August « 2010 « Legal Software

August 10, 2010

Case Management Software Fights the Credit Crunch and Delivers for the Public Sector~Case Management Software Delivers Better Services and Helps Public Sector Bodies Save Resouces}

Trading Standards Teams Reap the Benefits of Specialized Case Management Software

Local council teams are being challenged to reduce costs whilst the newest Audit Commission report* urges departments to act immediately to “minimize the impact on front line services”. With these additional pressures Trading Standards teams are already taking on board larger volumes of inspections, visits, duties and inquiries than ever due to the Consumer Protection Act 2008, meaning they are highly likely to find cost reduction difficult.

It is not all bad news, expertise is available to help councils through this challenging period. Many council teams are turning to computer software in the search to save money and reform client service. There is now up-to
-date case management software (with optional Time Recording), which has been produced to save on bills whilst amending service delivery. A few IT firms have produced up to 20% capacity gains and this allows Trading Standards teams to:

Deal with a heavier workload – paper work is automatically populated with frequently used info for example: trader names, addresses and individual document numbers. Together with a shared database of customized document templates, administrative work is kept to a minimum, allowing professionals to manage front-line work.

Respond more quickly to new issues and inquiries - secure sharing of documents such as inspection reports, notification letters, emails, contacts database and calendar helps to improve responsiveness and resilience, never mind who is in the office. An sophisticated search facility lets staff to pinpoint vital information in a speedier fashion.

Quickly update and distribute advisory information – one, centralized library for standard advisory documents enables quick implementation of changes in accordance with updated legislation and distribution with the least possible administrative work.

Stay on top of key dates – integrated diary management ensures that key events such as visits, notifications and key enforcement aren’t overlooked, even if staff members are absent suddenly. Support off-site working – secure remote access to central files means that team members have access to appropriate information at the touch of a button no matter where they are.

Understand your personels’ workload – manage balancing work with decision taking with the help of detailed management reports, which also deliver important information when reporting to performance managers, other departments or external organizations.

Specialist local council case management systems have helped many pressurized teams to manage heavy workloads at the same time improving responsiveness, governing threats and risks and reducing stress.

View a Case Study about case management systems

*Surviving the Crunch: Local finances in the recession and beyond, Local Government report, March 2010

Comments Off

August 8, 2010

Employment Law Solicitors: What’s The Problem With Internships?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: employment law, employment law solicitors — @ 4:57 pm

Recently, internships have been painted in a rather negative light in the media, with employment law solicitors and campaigners claiming that they are exploitative and in some cases, illegal. Employment law solicitors might take the moral high ground and call it exploitation, but often times, the interns themselves are happy to work on an unpaid basis, calling it experience. So which is it?

Some industries tend to use interns more than others. The fashion industry is guilty as charged. In the press recently, former fashion interns have claimed they were made to work twelve hour days, and longer, for months on end, with no offer of a paid job afterwards. Indeed, some interns claim they have worked for free in fashion houses where they have outnumbered the paid staff. This shows that too many companies in many industries have begun to rely on the intern for unpaid work.

Employment law solicitors point to minimum wage rules, which suggest that companies using interns may well be acting unlawfully by failing to pay interns. They claim that merely calling somebody an intern does not mean a company doesn’t have to pay them. If a person is engaged on a regular basis for an extended period of time, doing work that is core to the company then they should be considered an employee and paid accordingly. Some employment law solicitors have dealt with cases of disgruntled former interns who were not paid and have won them backdated pay at the minimum wage. Sadly, these cases have failed to set the precedent that was hoped and the situation has barely changed.

Furthermore, campaigners point out that internships are actually damaging for graduate employment. As more graduates are prepared to work for free, fewer entry level paid positions are available. At the end of the day, would you pay a new graduate to do a job when another would do it for free?

Employment law solicitors are encouraging companies to consider minimum wage law and ensure that they are compliant if they use interns. They, along with campaigners are also calling for a fundamental change to the system, suggesting a restriction on the amount of time a company can ‘employ’ someone for free should be introduced. It is hoped that doing this would encourage companies to employ their interns on a paid, permanent basis afterwards.

Comments Off