Articles
The introduction of a ‘training wage’ for university students is being advocated by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) after it called for an end to unpaid internships.
< Read more >
Equal pay claims made by employees of Walsall Council could cost its tax payers £50million it has been revealed. The local authority is currently carrying out a major pay review known as the single status agreement, in an effort to resolve the issue.
< Read more >
Poorly planned flexible working policies are in danger of jeopardising companies' bottom line if they are not properly thought through.
< Read more >
The house builder firm Barratt has launched its own company ISA (individual saving account) for employees. The Company ISA, provided by insurer Legal & General, is thought to be one of the first workplace benefits of its kind in the UK.
< Read more >
The Liberal Democrats succeeded in securing one of their pre-election pledges in the Emergency Budget on 22 June with the implementation of an increase in the threshold for income tax.
< Read more >
The planned National Insurance rise for 2011, a highly controversial policy in the General Election campaign as the Conservatives had planned to reverse it, will go ahead.
< Read more >
Public sector workers are set to face higher pensions contributions, to bring their arrangements more in line with the less generous provision in the private sector.
< Read more >
David Gauke, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, has announced he will include the payroll industry in formal consultations on tax simplification. This has followed months of requests from individuals in the payroll profession and software industry.
< Read more >
Employers are considering introducing flexible benefits packages on a temporary basis during the World Cup period – but only if they support England.
< Read more >
The new online system of parliamentary expenses has been attacked by Members of Parliament, who are furious about the inefficiency of the online operation. They claim the system - managed by IPSA which was set up last year following the explosion over MPs expenses and which replaced the old in-house ‘fees office’ - crashes, is inefficient and is unable to cope.
< Read more >
The number of pay freezes in private sector companies is at its lowest point since the start of last year, although a fifth of employers are continuing to push through pay freezes, the Income Data Services (IDS) Pay Report revealed.
< Read more >
The number of people who are over 50 and in employment rose by 53,000 in the first quarter of 2010. The labour market statistics also revealed, however, that this age group has the highest number of people in it who claim benefits and have been unemployed for more than 12 months.
< Read more >
Birmingham City Council is facing a bill of some £3bn after an employment tribunal ruled against it in an equal pay case.
< Read more >
Vince Cable, the new Business Secretary in the Con-Lib Dem coalition government, has called for tougher pay disclosures for employees who earn over £200,000.
< Read more >
Financial advice is being offered to employees of one of the largest local authorities in Scotland. North Lanarkshire Council has launched the free service and made it available to all its employees in an effort to look after the health and wellbeing of its 18,500 staff.
< Read more >
The poorest 20% of people in the country are losing more of their income in tax than they did in 1997 with the richest 20% paying 20% less, according to research by the Lib Democrats.
< Read more >
A legal executive who worked in the city for a hedge fund has lost her £4million compensation claim for sexual harassment.
< Read more >
Proposed legislation on deliberate wrong doing by tax agents has been condemned by the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) who labelled it ‘absurd’. The Government’s proposals must be ‘completely re-written’, the body said.
< Read more >
The Equality Bill was sent for Royal Assent on 6 April, during the parliamentary “wash-up”, and has now become law.
< Read more >
Whistle-blowers who expose wrong doing by their employers are continuously victimised despite legislation designed to prevent this.
< Read more >
Some £2.1bn-worth of employee expenses could be ‘out of policy’ or fiddled – nearly one quarter of the UK’s total £8.8bn outlay on expenses, specialist firm GlobalExpense has calculated.
< Read more >
The Conservatives’ pledge not to proceed with Labour’s planned National Insurance hike is becoming a major electoral issue, as parties clash over taxation and tackling the public sector deficit.
< Read more >
Amendments of new rights for agency workers is a possible outcome of the General Election, leading law firm Eversheds has announced. The out-going Labour Government has delayed implementation of the Agency Workers Regulations until 1 October 2011.
< Read more >
Up to 1 million more people will have access to bank accounts, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling announced in the Budget. The measure ‘guarantees bank accounts for all and will combat financial exclusion’, he said.
< Read more >
A YouGov survey commissioned by Avanta, a welfare to work training and enterprise organisation, has found that 59% of UK citizens aged over 55 believe that their age is a ‘major barrier’ to current employment. This came second only to a reported lack of vacancies, reported by two thirds of respondents.
< Read more >
An employee who was unable to take all his holiday leave before the end of the tax year because of injury has won the right to carry it over, following a landmark case.
< Read more >
David Gauke MP, Shadow Treasury Minister, has promised full consultation and piloting of controversial plans to take PAYE calculations out of the employer’s remit and replace with a single national system.
< Read more >
Opposition by payrollers is building to the radical plan by the Conservatives to centralise the PAYE process.
< Read more >
Pay settlements in the private sector were stable in January but rising inflation will increase pressure on earnings, according to a new report.
< Read more >
Small businesses are to be the subject of a new TV series which has been paid for by HM Revenue & Customs and which aims to improve business processes and procedures.
< Read more >
New legislation has come into force which allows the Gangmasters Licensing Authority to revoke licences of any employer found to be abusing salary sacrifice schemes. The scheme closes a loophole in the law which has cost the Treasury an estimated £0.5billion.
< Read more >
Contractors who use offshore schemes face a clampdown after HM Revenue & Customs were granted the right to recover tax retrospectively, a contractor services provider has warned.
< Read more >
The Royal Parks is to install an automated HR service. The new HR system will be self service, allowing all 130 members of staff access to the human capital management system and access to their own files.
< Read more >
A radical solution has been offered by respondents to a survey which explored the ongoing issue of unscheduled absence. The survey indicated that some 20% of full time salaried employees admitted to calling in sick in order to enjoy a day off. Yet when pressed, the respondents offered several solutions which, they said, would make it less likely for them to call in sick.
< Read more >
The first corporate manslaughter and corporate homicide case to be held in Britain has been adjourned due to the defendant's ill health.
< Read more >
HM Revenue & Custom’s helpline is facing meltdown following publication of its number in the Daily Mail, as the incorrect notices fiasco started to hit employees in the pocket.
< Read more >
The highly respected think tank the New Economic Foundation has forecast that a shorter working week will be the norm as we continue to face economic uncertainty.
< Read more >
The Equality Bill has come under fire from the Pope who has claimed it enforces sinful behaviour and will force the Church to hire gay people or transsexuals.
< Read more >
Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, has admitted that HM Revenue & Customs has issued coding notices to the wrong agents, in apparent breach of data protection law.
< Read more >
Stephen Timms MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, is being forced to reply to a formal complaint about breaches of the Data Protection Act by HM Revenue & Customs.
< Read more >
UK businesses are unhappy about the possible abolition of the default retirement age, with 70% of employers saying the abolition is not welcome, in a new study.
< Read more >
Errors in the HM Revenue & Customs modernised, single national computer system were known about last September, it has emerged, yet have not been fixed.
< Read more >
Business groups have hit out at extended paternity leave, saying that it could be disruptive to businesses, and could be claimed fraudulently.
< Read more >
HM Revenue & Customs has been sending out incorrect tax code notices for 2010/11, drawing fire from the Opposition, and concern among payroll managers.
< Read more >
Employers who refuse holiday entitlement to an employee who has breached his or her employment contract will not be in breach of the Working Time Directive, the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) has announced.
< Read more >
Some 44 million calls were left unanswered by staff at HM Revenue and Customs in the year 2008-9, Whitehall's spending watchdog has revealed.
< Read more >
A leading payroll recruitment specialist has warned of an ‘explosion’ for the increase in the demand for international payroll experts and the need for payrollers to increase their knowledge of the international payroll market.
< Read more >
The number of hours worked as unpaid overtime by employees has increased significantly according to research by the TUC (Trade Union Congress).
< Read more >
Youth unemployment, in Britain, has been branded a national crisis according to a respected economics professor, and member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee.
< Read more >
Employers are cutting back on company health insurance schemes according to research by ActiveQuote.com, a price comparison website specifically for private health insurance.
< Read more >
Alistair Darling’s announcement of a one-off 50% levy on discretionary bonuses in banks operating in the UK opens up a grey legal area, employment law specialist Fiona Bolton of Eversheds has warned.
< Read more >
Different interpretations have emerged on the employment law question of whether staff who cannot get to work because of bad weather are entitled to be paid.
< Read more >
An eight-year contract worth an estimated £5.4bn has been signed by Essex County Council and the technology firm IBM.
< Read more >
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has urged the Government to freeze the minimum wage for those under the age of 22 in an effort to combat high levels of youth unemployment.
< Read more >
Fiddling one’s expenses is no longer tolerated following last year’s MPs expenses’ scandal.
< Read more >
The planned basic state pension increase of 2.5% announced in the Chancellors Pre Budget Report will not apply to all pensions, it has been revealed. There is also growing concern among pension organisations over the increasingly complex system of revised pension schemes.
< Read more >
In his last Pre Budget Report before the general election, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling announced that National Insurance Contributions will increase by 0.5%.
< Read more >
Expected taxation of banking bonuses, and anti-avoidance measures to police them, will be introduced with immediate effect, the Chancellor Alistair Darling announced in the Pre-Budget Report on 9 December.
< Read more >
A Liberal Democrat MP is pushing for a vote in the House of Commons over the issue of mandatory pay audits.
< Read more >
Some 71% of workers aged over 55 said they were planning to work beyond the state pension age, compared with just 40% who gave the same response two years ago, according to research carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
< Read more >
An increasing number of small or medium-sized employers are leaving themselves open to legal action by failing to be aware of the level of sexism, swearing and shouting in their workplace, a specialist business insurer has warned.
< Read more >
Microsoft has announced that it is to turn off its hosted payroll software 10 days before Christmas, leaving hundreds of small businesses just six weeks to migrate their entire payroll system to another provider.
< Read more >
A leading PAYE expert has warned that if the Scottish Government is to take on greater responsibility for its own affairs, then HM Revenue & Customs has a responsibility to ensure all its databases are up to scratch before the information can be passed over.
< Read more >
A consultation exploring options for extending paternity leave rights for fathers, which could increase by up to six months, closes on 20 November 2009.
< Read more >
The Government is expected to announce a dramatic u turn over its plans to scrap tax and National Insurance relief on child care vouchers, following pressure from former ministers including Caroline Flint, Estelle Morris and Patricia Hewitt.
< Read more >
Just 4% of employers are planning to offer their staff an above-inflation pay rise with 47% planning to freeze pay rises completely.
< Read more >
The Tribunal Service is struggling to cope with an increased demand in the number of cases it is expected to hear.
< Read more >
The Metropolitan Police faced fresh allegations of institutional racism after an Asian police community support officer claimed there was a ‘black van, white van’ system for officers at one London police station.
< Read more >
Following the fall-out over MPs expenses it is now the turn of spouses who are employed by their MP husband or wife to come under fire. The Legg Review, which will be published early November, is expected to recommend that MPs should be banned from putting their spouses on the payroll.
< Read more >
Employers will face fines of up to £1m if found guilty of corporate manslaughter, under new sentencing proposals. The Sentencing Guidelines Council has recommended that a fine should now only ‘rarely be below £500,000’.
< Read more >
The worst financial crisis since the Second World War could have been prevented if there were more women were on the boards of major companies, according to a former Bank of England policy maker.
< Read more >
As the row over MPs expenses continues to cause a stir within the Westminster village, experts outside its closed doors claim the clampdown has no legal standing.
< Read more >
An employee who was caught posing as a model after doctors had signed her off work with tendonitis and chronic fatigue syndrome is suing her employer citing unfair dismissal.
< Read more >
One in three women are bullied at work and the problem is spiralling out of control according to one of Britain’s largest unions.
< Read more >
The use of fingerprinting to monitor Eurostar cleaning staff is being strongly disputed by the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) which is threatening strike action pending discussions this Friday.
< Read more >
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced that the Government will scrap tax and National Insurance Contribution exemptions for childcare vouchers provided by an employer. In its place, he is offering free childcare for 250,000 two-year-olds.
< Read more >
The minimum wage will increase year on year until 2015 under a pledge made by the Prime Minister in his keynote speech to the Labour Party Conference on 29 September.
< Read more >
A High Court Judge said this week that there is a ‘compelling’ case for considering whether a mandatory retirement age is necessary. However, he still ruled to uphold the right of employers to insist on compulsory retirement at age of 65.
< Read more >
The Conservatives have strongly criticised Gordon Brown’s shock decision to phase out tax relief on childcare vouchers, effectively killing off salary sacrifice schemes that have produced savings for parents and for employers.
< Read more >
Actors union, Equity has come under fire from an industrial tribunal and was accused of running ‘shambolic’ offices.
< Read more >
Men receive five times more in bonus payments than their female colleagues in the UK financial sector, a research by the Equality and Human Rights Comission (EHRC) revealed.
< Read more >
An employee made redundant from her company has been allowed to proceed with her claim of unfair dismissal, even though she presented it three months after her employment terminated.
< Read more >
New guidance on the complex TUPE rules, governing retained terms and conditions for transferred employees, have been published by the Employment Appeals Tribunal. The new guide covers situations around outsourcing, in-sourcing and new contractors.
< Read more >
A group of 72 bankers have launched a claim with the High Court for £30million in unpaid bonuses.
< Read more >
IT specialists working for the IT giant Capgemini on behalf of HMRC are being shipped in from Capgemini India and paid the same salary they receive in Mumbai to work in the Telford offices in the UK.
< Read more >
Increasing numbers of top level employees and company directors are taking advantage of cheap company loans instead of cash remuneration to avoid the 50% super tax, Accountancy Web reported.
< Read more >
A lorry driver who strangled his boss with his tie after forcing him to hand over £3,000 in unpaid wages, has appeared in court.
< Read more >
< Read more >
< Download PDF >
A payroll recruitment agency has been asked to amend recruitment advertisements following a ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority.
< Read more >
< Download PDF >
< Download PDF >
|
