Employee health and wellbeing: managing absence and lateness
Let’s discuss employee health and wellbeing in relation to absence as well as lateness. What are the effects that absence and lateness can have on your business, and what are the most effective ways to manage them? Absent and constantly late employees don’t just affect your organisation’s productivity; they can also have a negative impact […]
Planning the Christmas Party
The Christmas party is a great opportunity to thank staff for their efforts over the last year, relax a little and get to know people outside of work. However, it’s always a concern when the alcohol starts to flow and your employees let their hair down. Romances, punch-ups and offensive jokes can be par for […]
Father denied full pay during shared parental leave
A father in Glasgow is celebrating a £30,000 tribunal win for sex discrimination, after his employer would only pay him statutory pay during shared parental leave, although mothers receive full pay. The employment tribunal heard that the Network Rail employee David Snell and his wife, wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of shared parental […]
Morrisons Vicariously Liable for Assault
The Supreme Court has ruled that supermarket chain Morrisons is vicariously liable for an employee’s physical assault on a customer. The ruling has not changed the law, but it does indicate that there is now a broader definition of an employer’s accountability for their employee’s actions. Mr Amjid Khan, at the time an employee at […]
New Penalties for the National Minimum Wage
The Government has published new legislation regarding the forthcoming amendments to the National Minimum Wage. There will be tougher penalties in place for employers who fail to pay the National Minimum Wage. These include doubling the penalty for non-payment and disqualifying guilty employers from holding a directorship for up to 15 years. The legislation will […]
UK Workers Drinking Midweek Due to Stress
Over 50% of British employees are drinking midweek to cope with the stress of life, research by vouchercloud.com has found. The study by the leading discount website also found that almost a quarter (24%) of those who admitted to drinking during the week have called in sick to work on at least one occasion due […]
Living Wage Foundation Announces New Rates
The Living Wage Foundation has announced the voluntary Living Wage rates for the next twelve months. For all areas of the UK outside of London the rate has increased from £7.85 to £8.25 per hour. The London Living Wage, which reflects the higher price of living in the capital, has risen from £9.15 to £9.40. […]
One in Five Commute for Over Two Hours a Day
One in five British workers commute for more than two hours every day according to research by recruitment website Monster. 11% of workers travel for up to 90 minutes each way, whilst 9% commute for even longer than that. Monster polled nearly 500 respondents about the duration of their commute and found the following results: Andy Sumner, […]
Aldi to Pay More than Voluntary Living Wage
German supermarket chain Aldi has committed to pay its UK employees more than the voluntary living wage set by the Living Wage Foundation. The supermarket will pay at least £8.40 an hour (£9.45 an hour in London) from February 2016, which is higher than most other UK supermarkets and higher than the Living Wage. This […]
Lidl the Latest Retailer to Pay Living Wage
German retail chain Lidl will become the first UK supermarket to pay the Living Wage. The pay hike will equate to an average wage increase of £1,200 per year for about 9,000 Lidl employees, or just over half of the supermarket’s UK workforce. The increase is due this October, and means that Lidl employees across […]
Court of Appeal Rules to Keep Employment Tribunal Fees
The Court of Appeal has dismissed a third bid by Unison to overturn the introduction of Employment Tribunal fees. The Court dismissed the union’s case for a judicial review of the fees on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Employment Tribunal fees have been the subject of controversy since their introduction in July 2013. The sharp decline in […]
Sanctions in Place for the National Living Wage
The Government has outlined how it plans to enforce the National Living Wage when it comes into force next April. There will be strict sanctions in place for employers that do not comply with the new National Living Wage limits. Working with an increased enforcement budget, HMRC has announced plans to double the existing penalties […]
Care Worker Claims Unpaid Wages for Travel Time
A former care worker is claiming for unlawful deduction of wages due to unpaid travel costs. Caroline Barlow worked for MiHomecare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, for four months. She claims that during this time the company frequently paid her less than the National Minimum Wage as she did not receive any payment […]
Degrees Won’t Be Enough, Recruiters Tell Graduates
The job market is once again full of fresh graduates vying for their first career roles; however new research has shown that some recruiters do not value a degree as much as they used to. Research by a HR news agency has revealed that 84.1% of recruitment professionals believe that a degree has become less essential to securing a […]
Unions Facing Biggest Overhaul in a Generation
The Government has proposed a Trade Union Bill that promises to be the biggest shake up to affect the Unions since the Thatcher era. The proposals, which range from the reasonable to the political, were announced this week by business secretary Sajid Javid. He said that industrial laws were being overhauled in order to protect “the […]
The Living Wage Budget
This week Chancellor George Osborne unveiled the first completely Conservative budget since 1996, which he used to propose drastic rises to the minimum wage. The new national living wage budget initiative, originally proposed by the Labour Party in the run up to the election, will see the minimum wage increase to £7.20 in April 2016 for over-25s. […]
Reduced National Insurance Contributions for Employees Under 21
This April sees the abolition of employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for employees under the age of 21. Chancellor George Osborne announced the changes as part of a Government initiative to reduce unemployment levels amongst young people. The scheme looks set to reduce employee contributions for as many as 340,000 employers across the country, and […]
Employee Retention Under Threat
Employee retention is becoming an increasing issue for UK businesses as new research reveals that 51% of employees have been approached to work for a rival company. The survey, carried out by recruitment agency Adecco, found that of employees approached over a quarter (27%) went on to accept the offer. Of real concern to UK employers is […]
Voluntary Benefit Schemes
A new report published by Benefits Research 2014 suggests that benefit schemes such as gym memberships and discounts on leisure activities are the most popular options an employer can offer. As more and more employers practice employee wellbeing initiatives and other forms of employee engagement, offering subsidised or discounted gym memberships is one way to offer […]
Service Contracts – The End of TUPE?
It has often been said that the provisions set out in the TUPE Regulations (Transfer of Undertakings [Protection of Employment] Regulations) are some of the most complex out there. Over the last year the Government has been consulting on the introduction of amendments to the Regulations with a view to simplification. The problem is that […]
