Ask the Expert: What legal issues do well-being initiatives generate?
The question I have been asked to introduce some health and well-being initiatives into our workplace. Where should I start and are there any particular legal issues/pitfalls that I need to be aware of? The legal verdict Esther Smith, a partner at Thomas Eggar Where to start indeed! There is pretty […]
News: Pensions gap widens between top directors and everyone else
The pensions’ gap between top company directors and everyone else appears to be widening, according to research. The TUC’s PensionsWatch survey, which analyses the pension arrangements of 351 FTSE 100 directors, revealed that their average occupational pension was a huge 24.4 times larger than the average UK workers’ of £9,929. Of the 144 senior […]
Legal Insight: The HR implications of pensions auto-enrolment
From 1 October this year, pension auto-enrolment will start to affect the UK’s largest businesses. While a lot of these employers will already have got to grips with fundamental issues such as identifying their staging date and considering which pension scheme to use to satisfy the new legislation, there are a number of HR implications […]
Ask the Expert: Can employers simply take food allowances away?
The challenge A friend is a residential carer at an organisation that looks after multiple residents with learning difficulties. The job is shift-based and includes sleepovers. Historically, the company has included a food allowance for resident carers (it covers shopping for sustenance while onsite). Due to the nature of service users, carers prepare food […]
Blog: Never underestimate the value of the great British tea break
Free tea and coffee facilities for employees cost businesses around £276 per year, per employee. If you have a large workforce that cost could soon add up, but hold fire before you commence a cull of this pretty basic benefit as it could end up costing you more money in the long term. Psychologists […]
News: Google’s 10-year “death benefits” have legal implications, warns lawyer
Employers thinking of following in Google’s footsteps and offering staff so-called “death benefits” must protect themselves against a range of potential pitfalls including possible discrimination claims, a legal expert has warned. Laszlo Bock, the search engine giant’s chief people officer, told Forbes magazine last week that it had introduced a policy last year whereby, if […]
Ask the Expert: What happens about holiday for staff on temporarily reduced working hours?
The question If your employees agree to do a four-day instead of the normal five-day week for a temporary period of four months, what happens in regard to their annual leave and bank holiday entitlement? Normally if someone works for four days, they would receive 4/5ths of the usual entitlement but as, in […]
News: Tower Hamlets implements ‘Smarter Working’ initiative
Tower Hamlets Council is enabling its entire workforce of more than 4,000 personnel to work from any location, using any computing device, as part of its ‘Smarter Working’ initiative. The borough expects its carbon footprint to reduce by over 300 tons per annum as a result of the move, which will see it introducing […]
News: HMRC to probe recruitment industry’s £390m tax avoidance scheme
HM Revenue & Customs is to crack down on UK recruitment industry practices following allegations that hundreds of agencies across the country are running multi-million pound tax avoidance schemes. The organisation plans to launch an investigation into claims that agencies are using “travel and subsistence” expenses systems for temporary staff, which are believed to both […]
Blog: How to offer a benefits package that staff actually want
If your company has an employee benefits package, is it offering your employees what they really want? For employers finding the right employee benefits scheme that helps to motivate and retain staff and that employees actually want can be quite a difficult task, particularly when there are discrepancies between what employers care about and what […]
HRD Insight: BP Exploration’s Jane Burt on being a charity trustee
Becoming the trustee of a charity is the kind of volunteering work that can complement your career and help you to develop new personal and professional skills. Being a trustee is not only a valuable way of contributing to the third sector, it can also be an interesting and rewarding experience, helping to broaden your […]
Ask the Expert: Is someone sacked for gross misconduct entitled to unused leave?
The question Reviewing an employee handbook, I noticed that it includes a clause to the effect that an employee summarily dismissed for gross misconduct will forfeit entitlement to payment for unused leave. Can you advise me as to whether this is lawful? The legal verdict Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar […]
Blog: RTI and auto-enrolment – Would HMRC like to join us in real-time?
PAYE has remained largely unchanged since it was introduced in 1944 and HMRC believes it needs to be updated to meet the needs of the 21st century. The forthcoming introduction of Real Time Information (RTI) will mark the biggest change in Pay as You Earn (PAYE) for over 60 years. It will impact upon […]
Expert voice: reaping the value of soft benefits
It’s a basic fact of human nature that we all like to feel valued and nurtured. But with tight budgets making it increasingly difficult to reward staff with big pay rises, organisations are, in many instances, looking at offering so-called soft benefits instead. And office perks such as sporting activities, gym membership and in-house […]
Blog: Are you paying enough attention to staff health and well-being?
A couple of month’s ago the nation’s hearts sank at the sight of Bolton’s Midfielder Fabrice Muamba being resuscitated after collapsing at the FA Cup Quarter final due to a sudden cardiac arrest. The 24 yr old football star took 78 minutes to regain breathing and has bought new awareness to Sudden Cardiac Death Syndrome this […]
Ask the Expert: What is the holiday situation for sick workers going through redundancy?
The question An employee of ours has been on long-term sick leave since May 2011 until the current time. We have just confirmed her redundancy. But she has now asked a holiday-related question about which I would like clarification. She did not take any holidays last year (the holiday year is from January […]
Blog: Six rules to govern company car etiquette
Providing employees with a new company car, new truck, or van is not just a practical move. It can go a long way towards helping employees feel nurtured and respected. It’s also often essential for business operations, especially when a company is sales-based. However, when you put keys into an employee’s hands, you’re not […]
Talking Point: Would you want to live in an ‘anywhere working’ city?
A study last year by the TUC found that employees in the UK spend almost 200 hours a year travelling to and from work. While an average of approximately four hours a week may not sound like a huge amount, it is the equivalent of around five weeks extra work per year. I remember […]
Blog: Will pensions auto-enrolment hit the spot?
With pension auto enrolment due to come into effect towards the end of this year, businesses need to start planning now if they want to get themselves in order ahead of the big switch. If planned correctly the impact on resources for your business required to put the workplace pension scheme into place can be […]
The value of flexible benefits
Recent figures have shown a considerable rise in the take-up of flexible benefits packages lately. In part, this situation can be attributed to factors such as the difficult economic climate and changing employee demographics. Add to these issues the HR community’s growing interest in the subject and it is likely that we will see flexible […]