news from workSMART

Your office dress code may be risking your health, according to a new TUC advice guide. Working feet and footwear shows how a number of big city institutions and upmarket shops insist that women in public-facing jobs wear slip-on shoes or high heels. Wearing uncomfortable shoes for such long periods of time can lead to long-term foot problems.

The TUC’s Brendan Barber said: “We were surprised how many times we found that employers’ dress codes did not permit the wearing of comfortable sensible footwear by women. These dress codes – apart from being blatantly sexist – can lead to long-term foot and back problems. Feet bear the brunt of the daily working life and instead of worrying about what their staff look like, employers should focus on the effect that the wrong shoes and prolonged standing can have. Employers should look at encouraging their staff to come to work in comfortable shoes and, where possible, provide the option of sitting.”

So if you’re a city Cinderella, or worried you need special shoes to stay safe in your own working environment, check out all your problems in the TUC guide.

…and don’t get us started on neckties.

posted 14/08/2008

A senior car worker for Toyota died from working too much overtime a Japanese labour bureau has found.

The 45 year old man was one of Toyotas most senior engineers and had been working on a new hybrid car at the time of his death.

Having worked on average more the 80 hours of overtime a month in the two months preceding his death, regularly worked nights and weekends and travelled extensively overseas, the man was found dead in his Tokyo home from ischaemia the day before the car was to be premiered at a show in Detroit.

Japan has one of the worst records for long working hours and last year there were 142 documented cases of “karoshi” - death from excessive work

Read more at the Guardian: Senior Toyota engineer died of overwork

posted 10/07/2008

A heavy dose of reality came to the world of reality TV in France this week, as three contestants from top-rated show Temptation Island took the production company to court for infringing their employment rights, and won.

In a move which has already sent other shows’ contestents scrabbling for their lawyers, Anthony Brocheton, Marie Adamiak and Arno Laizé have been awarded €27,000 compensation for employment law abuses during the 12 day shoot.

Holiday pay of €817 and, given France’s 35 hour working week, overtime payments of €8,176 were added to €500 for unfair dismissal, €1,500 for wrongful termination and €16,000 for being employed on an illegal contract.

Mr Brocheton told how she was continually ordered around by the production company - effectively on call 24 hours a day: “They said it was not work. But for us it was hell.”

The court also affirmed that contestants would have other rights of employment, and France could see them going on strike if they feel particularly aggrieved about eating bugs or pretending to be a cat. Can an National Union of Reality Z-listers be far off?

Read more at the Times: French court finds TV sex frolics are labour not love

posted 07/03/2008

A British airline pilot has been sacked after footage of him performing a fly by at just 28 feet found it’s way onto popular internet video site YouTube. Read more…

posted 05/03/2008

A senior police officer has had a plum job offer withdrawn over his activities on social networking site Facebook. Inspector Chris Dreyfus of British Transport Police had been interviewed for the role of Chief Inspector at Bedfordshire Constabulary, but whilst checking references, his new employers found he’d previously been disciplined for posting details of his private life and sexuality on Facebook, and dropped him. Read more…

posted 28/02/2008