who had no history of travelling outside the UK. Researchers found that Tesco’s ready to eat, pre-packed ham and own brand sausages was a recurring feature of the shopping habits of those 60 people. to the company. This study was a statistical analysis that found an association between clinical hepatitis E and sausage and ham products rather than direct causation. “Most of the cases involved the G3-2 hepatitis E strain, which has not been found in UK pigs, and the appearance of this strain is likely to reflect complex animal health practices within Europe, rather than any processes used by the retailer. PHE understands all sausages sold under the Tesco brand are exclusively sourced within the UK. Dr Jenny Harries from PHE said: “Tesco was not named in our study because we attach no fault

Fiona Sinclair, Director of leading UK food safety consultancy STS says:

“There’s been little public awareness in the UK about hepatitis E and there are typically only a few hundred cases a year. This is on the rise, however, which is what prompted the PHE investigation. In 2010 there were 368 confirmed cases in the UK which rose to 1245 in 2016. “It is estimated there are 20 million cases of hepatitis E worldwide per year, with this usually being waterborne or foodborne disease associated with drinking water or eating food in developing countries being contaminated with infected sewage from humans and animals. In the UK it is increasingly becoming a virus associated with undercooked pork products.

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"It is a particular concern for pregnant women and those with low immunity. “Food safety advice surrounding hepatitis E is not new – pork products should be thoroughly cooked,  steaming hot throughout, with no pink inside and the juices run clear. This will help control any risk of hepatitis E, as well as destroying other pathogenic bacteria or parasitic worms which can be found in pork.” Supply chains for meat products can be long and complex and businesses should ensure that their meat is always sourced from an approved meat product supplier. Under EU legislation, animals are issued with a passport number from the farm prior to transportation to the abattoir. Primary cutting plants are required to have a site-based veterinary meat inspector to verify that the meat is suitable to enter the food chain and stamp each carcass with an abattoir number; unsuitable carcasses are clearly identified with penetrative dye indicating destruction, in order to prevent them from entering the food chain. days . Typi cal l y i t onl y causes re lat i ve l y mi ld symptoms such as s i ckness , fever or musc l e pain. These symptoms typi cal l y las t for between 1 -4 weeks however i t can al so af fec t the l i ver and be fatal . " Smaller suppliers can demonstrate compliance by obtaining a certificate against the certification body’s own standards. They can also achieve this by passing unannounced meat inspections. These standards are recognised by UKAS, the overseeing body. It means they have approved the contents as being appropriate but are less onerous on the smaller meat supplier. “The incubat ion per iod for hepat i t i s E i s around 6 weeks but i t can vary f rom 15-60

All businesses which handle raw meat or fish products, including primary/secondary butchers and manufacturing sites, must hold a license. This must be stated on food labels in accordance with the meat labeling regulations and other labeling requirements. Under the meat regulations, the last distributor or manufacturer must ensure they can trace meat back to the originating farm. All documentation within the supply chain at each process step must contain the license number from the originating farm. The approval number will be noted on product packaging, and should be checked by packaging, and should be checked by retailers / food businesses duringpackaging, and should be checked by retailers / food businesses during delivery. All food businesses should keep traceability records containing information on what has been delivered. They should also track which suppliers the delivery has come from, to facilitate in the event of a product recall. The move towards using local suppliers can be advantageous in terms of ease of tracing meat back to its source. We would recommend that consumers follow the advice issued by the FSA, who have explained that the risk is low. The FSA and retailers issue a product recall for any food considered a threat to the public. This is done to withdraw it from the food chain. In this case they have deemed this to not be necessary. All product recalls are listed on the FSA website, as well as publicized in the press and in-store information. While this story has gained a lot of headlines, the actual risk to the public is minimal. This explains PHE and the FSA’s reluctance to ‘name and shame’ the supermarket involved. What can people do if they are concerned they may have been infected with Hepatitis E?

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ATTENDANCE PRO

Bob takes half a day off for a hospital appointment. Julia has called in sick for the second day in a row. Sarah was an hour late due to a dentist appointment and Maria has a bad back so has been on sick leave for two weeks. These examples may not seem like much at the time, after all what’s a missed hour here and there? But that missed hour or afternoon all adds up – you may have an underlying problem with absenteeism that you aren’t even aware of. The long term consequences of these kinds of absences cost you money on wasted salaries, sick pay and lost production time not to mention low staff morale, increased administration and lost business opportunities. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a solution to this, one that was guaranteed to save your business money whilst also reducing your absence rates? Take a pro-active stance to managing absences with Attendance Pro. Not only will you reduce the number of hours missed, you will also improve communication and increase morale and motivation amongst your staff. Attendance Pro will also identify any absence trends, creates bespoke reports and, most importantly, save your business money! That’s where Attendance Pro comes in.

Our team of advisors are available 24 hours day, 7 days a week to explore each absence, confirm a return to work date with your employee and agree a mutually convenient time to follow up. Automatic notifications are then sent to your line managers via email, SMS and telephone, ensuring you are always kept in the loop. The Attendance Pro portal takes things one step further. This is where you will be able to view the absence rates across your whole company and gain a greater understanding of the effects absenteeism truly has on your business. These reports can be arranged however you like, including filtering them by employee, department or type of sickness, to give you the information you need in the way you wish to view it. The ELAS Group has been at the forefront of absence management for the last 10 years, leading the way in identifying absence trends and coming up with smart solutions for business owners. Attendance Pro is the latest weapon in our arsenal, helping you to keep your business running smoothly.

FIND OUT MORE, CALL US TODAY ON 08450 50 40 60 OR VISIT WWW.ELAS.UK.COM

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