Driving hours apply in traffic jams
My company is based in Cornwall and we deliver products throughout the South-west. When the summer holiday-makers arrive, my vehicles get stuck in lengthy traffic jams. Consequently the drivers are exceeding their drivers' hours limits. I understand this is permissible under the emergency provisions procedures, but one of my drivers was recently stopped by the police who are coming to see me.
While ultimately it is for the courts to decide on the applicability of the emergency provisions procedures, it would appear you are in the wrong.
Drivers are allowed to use the emergency provisions to exceed the drivers' hours rules only in order to reach a suitable stopping place in an emergency to ensure the safety of persons, the vehicle or its load, so long as road safety is not jeopardised.
Clearly, a driver getting stuck in a traffic jam would not come within the remit of this provision. Even though your drivers may be close to home when they get stuck in traffic, as soon as they are free they should park the vehicle and stop driving. In this situation, the vehicle could be recovered by another driver and the original driver could return home by car.
The rules may only be breached if the load would decay while the vehicle was parked up and there was no other way of ensuring its safety.
In this situation, the driver must indicate on the back of the tachograph chart the reason for the departure from the regulation. However, an emergency must be unforeseen, so a driver could not take advantage of the emergency provisions if he was expecting to get stuck in traffic. Even then he could only breach the provisions to ensure the load's safety. If a traffic jam was expected, then he should, for example, re-route the vehicle.
I need a new chef. I advertised in local and trade papers specifying an upper age limit of 40. Since placing the advert I have had a number of letters from chefs aged 40 and over. Are there any provisions on age limits that prevent me rejecting them on the basis of age?
The introduction of legislation outlawing age discrimination in job advertisements has recently been rejected by the House of Commons. Thus, as things stand, there is no legal reason why you cannot specify a preferred upper age limit. However, it seems likely that legislation will follow in the future.
In your case, I would advise you not to reject applications from older people without due consideration. By adopting a flexible approach to applicants of all ages, and by selecting the most suitable person for the vacancy, you will avoid the pitfalls of not only losing a potential valuable employee due to his/her age but of claims of unfair treatment from older applicants.
Research has shown that discriminatory practices in terms of ageism, such as making older workers redundant, costs a business more in the long term through loss of experience, the level of early retirement payments and the possibility of unfair dismissal claims.
What direction do you think the world of fashionable food will be taking next ?
Now everyone has had their Mediterranean kicks, people are looking for something more, which can be found in the World Food and Pacific Rim food styles. This style draws on cultures from Japan, Mexico, China, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.
The style has taken off in Australia, where people from all over the world have settled and brought their cuisine with them, giving rise to a large industry of food suppliers offering unusual ingredients.
This type of cooking is now coming to this country. Saint, in London's Great Newport Street, is an example of a restaurant that achieves this food style really well. I need to have a fire door fitted. Who can do the work?
Obtain three estimates. Look at the price and ask for written references. In addition, use a builder/handyman you have used before. As long as the quality of work complies with the standard detailed in a fire safety report we would be satisfied and so should your bank. m
