Issue 25 – April 2023
Welcome to the April issue of the Fast Forward Newsletter
Stronger Together – 10 Year Event, 17th May 2023 – BOOK TICKETS
Welcome to the April issue of the Fast Forward Newsletter.
In this month’s issue:
Fast Forward News
- Webinar: In collaboration with Kate Hills from Make it British, 9th May – BOOK NOW
- SEP Supplier Training
- Worker Information Page – now available on the website
Industry and Legislative News – ALL SECTORS
- UK Minimum wages as of 1 April 2023
- Updated Charge Rate Guidance, with thanks to the Association of Labour Providers
- Government appoints first Menopause Employment Champion
- A new report calls on Government to prioritise the Modern Slavery Bill
Apparel and General Merchandise
Waste and Recycling
- HSE finds serious safety concerns at 43% of waste site visits
If you would like to request any inclusions or have comments on this publication, or any other part of the programme, please do get in touch.
The Fast Forward Team
Stronger Together – 10 year event – 17th May, 2023
Our 10-year anniversary event is just around the corner, with places booking up! Join the Fast Forward team at the event for an exciting series of expert-led interactive sessions to gain practical insights and guidance, featuring:
- Into the unknown: emerging issues in human rights and fair work
- Nothing about us, without us: Tapping into the value of lived experience
- Effective due diligence in lower tier and outsourced services
- Restoring the balance: The role of purchasing practices in building fair and ethical supply chains
- And so much more!
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and build meaningful relationships. Click below for a full list of speakers, view the agenda and secure your tickets!
FAST FORWARD NEWS
Webinar 9th May: In collaboration with Make It British
‘UK manufacturing at its best!’
Join Kate Hills founder and CEO of Make It British, as she dispels myths around UK manufacturing and highlights the benefits of producing goods in the UK. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights and be a part of the conversation on UK manufacturing at its best.
About Kate Hills: Kate is on a one-woman mission to save UK manufacturing! With a background in working for several large brands and retailers in design and buying roles, she gave up her corporate career to set up Make it British as a way of supporting UK manufacturers and those companies that wanted to make in the UK.
Make it British acts as a platform to promote UK-made brands and manufacturers and aims to raise awareness of manufacturing that still takes place in Britain.
If you would like to apply to be a speaker at an SEP webinar: get in contact.
(SEP) Supplier Training
Supplier Engagement Programme (SEP) training sessions are now available to book on our website. The next available session is Thursday, 23 March. This new 2.5 hour format is a Supplier only event and covers:
- Navigating your way around SEP Dashboard
- Review of self-paced Core Standard online training modules
- The step-by-step Audit Process and Management Systems approach
- The seven Core Standards and latest legislative updates
- Q&A
- Click here to find out more on what is covered!
All SEP subscribers are entitled to one free training place every 12 months.
If you have already attended training but wish to attend again as a refresher or would like for other colleagues from your business to attend, you may purchase additional tickets at the discounted rate of £95.00 + VAT.
Worker Information: reminder of new guidance
We are pleased to announce the launch of our new worker information page! This page is designed to provide UK workers with useful information and know where to go to access further support if needed.
On the new page, you will find:
- Short animation videos for workers on their rights, available in English, Bulgarian, Gujarati, Romanian and Ukrainian.
- Information about Just Good Work – the free worker-information app
- Signposts to different organisations that can support workers further
We encourage all of our stakeholders to take advantage of this new resource for workers and let us know if there is any additional information they would like to see included.
LEGISLATIVE AND INDUSTRY NEWS
UK Minimum Wages
1 April 2023
The rates of the NMW and NLW from 1 April 2023 are as follows:
The Low Pay Commission (LPC) is seeking evidence to inform their recommendations on minimum wage rates for 2024 and beyond. Current estimates put the 2024 National Living Wage at between £10.90 and £11.43.
Charge Rate Guidance – April 2023 Update
The purpose of this guidance is to facilitate discussions between agency labour providers and agreement of fair and legal charge rates. It is part of the suite of resources in the ALP’s “Fair’s Fair” programme, which aims to ensure that agency labour charge rates and labour supply terms are fair and legally compliant, to prevent worker exploitation. As part of this, guidance has been created to help businesses that use agency labour providers to come to an agreement on fair charge rates.
The guidance provides indicative rates, which should be used to support the calculation of sustainable charge rates, taking into account all statutory costs of employment. However, the actual cost may vary depending on factors such as hours worked and sick days taken. The rates will be updated on the GLAA website in line with National Minimum Wage Rate changes from April 2023.
Government appoints first Menopause Employment Champion to improve workplace support
Employers are being encouraged to better support women experiencing the menopause as the Government today appointed England’s first ever Menopause Employment Champion.
One in four women experiencing menopause are reported to have considered leaving their job due to symptoms.
Helen Tomlinson has been appointed new Menopause Employment Champion and calls on more employers to develop menopause policies. She will drive awareness of issues surrounding menopause and work while promoting the benefits for businesses and the economy when women are supported to stay in work and progress.
A new report calls on Government to
prioritise the Modern Slavery Bill
A new report from the Centre of Social Justice calls on Government calls to prioritise the Modern Slavery Bill announced in the 2022 Queen’s Speech stating:
“While the Modern Slavery Act set the foundation, now is the time for a new drive towards eradicating exploitation. The Government now has an opportunity to take swift and bold action, injecting new momentum into the fight against modern slavery and shift the balance of risk and reward so criminals can no longer profit from human misery.”
APPG for Textiles and Fashion calls for ‘made in ethical UK’
The chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Textiles and Fashion, Lisa Cameron, opened the Drapers Sustainable Fashion Conference in London on the 28th March with a call for the return of wide-scale UK textiles and fashion manufacturing – as long as it is done ethically.
Read more
HSE finds serious safety concerns at 43% of waste site visits
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspected more waste sites than planned under its waste and recycling sector work for 2022-23, with 610 visits against a planned 500. Inspectors discovered material breaches at 43% of sites. The latest available data for 2021-22 showed one death, and 10 fatalities over the period 2017-18 to 2021-22 in which workers were struck by a moving vehicle. In the same period there were 445 non-fatal injuries arising from this cause.
David Thomas, general manager at ZoneSafe, said: “This FoI request has highlighted how the waste and recycling sector remains a dangerous place for workers, and despite the significant strides forward that the industry has made, there is still work to be done, particularly around moving vehicles.
Just Good Work
Just Good Work is a free, interactive mobile app giving jobseekers and workers from the UK or abroad critical information and advice on recruitment and employment. The Fast Forward audit requires businesses to display the Just Good Work poster.
Posters are available to download for free in nine languages from the Fast Forward website: Albanian, Bulgarian, English, Croatian, Gujarati, Polish, Romanian, Serbian and Ukrainian.
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