Employers that offer retail vouchers as part of salary sacrifice schemes could be forced to fork out up to £500m in unpaid VAT, a law firm has cautioned. The warning follows an opinion issued by the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice earlier this week on a significant case involving pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca [...]
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National minimum wage rise welcomed by TUC
The government decision to increase the national minimum wage by 2.2% (from £5.80 to £5.93) in October this year, has been welcomed by the TUC. Brendan Barber, general secretary at the TUC, said that the move went some way to save low-paid workers from being left behind by the “super-rich” bankers who are constantly under the [...]
Dishonest CVs on the increase
The CIPD have discovered that 33% of British workers admit to lying on their CV, and 20% gets a parent or friend to pose as a referee; at Simple Hr we are sure that this is the tip of the iceberg. This can have a significant financial impact on your business, and the NHS have [...]
CEO survey shows people management changes will follow recession
Helen Gilbert of Personneltoday reported that Employers are planning on overhauling the way their organisations manage people post-recession, which could spell significant changes to HR models over the next decade, according to new research. A study of about 70 UK CEOs found that 85% are planning to alter the way their organisations manage people as [...]
Workers get right to ask to train
As from today, 6 April, employers with 250 staff or more will be obliged to give serious consideration to requests from employees who wish to take time off to train. The right to request time off for training will include all employees as from 6 April 2011. Employees can ask for time to pursue training [...]
Statutory Payment Rates
Statutory Payment rates are normally reviewed in April of each year. Below is a reminder of the current and up and coming position on Statutory Payments: Maternity / Adoption Pay: SMP/SAP is paid for 39 weeks provided that a colleagues qualifying conditions are met. This equates to: ○ Pay rate for first 6 weeks: 90% [...]
Paternity leave and pay is extended
Fathers will be able to benefit from up to 26 weeks’ additional paternity leave if the mother of the child returns to work before the end of the maternity leave period to which she is entitled. This will be available during the second six months of the child’s life and may be paid if taken [...]
Smoking ban extension will include workplace entrances
It was recently reported by Personnel Today that the Department of Health has pledged in its publication A Smokefree Future: A comprehensive tobacco control strategy that it will review smoking laws this year, which will include looking at whether to extend legislation banning smoking from enclosed public places and workplaces to cover areas like entrances [...]
Data breaches to incur up to £500,000 penalty
New powers, designed to deter personal data security breaches, are expected to come into force on 6 April 2010. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will be able to order organisations to pay up to £500,000 as a penalty for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act. For a data breach to attract a monetary penalty [...]
Temp’s right to equal treatment
Agency worker legislation laid before parliament recently will cause thousands of employers to review their staffing arrangements and could lead to a lesser reliance on agency workers, a lawyer has claimed. The Agency Workers Directive gives two million temps the right to equal treatment after just 12 weeks, and will come into force in October 2011. Employers have [...]