Unpaid overtime saves employers £29.2bn each year
One in five workers regularly work unpaid overtime saving employers a huge £29.2 billion per year, with older workers and long-servers by far the most likely to offer their services for free. According to an analysis of official government figures undertaken by the TUC to mark ‘Work Your Proper Hours Day’, some 5.3 million people […]
HR ‘out of touch’ with workforce realities, claims report
Evidence of a “striking mismatch” between what HR professionals perceive to be key issues and the reality on the ground means that they simply must make more effort to understand their workforces, a report has warned. According to a survey of 350 senior HR practitioners, all too many are out of touch. They are failing […]
Lincolnshire to see biggest ever transfer of police staff to private sector
An outsourcing deal allowing a private security company to design, build and run a police station in Lincolnshire is expected to result in the biggest ever single transfer of police staff to a commercial firm. The agreement between G4S and Lincolnshire Police is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK and […]
Employer sues former worker for “stealing” its Twitter followers
A mobile phone news site is suing a former employee after claiming that he refused to hand over a Twitter account and stole thousands of its followers after leaving the company. Noah Kravitz, who worked as a reviewer for Phonedog Media for more than four years, created the Twitter account in 2007 when he […]
Talent Spot: Kate Russell, the HR Headmistress
Although officially Kate Russell is managing director of her own consultancy, Russell HR Consulting, she’s better known as the HR Headmistress – a nickname coined by friends to describe her no-nonsense manner that has refused to budge. “It’s my own fault,” laughs Russell. “I’m short and very middle class in my accent, but with rather […]
The HR Headmistress: How to deliver compliance training with aplomb
Compliance training is like visiting a difficult family member. You may not really like spending time with them, but your mother insists. Topics such as health and safety, data protection, food hygiene and employment law evoke a similar rather less-than-thrilled response in a ‘we do it because we have to, but don’t expect us to […]
Ask the Expert: When should we CRB-check our site engineers?
The question We are currently looking into whether we need to undertake CRB checking for some of our site engineers, but are not 100% sure if we require it? As a company, we occasionally (and I have to highlight that it is only occasionally) send engineers out to schools or attend calls in […]
Blog: Fraud – Who do you think they are?
Do you know how easy it is to lie about your experience or qualifications on a CV and get away with it? Actually it is extremely easy, simply because the people doing the interviewing are not doing their job properly. And this backed up by the latest US TV hit from Dave, Suits, where a […]
Dept of Health apologises for paying senior execs via limited companies
The Department of Health has apologised for misleading the opposition about paying senior figures via limited companies to help them avoid income tax. According to one insider, the 25 cases identified by The Guardian could be “the tip of the iceberg”. The comment mirrors that of AccountingWEB member, The Black Knight, who commented on […]
Network Rail’s travel time-based redundancy policy branded “unfair and arbitrary”
Unions have branded Network Rail’s decision to make workers redundant if they do not live within 75 minutes of its new offices as “unfair and arbitrary”. The Transport Salaried Staff Association claims that 800 staff from Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire will be affected by the policy, although the owner of the UK’s rail infrastructure […]
Legal Insight: How to avoid getting sued when making redundancies
In today’s financial climate, it is generally not particularly difficult to persuade an employment tribunal that a company needs to make redundancies. But if an employee challenges the reason for their dismissal, the employer’s reasoning will come under much closer scrutiny than it would in an ordinary unfair dismissal case. This means that, ideally, […]
Indirect age discrimination legit when making voluntary redundancies, rules EAT
It is permissible for employers to implement voluntary redundancy schemes that indirectly discriminate against particular age groups, the employment appeal tribunal has ruled. The decision was made in the case of HM Land Registry v Benson, after the former closed and merged offices and established a £12 million budget to fund voluntary redundancies, while still […]
Valentines Day: Two out of five employees look for love at work
Although many UK employers have traditionally frowned on workplace romances, a huge two out of five employees will nonetheless be looking for love at work this year, according to a survey. The poll undertaken by Jobsite.co.uk also revealed that a third of men would take a job based on the attractiveness of new colleagues. Some […]
Ask the Expert: What is the notice period for a perm gone freelance?
The question One of our members of staff was employed by our organisation in a permanent capacity on a fixed-term basis. He had a two-month notice period. At the end of the contract, the employee was kept on but asked to act as a freelancer, which meant coming off payroll and billing us on […]
Remote working: How to get started
Over the last ten years remote working has been steadily gaining a foothold in the UK workplace, changing the nature of work and the daily commute. For many businesses, it now also forms a key part of their contingency plans, enabling employees to carry on working should unexpected or even expected events such as the […]
HMRC to charge PAYE dodgers from April
HM Revenue & Customs will require employers to pay a security from April if it believes that there is serious risk they will fail to pay the requisite PAYE tax deductions or National Insurance Contributions on behalf of employees. The powers are an extension of an initiative that has already been successfully used to ensure the […]
Update: Redknapp and Mandaric cleared of tax evasion
Both Harry Redknapp and Milan Mandaric have been found not guilty on all charges in the high-profile tax evasion trial at Southwark Crown Court. Redknapp and Mandaric hugged as the jury cleared them of all counts. After a two-week trial jurors accepted Redknapp’s denials that he avoided tax on any payments over £189,000 found in […]
Minister promises private sector pensions overhaul
The coalition government plans to launch a consultation later this year in a bid to find a “third option” between expensive final salary pensions and far less generous defined contribution workplace schemes. According to the Daily Telegraph, Pensions Minister Steve Webb said at a dinner last night that, as more and more final salary pension […]
P45s will not get a pink slip
The traditional P45 form that summarises the amount of tax paid at the end of an employment contract will not be scrapped after a change of heart at HM Revenue & Customs. The form had been due to be replaced by a ‘leaver statement’ as part of the move to the Real Time Information system […]
Legal Insight: How not to slip up in the snow
Forecasters are warning that adverse weather conditions in the UK could last until the end of the month, giving employers potential headaches as staff struggle to make it into work. Three inches of snow led to 600 flights being grounded at Heathrow over the weekend, disrupting the plans of up to 18,000 travellers. The […]