News
With Britain retaining its opt-out from Europe’s Working Time Directive, Mobile-e-Solutions believes it holds the key to enabling employers to efficiently manage working time.
The recent collapse of negotiations aimed at revising the EU’s Working Time Directive means employees, should they choose to do so, are able to continue to work more than 48 hours per week. However, this also poses the question of how to handle the hours of key workers such as hospital staff or other ‘on call’ employees, because the directive that remains in place requires inactive as well as active ‘on call time’ to count towards working hours.
As a result, many employers are now very concerned they may have to recruit further staff simply to ensure compliance – a scenario that to many is quite simply not an option during this recessionary period.
However, Mike Lister, Managing Director of Mobile-e-Solutions, believes that the unique technological solutions his company provides can eliminate this worry. He said: “Maximising company performance by modernising working patterns is now one of the current key issues for UK firms. We can deliver more control and accountability into a business, and at the same time delivering a measurable return on investment.”
He added: “Whilst managing workers’ hours is a legal requirement of the Working Time Regulations; doing it well brings many business benefits too – including: improved forward planning, increased efficiency and productivity, reduced health and safety risks and increased employer-worker relations.
“Our Time, Attendance and Employee Tracking solutions can be used to keep comprehensive time-sheets of working hours enabling the improved scheduling of worker hours, reassigning spare capacity to the benefit of both clients and employees.”
Furthermore, Mobile-e-Solutions can develop Web Services to update back end management and computer systems – so as data is captured by the mobile phone technology, it provides an almost ‘live’ feed of information into workflow systems to automatically generate future actions.
The significance and implications of the outcome of Working Time Directive negotiations are only just becoming apparent to many firms – it is clear that Mobile-e-Solutions offers not only a remedy to any worries businesses are now presented with; but also the opportunity to save hundreds of hours per month and therefore thousands of pounds every year.
For more information on Mobile-e-Solutions and how its mobile phone and ‘proof of’ technology can work for you and your business, please call Mike Lister on 0845 643 4898.
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For further information or interviews, please contact:
Kara Rose from Kara Rose PR.
Tel: 07985 166480 or e-mail kara@kararosepr.co.uk
News
With new legislation ensuring heightened responsibility for the welfare and security of employees; Mobile-e-Solutions believes it has the perfect lone worker solution, which can also help employers to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
With lone workers deemed amongst the highest ‘at risk’ of serious injury or attack in the workplace, and in the wake of tougher laws governing ‘Corporate Manslaughter’; many organisations are turning to mobile communication devices for protection – of themselves and of their employees.
Mobile-e-Solutions’ Managing Director, Mike Lister, explained that his company’s multi-functional solutions can play an integral part in ensuring the personal safety of employees; empowering them to participate fully in managing their own safety and time management. He said: “With real real-time proof-of-attendance, data capture, and lone worker protection all via the users’ mobile phone; our solutions offer reassurance to employees operating in a diversity of situations, where they may face any number of different scenarios or circumstances.”
He added: “The devices can also ensure that employees go about their work in a much more efficient and independent way – due to how the technology works and the ‘tagging’ system its uses; workers should always know what they should be doing, where and when – as an addition to ensuring their personal safety.”
This new technology is helping businesses and organisations across the country to meet the obligations of the ‘Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007’. Under the terms of act, the Government has closed a loophole that enabled companies to escape prosecution for fatalities at work. Previously, only individuals within the firm could be held accountable if negligence was proved, but the new laws mean companies can be prosecuted too, along with giving the Health and Safety Executive powers to issue unlimited fines on the company, publicise its failings and order it to take remedial action to prevent a repeat of the incident.
So how does it work?
Mobile-e-Solutions technology contains features to help protect lone workers in potentially hazardous or even dangerous situations. As well as “overt” notification functionality, the product allows for “discreet” notifications too – whereby a worker can request assistance without making their potential assailant aware that they have done so; using their mobile phone to activate an alert tag located in another object, such as a pen carried in their pocket.
The phone will then immediately send a silent alert to a monitoring system, or it dials a pre-defined number to allow someone to listen in, speak, or record what is happening. The ‘overt’ solution operates in a similar manner, but with the mobile phone beeping or vibrating to indicate an alert has been sent.
Expert Backing
Human Resource-expert, Andrea Jackson of Beechwood HR and Business Support, specialists in advising employers of working practices and Health and Safety, believes that this technology is integral to every organisation because they all have a duty of care to employees. She said: “I work with companies to set up lone worker and planning policies – integrating the two using Mobile-e-Solutions technology has huge benefits because of the savings it presents, meaning that managers do not have to waste time or resources making phone calls to check on employees.”
She added: “It is a common misconception that ‘lone workers’ are simply those who are out on the road in remote locations – however, a lone worker is in fact the after-hours cleaner in an office; or even in the retail environment, where a team of staff has departed at the end of the day leaving a store manager to alone to cash-up or lock-up the building. These situations are when solutions that track attendance and timings are vital – along with reassurances such as a fast and effective way to alert others should a hazardous situation arise.”
It is clear to see that the peace of mind, for both employee and employer alike, is the reason why so many businesses are turning to Mobile-e-Solutions technology to provide lone worker protection solutions.
For more information on Mobile-e-Solutions and how its mobile phone and ‘proof of’ technology can work for you and your business, please call Mike Lister on 0845 643 4898.
-Ends-
For further information or interviews, please contact:
Kara Rose from Kara Rose PR.
Tel: 07985 166480 or e-mail kara@kararosepr.co.uk
