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Netcheck

By Clare Forrest (February 2005 Issue)
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You must have noticed that there’s been a bundle of new employment and/or discrimination-related law over the last 14 months or so. Those of you who work in large organisations have probably received many policy and procedural updates affecting all kinds of work issues, from recruitment to discipline. There’s still more legislation to come and much of it either does directly affect, or has the potential to affect, trainers and the services we provide. And, for the most part, it now doesn’t matter if you’re self-employed, running a small limited company or working for a large organisation. If you’re providing a service, then there are new laws that affect you – right now.

Of course, you and I might – though clearly neither of us could possibly comment – subscribe to the views of Tacitus when he said ‘The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws’,1 and refuse to have anything to do with the changes. But both you and I would also do well to remember Swift’s point that ‘laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through’.2 Translation: even if you’re a sole trader, there is every possibility that the law might get you! And, of course, ‘ignorance of the law excuses no man’.3 So, since we can’t claim ignorance, Table 1 gives a (very) brief run down of the main changes and how these may affect us as trainers.

But what if you want or need to have more detail? Or what if you want to keep up to date with proposed changes, such as preparing for the age discrimination legislation that’s coming into force by the end of 2006? As anyone who has tried to access government information will know, finding it can be akin to finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. So it is with some relief that I point you this month to www.direct.gov.uk which is, without doubt, the best place to turn to for the widest range of government information and services. As well as government departments, the site links through to relevant third parties offering additional advice and support. So start here for everything you want to know about forthcoming and current legislation – and a lot more besides, as we shall see.

It’s slow. That’s the first thing that strikes you. I’m using a pretty fast broadband connection and it must be murder if you’re on dial-up. But it’s the best that’s out there, so stick with it. But be prepared: to use this site effectively you’ll probably need to do a lot of clicking – and waiting. My advice would be to make sure you’ve got something else open on your desktop (Solitaire?) to play with while you’re waiting for a page to load. The site combines two roles in that it provides:

* an overview of the information that you may be looking for
* a portal (gateway) to further websites that will help you in more detail.

So, it’s not too surprising that it’s a little slow; there’s a mass of information and links here, all of which adds up to a lot of coding, which in turn adds up to a bit of a monster. The question then is can you easily find your way around it? The answer is both yes and no. It is nicely presented, there’s no question about that. And it’s definitely worth spending a few moments eyeing the layout of the home page, as this format tends to be repeated throughout the site.

Take particular note of the search box facility, which is at the top right. If you’re used to Googling then you’ll find this basic search engine very irritating because it automatically uses ‘or’ rather than ‘and’ as its operator when you search on two or more terms together. If that’s completely lost you, it means that if, for example, you want to search for ‘disability legislation’, the search engine will see these words as ‘disability or legislation’ rather than ‘disability and legislation’ … which means you’ll get a mass of hits that you don’t want or need. It’s usually important then to use the + sign to force an ‘and’ search, or the double quote marks “” to search for an exact phrase. (For more information on using search engines, see June 2004 ‘Netcheck’.)

There is a more effective search facility under the ‘advanced search’ link. I’d suggest you use this if you know pretty much what you’re after, as it will be quicker and more effective than the basic search.

Under the search box there are five tabs which, as with the search facility, are repeated on every page you click. One of these is headed ‘information for’, which, on its own, is not exactly explanatory, especially as the tab next to it is headed ‘information about’. What it means is that the first takes you to information, advice and support for different groups of people (for example, the disabled, parents, the over 50s, and so on), whereas ‘information about’ is topic specific (for example, employment, money, learning, and so on).

Apart from information, there’s a lot more to this site. You can book a driving test, tax your car, renew your passport, check the weather, get all the transport options available for getting from one place to another in the UK (including driving and flying), find local property prices or book a course. And that’s just for starters.

Websites rarely impress me these days, but this one is excellent for all things ‘public and political’. And, of course, legal. If you’re not sure about legislative changes and how they might have an impact on your training practice, I do urge you to use this site as a starting point. It could keep you out of serious trouble!

This month’s ‘Netcheck’ was compiled by Clare Forrest, who would be pleased to know by snail-mail, e-mail or carrier pigeon the URLs (web addresses) of any sites that you have enjoyed, loathed of found just plain indispensable so that she can bring them to everyone's attention. She can be contacted at clareforrest@structuredlearning.com or visit www.structuredlearning.com Garry Platt returns next month with news of his recent Internet trawls.

www.direct.gov.uk
CONTENT *****
ORIGINALITY ***
NAVIGABILITY ****
PRESENTATION & GRAPHICS ***
DOWNLOADS & FREEBIES ***
LINKS *****

To obtain the June 2004 issue of ‘Netcheck’ contact Training Journal on +44 (0) 1353 654877 or at contact@trainingjournal.com

References
1. Tacitus, Annales (III, 27).
2. Jonathan Swift, Essay on the Faculties of the Mind.
3. John Selden (1584–1654), English antiquarian and jurist.

Quick hits
www.dti.gov.uk/for_employees.html
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The DTI has a wealth of useful information on a wide range of issues affecting people at work. Whether you are an employer, an employee, self-employed, an adviser, a researcher or just interested in workplace issues, these sites are the place to find that vital bit of information.
www.tiger.gov.uk
*****
TIGER is designed to provide a user-friendly guide through different aspects of UK employment law. It’s easy to use and to understand.

 

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