10 November 2008 - Not masquerading as consumers while you're blogging

Despite attempts to crackdown and restrict such rogue behaviour, the growth of the Internet as a commercial forum has seen the development of some unsavoury marketing and selling techniques: the widespread adoption of e-mail laid the foundations for the development of spam, online stores such as Amazon have seen authors provide positive reviews of their own books (whilst pretending to be an innocent reader), and it is not unknown for sellers on auction sites such as eBay to use alternative user IDs to bid up the price of items.

The Court of Appeal has passed a judgement which has resounding implications for our understanding of the effect of s.3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Sept 2008 - Consultation on HSE proposal to amend the Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations 1989

These regulations are the ones which require all employers to display the "Health and Safety poster". That is the boring bit of tatty paper measuring 42 cm x 59 cm and headed "Health and Safety Law", which appears on all staff room notice boards.

Sept 2008 - Report of the Commons Work and Pension Committee

The Health and Pensions Committee has published its report into the role of the HSC and the HSE in regulating workplace health and safety. It makes 63 findings and recommendations, the more interesting of which are summarised in this article.

Sept 2008 - Equal Pay

Businesses in the leisure sector rarely operate on a nine to five basis. Pubs, bars and restaurants usually operate very long hours and tend to be at their busiest during the evenings and at weekends. With the need for extensive cover at unsociable hours, employers sometimes offer increased rates of pay or other incentives to their staff in order to encourage them to work the least popular hours.

8 August 2008 - Licensing Act 2003 - DCMS proposal to introduce new minor variations 

Following an initial consultation between November 2007 and February 2008, the DCMS have now set out their proposals to simplify the process involved in varying a premises licence in a Legislative Reform Order. A further consultation period ends on 1st September 2008, although no date has been set for the implementation of any changes thereafter.

23 May 2008 - Consumer protection from unfair trading (but don't tell anybody)

You may be aware that the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPUTR) come into force on 26 May 2008.  They have been described by the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) as being the biggest change in the consumer protection frame work for 40 years.

9 April 2008 - Control of Noise at Work Regulations come into force for entertainment sector

Noise at work has been regulated since 1989, but more stringent regulations, required by an EU Directive, came into force on 6 April 2006 for all businesses other than the entertainment sector. These regulations apply to the entertainment sector from 6 April 2008.

14 January 2008 - White List Part 2 – Good news for some, bad for others

The UK government has issued the second version of the White List, adding the lesser known territory of Tasmania and rejecting the established players of Antigua and Kahnawake.

3 July 2007 - Licensing Act 2003 - Government guidance revised

The DCMS issued revised guidance for the Licensing Act 2003 on 28 June 2007.  This followed 12 weeks of public consultation leading to 162 responses, including just 62 from local authorities.

18 June 2007 - Smoke-free premises in England to become law on 1 July 2007

On 1 July 2007 smoking in all public premises in England (with limited exceptions) will be prohibited. The ban has come into effect in Wales on 2 April 2007.