Statutory Redundancy and Unfair Dismissal

Case law in favour of Day Rate personnel under the ODIA
I have been fortunate after a great deal of searching to get hold of old employment tribunal cases regarding the employment status of day rate workers. To date I have four of the cases and I’m awaiting a further three.
Of the four, two cases were found for the day rate worker under the ODIA in awarding Statutory Redundancy and Unfair dismissal. The other two failed because the persons tried to claim they were under a contract of employment when in fact they were under a contract of service.
So if you are pursuing any claim remember there is a difference in the employment status and get it wrong and you will loose.
Where can you get these cases? From your RMT Union not a No Win No Fee lawyer that is why I am not publicly saying what the case names or numbers are.

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Being accommodated overnight prior to work. Is not time at work.

Guys in the diving industry who have to travel up the day before to join a project will not be pleased with this case

In the recent case of “Baxter v Titan Aviation Ltd” the EAT stipulated that “time at work” only includes time when a worker is “available” to work and is “at or near the place of work”. In this case the worker was accommodated away from his abode near a job prior to starting the following day and the Tribunal Judges said he was “performing no task and he had no responsibilities and did not have to be “available” for anything nor was he at his place of work. He was not working, as he was free to do what he wanted. He was not entitled to be paid.

Good job we have the existing clause you get paid for the day before is mobbed at a worksite prior to 8am as the employers today would refuse to include such a clause.

Into the Lion’s Mouth

I’ll be open in that I am not a fan of many non technical books on diving as many have in the past been either inaccurate or none descript, written in some cases by people with little knowledge of the industry.

But I am now about to eat my words and I had to read this book twice (to reference the entire appendix) as it was that compelling and I wanted to recall what the facts were. The author of this book spent 14 years and a great deal of time and effort in undertaking significant research (he has those acknowledged links in the back of the book) and writing up that research to bring the whole subject of this tragedy alive, allowing you to feel the emotions of those involved. What compelled him to do this I will never know, but it is a tragic event that many should learn from. When he eventually gets to the pearly gates there will be two guys there to meet him with St Peter.

This is a heartfelt book of a tragedy that should have had a happy ending but didn’t for the reasons in the book, it reveals company mismanagements, dodgy and corrupt dealings (money before lives) of the diving contractors, the inept attitude of the government towards safety, the fictitious attitude of the industry including the AODC (now IMCA) towards the health and safety of the diving community and numerous safety failings and the legal framework the crooked company Infabco used to negate that responsibility towards its workforce.

I’d recommend it be on every divers table as a lesson of how things were up until the 1990s.
Take it from me it is worth every penny of a read.

Order the book HERE

http://www.lionsmouthpublishing.com/

Enough is Enough Magazine

The Latest “Enough is Enough” is available HERE

Pay Rates from 1st November 2011

Rates of pay and allowances under the ODIA for 2011 to 2012 are signed off as agreed under the current formula and are as below for each day or part day worked.

ODIA Rates from Nov 2011 to 2012

M G Superintendent £867.36
M G Supervisor £763.21
Air Superintendent £763.21
Air Supervisor £598.85
Professional Diver M/G £508.06
Professional Diver AIR £508.06
Diver M/G £318.00
Diver AIR £318.00
LSS £491.03
LST £439.07
ALST £287.42
Senior Technician £439.07
Technician £329.35
Foreman Rigger £377.01
Rigger £307.37
Trainee Rigger £215.15
Tender £255.45

Sat Payment p/h £33.42
Sat Payment 24 hours £802.08

Travel & Subsistence £19.52 (Not paid where employer pays the costs)

Safety Boots and Dental Certificates Allowance £0.91

Medical + Offshore Survival + MIST Certificates’ Allowance £6.08

Bell Diving Divers Additional Training Allowance £24.25

Air Divers Additional Training Allowance £12.15

Penalties for late filing of CIS returns

The new penalty and interest regimes for late filing of monthly construction industry (CIS) returns by contractors came into force on 6th October 2011 by virtue of Section 106 and Schedule 55 of the Finance Act 2009 & Section 101 to 103 of the Finance Act 2009.

See HERE for the legislation and HERE for the list of penalty charges

So what does this mean to any RMT members working in the inland inshore sector’s.

Well if you report late payments of wages from diving contractor, in addition to the threat of informing HMRC that PAYE should apply following the latest case law See HERE, HMRC will be informed that CIS payments are equally late and once those beggars at HMRC start delving who knows what else they will find.

I should point out that reputable contractors have nothing to fear, I’m after the rogues of the industry.

HSE Cost Recovery

The HSE have a consultation document out on what they call cost recovery for their activities See HERE or go directly to the PDF file HERE

If the diving contractor is inspected and found to be in breach of H&S legislation they will be liable for the costs of the investigation and other costs which can run into thousands of Pounds. Legitimate contractors have nothing to fear.

Now my thoughts are I’m all for it, why? If a complaint is made to the HSE that a diving contractor is in breach of the H&S laws from a reliable source, they are more likely to investigate if the outcome is income from the investigation. This is the policy HMRC use to great effect and I endorse the HSE policy if it causes financial hardship to cowboys and forces their closure.

Something to Read

The latest edition of Blowout from OILC is available HERE
The latest edition of EiE from OILC is available HERE
A Poignant Tax avoidance flyer is HERE

More insurance options from the RMT

Another offer to RMT members, Car, House, Travel & Pet Insurance.
Click HERE