As we all know, the smoking ban in enclosed public places came into force in England on the 1 July 2007. If you are a smoker, you may have already thrown away your last packet, but have you put steps in place for your business?

The ban applies to employees and to visitors to your workplace such as clients or suppliers and as such you must have a written policy in place. It is also a requirement that ‘No Smoking’ signs are displayed clearly at the entrances to your workplace.

Those who do not comply with the ban should be reminded that they may be liable to a fixed penalty fine.

With more and more Employment related legislation coming in, we urge clients to seek advice to ensure that are complying with the law, that their documents are up to date and that they are fully aware of disciplinary procedures.

In response to this growing need, we have teamed up with  Abbey HR Services who are able to offer our clients a fully comprehensive HR support service. The service covers the following aspects:

Ø      Online Document Management: customise your own policies and procedures to suit your organisation, whilst ensuring they are up to date and legal.

Ø      Consultant Support: With this service, not only do you get online support, but importantly you will have access to a dedicated H.R. consultant, who will be on hand to advise you and to help you develop the best H.R. practice for your company.

Ø      Telephone Advice: 24 hour access to a telephone advisory service manned by qualified solicitors, who will give advice in a common sense and commercial way, so you know what course of action to take.

Ø      Insurance: Abbey´s commercial and legal expenses policy will ensure that you are indemnified against the costs of a Tribunal and awards (conditional upon taking and following Abbey´s HR advice).

At KM we continue to offer clients the ‘Beprofessional’ Online HR support service, for clients who don’t require such comprehensive cover. Our endeavour is to ensure we are able to offer a wider choice of solutions to clients who seek help in this growing area.

For further information on these HR services, contact Linda Hulme, our Practice Manager on 01527 872888, or email linda@kennethmorris.co.uk.