Practical eLearning Courses for Staff INDUSTRY
VOICE
Recent new legislation and the need to make sure that your staff are acting responsibly in their roles has highlighted the need to ensure that adequate training has been provided by employers.
Responding to this need, the BMF in conjunction with its Business Service provider Halborns, has launched a new suite of 3 eLearning courses aimed at ensuring that all staff understand the implications of harassment in the workplace. Each course is accessed online and can be completed in around 20 minutes with a set of assessment questions to check understanding of the subject, requiring a pass rate of 80%.
With this practical eLearning course you can ensure
compliance, avoid potential uplift in compensation and clearly demonstrate your commitment to preventing harassment.
1. Preventing Sexual Harassment at Work
Since October 2024 all employers have a proactive duty to prevent sexual harassment at work. Tribunals now have the power to apply a 25% uplift to any compensation in any successful claim if employers are found to have failed to comply.
Illegal trade in Russian timber
An estimated €1.5bn of illegal Russian timber has entered the EU since sanctions were imposed in July 2022.
The investigators, from UK- based non-profit Earthsight, posed as buyers over a nine-month
period - recording firms on camera, in voice calls and through internal documents arranging a steady flow of Russian plywood into the EU. The timber, with a retail value of €1.5bn, equates to more than 500,000cu m, with the largest volumes being shipped to Poland, followed by Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Estonia.
It is not clear whether (or not) this timber is being moved to the UK from the EU’s Member States. The European Commission has extended its anti-dumping duties for birch plywood to include Turkey and Kazakhstan. Volumes of birch plywood into the EU from these countries have surged since the start of the invasion of Ukraine. The UK is no longer a party to EU anti-dumping measures. However, all wood products from Russia remain classified as ‘conflict timber’ and, as such, are considered illegal to import to the UK under the EU/UK Timber Regulations - no matter whether they are imported directly from Russia or via a third-party country. Given the high-risk nature of sourcing timber from Turkey and Kazakhstan, our colleagues at Timber Development UK urge merchants to find alternative sources as a matter of urgency. Any Russian timber products found for sale in the UK may subject the importers - and any customers who purchased these products - to legal action, fines and reputational damage.
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2. Better Banter at Work “It was just a bit of banter” has been a common phrase in workplaces for decades, but it can often be seen as just an excuse for inappropriate behaviour. Banter can be useful in helping a team to get to know each other and gel thus creating a positive working environment, but it must never become unacceptable and expose a business to significant legal risks. This eLearning course will help your staff to understand
BMF DIARY DATES
Please check the BMF website at
www.bmf.org.uk for all the latest news and events updates in this ever-changing environment.
the difference between humour and harassment.
3. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
We all have a role to play in creating and sustaining a respectful, diverse and inclusive workplace. It is important that we understand how our actions and words can impact on different people to make them feel uncomfortable. This course is designed to make sure that your staff are clear about what is meant by equality, diversity and inclusion. • For further details talk to your BMF Account Manager or contact Halborns directly via email:
info@halborns.com
New law and guidance on public procurement
The Cabinet Office has published new guidance on the UK Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement to accompany the Procurement Act 2023. This Act was passed by the Westminster Parliament following an extensive consultation exercise between December 2020 and March 2021.
This guidance - called the National Procurement Policy Statement - took effect on 24 February 2025, alongside the Procurement Act. The NPPS sets out how contracting authorities - including public bodies and local authorities - must give SMEs a fair chance at public contracts to boost local economies, create jobs and economic growth across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Bidders that demonstrate a commitment to social value criteria - such as fair working conditions, skills development, environmental standards, and employment of
economically-inactive individuals - are more likely to succeed. There is a stronger emphasis on contracting authorities to maximise procurement spend with SMEs. Although a step in the right direction, the BMF has seen similar initiatives before. We hope that these changes will significantly increase the SME share of approx. £300 billion of taxpayers’ money spent on goods and services by contracting authorities.
The guidance can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/national- procurement-policy-statement
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net March 2025
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