News
Public sector pay increases will only rise by an average of one per cent once the current freeze period has ended, the Chancellor has revealed.
The Autumn Review, announced earlier today, set out the need for continued...
Small businesses will not have to auto-enrol their
staff until May 2015, more than a year after the
original schedule.
The Minister for Pensions, Steve Webb, has confirmed that firms employing fewer than 50 members of staff...
The shortlist for the inaugural Pay & Benefits Awards has been announced.
The extensive list was chosen by our panel of industry experts who spent several weeks deliberating over the high-calibre entries. The final line-up...
An extra 1,300 employers are being called to join the pilot for Real-Time Information (RTI) in July 2012.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) already has
300 organisations in place who will be submitting RTI data from April 2012....
The Government is to provide wage subsidies, worth half of the youth national minimum wage, to employers that take on an unemployed 18–24-year-old.
Nick Clegg is to set out the plans as part of a £1 billion youth...
The introduction of protected conversations could have the reverse effect of reducing employment law red tape, according to Helga Breen, Partner at Lawrence Graham.
Following the announcement of a range of suggested reforms for...
Carry-over limits on untaken annual leave due to sickness have been approved by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Employers can take comfort from the latest ruling which suggests that caps can be placed on the amount of time...
Total executive earnings have increased by more than 4,000 per cent in the past 30 years, damaging trust between employees and business leaders, according to findings from the High Pay Commission.
The report has found that...
The UK needs to develop a more effective approach to helping employees recover from a bout of long-term sickness absence, according to the UK Rehabilitation Council (UKRC).
The call comes ahead of the Sickness Absence Review,...
Teachers have joined the growing number of public sector workers who have voted to strike on
30 November.
The NASUWT, which is one of the largest teaching unions in the country, has announced that 82 per cent of those balloted...
The immigration cap on skilled workers has increased workloads and costs for organisations, and undermines the belief that Britain is open for business.
The findings from the Access to Global Talent report suggest that...
Managing reward risks is a major concern for nearly
80 per cent of professionals in this field, with appreciation of total remuneration top of the agenda.
The annual Reward Risks Survey carried out by the Chartered Institute...
The Government’s work permit migration cap is having a damaging effect on businesses.
Figures from the quarterly Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s Labour Market Outlook report showed a six per cent...
The Government is to consult over the introduction of protected conversations, which will allow employers and employees to have open discussions about retirement.
David Cameron told the Financial Times that the Government wants...
The Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) are already having a negative impact on the temporary jobs market, according to the CBI and Harvey Nash Employment Trends Survey.
The findings of Staying the Course show that, despite...
Payroll giving figures have slumped for the third year running, leading to calls from business chiefs for more companies to back the scheme.
Only three per cent of the UK workforce currently donates to charity through the payroll. The...
Controversial plans to scrap unfair dismissal rights in favour of a compensation payment failed to gain the backing of the Chancellor, amid rumours of a split over the proposal.
The Prime Minister is reportedly angry at suggestions that...
Hedge fund IT employees are experiencing bonuses of up to 60 per cent more than they received last year.
ReThink Recruitment reports that the base salary for senior IT staff now stands at around £100,000, while those with...
Ahead of the Government’s Sickness Absence Review it has emerged that the number of women claiming sickness benefits is rising faster than men.
According to analysis of the Department for Work and Pensions statistics by...
Public sector workers are still set to strike, despite the Government’s concessions to the planned changes
to pensions.
The Coalition has put together a revised offer which will mean that employees will still have to...
Flexible working regulations are not hindering businesses according to tribunal figures, which revealed that only 277 claims out of 218,100 alleged a breach of the rules.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (...
Public sector employers may be encouraged to make a legal challenge against strikes over pensions, as walkouts may be unlawful.
Lawyers have reportedly advised the Government that the industrial action could be illegitimate as...
Employees want more flexibility and variety when
it comes to their benefits, according to research
from Mercer.
The findings showed that traditional elements of a package scored poorly when it came to motivation and...
Calls for clear guidelines on how to best communicate auto-enrolment have been made by Standard Life.
The company found that if information is clearly and effectively presented, 82 per cent of those who would be automatically enrolled would...
High-street retailers are calling for a National Insurance (NI) holiday to help encourage growth and raise employment.
Ian Cheshire, Chief Executive of Kingfisher, which runs B&Q and Screwfix, and Jill McDonald, Chief Executive of the UK...
The rise in State Pension Age (SPA) to 66 is to be delayed by six months.
Thanks to an amendment in the Pensions Bill, the move will now not be implemented until October 2020. The change means that the maximum time a woman who is affected by...
The Hay Group predicts that the public−private pay gap will continue to widen across all employee levels during the next two years.
The consulting firm anticipates that wage rises will be approximately six per cent, while the public...
Nearly half of working parents are unaware of the financial benefits of childcare vouchers.
Of the 2,000 parents polled, 45 per cent did not know about the salary sacrifice scheme, while 33 per cent were not offered childcare vouchers by their...
The number of employment tribunals involving part-time workers has notably increased.
Under the Part-Time Workers Regulations 2000, this group of employees are entitled to the same treatment as full-time staff.
The rise in the amount of...
Employers are not doing enough to help staff return to work after a period of sickness.
Last year employee absence cost the economy £17 billion. A survey by Canada Life assessed the reasons behind absenteeism. It found that nearly one-...
Around 75 per cent of respondents to the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) consultation, Collecting Real-Time Information (RTI), believe the timescales are unachievable.
In reply to these concerns HMRC emphasised that there is no flexibility on...
Only 53 per cent of UK workers utilised their entire holiday entitlement last year.
A little under a quarter of employees took 75 per cent of their leave, while more than a tenth did not take any. Despite this, UK staff enjoyed more time off...
New guidelines for executive pay focus on the appropriateness of rewards.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has published its Principles of Remuneration. These are aimed at companies listed on the stock exchange, although smaller firms...
A female detective has been signed off sick for four months for having a “broken heart”.
The officer has been diagnosed with stress after she split up with her married boyfriend, who returned to his estranged wife. The woman in her...
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has urged employers and trustees to put in place processes to help pension scheme members purchase annuities when they retire.
Findings from the firm suggest that the value of pension pots has fallen by 30 per cent...
Calls for the resignation of Dave Hartnett have been made following claims that he lied about a deal involving a tax settlement at Goldman Sachs.
Hartnett, Permanent Secretary for Tax at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), agreed an arrangement...
The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) has formally launched its pension provision.
The scheme has been designed to fill the gap in retirement savings for low-to-medium earners and is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises. It...
Senior executive salaries are to rise by up to five per cent over the year to 18 months, according to findings from InterExec.
In a survey of headhunters, more than 40 per cent said that they thought wages would rise for this group of...
Clarification over how far cost can contribute to a legitimate reason not to make reasonable adjustments with regards to disability has been given.
In an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) case between Cordell and her employer, the Foreign and...
The qualifying period for the right to claim unfair dismissal is to be extended from one to two years. However, some are questioning its effectiveness.
The move could save businesses nearly £6 million a year and the Government hopes that...
Only a third of FTSE 100 companies have made progress in improving gender equality in the boardroom.
Lord Davies’ progress report revealed that organisations have been slow to alter the ratio of men to women at the top.
In a Downing...
Businesses are starting to hire individuals at senior management level, helping to push up rates for temporary employees.
According to Interim Partners, nearly 80 per cent of interim executives are paid more than £500 per day. This...
Companies may have to disclose the link between performance and pay under new proposals.
Vince Cable has launched a consultation paper which suggests changes to the way in which businesses produce their annual reports. It asks whether total...
Organisations are recognising the impact of employee health and wellbeing on productivity.
As a result of the recession a third of employers intend to improve staff morale. The research from Aviva also found that one in three employees are now...
Employers will struggle with the costs and compliance levels of auto-enrolment according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The Government had estimated initial implementation costs of around £6,000. However, the consulting firm believes...
A staggering 20 per cent of employers do not have an eye care policy in place.
Research carried out by Specsavers and Pay & Benefits magazine shows that businesses are potentially leaving themselves vulnerable to penalties by not providing...
