All news – Page 69
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ArticleGovernment acts to reduce holiday pay claim costs
The government has taken action to reduce the potential cost of holiday pay claims for employers.Last month, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that holiday pay should reflect non-guaranteed overtime.The government has recognised that the EAT’s decision requires organisations to have protection against the potential impact of large backdated claims. ...
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ArticleEuropean court rules obesity is a disability
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that obesity is a disability.The ECJ found that while no general principle of European Union (EU) law prohibits discrimination on the grounds of obesity, the condition falls within the concept of ‘disability’ and whether it hinders participation in professional life.The case of ...
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ArticleDate set for Asda equal pay hearing
The gap was highlighted when an equal pay claim was taken out against Asda by female shop-floor employees, who claimed they were being paid £4 per hour less than their male counterparts working in the organisation’s warehouse.Lawyers Leigh Day said it had been approached by 19,000 Asda employees, mainly women, ...
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ArticleClare Bettelley: Employers should communicate holiday pay ruling to staff
Firstly, the ramifications of the ruling remain unclear. For example, should voluntary overtime be included in calculations? And exactly how far should employers backdate pay?Secondly, in light of these uncertainties, how can employers possibly calculate the likely impact of the ruling on their organisation? And so, thirdly, should employers start ...
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ArticleSupreme Court rejects Amazon hourly pay case
The US Supreme Court has ruled that employees working in an Amazon warehouse are not entitled to be paid for time spent waiting in lines before or after their shifts.Employees at one of the organisation’s contractors, Integrity Staffing Solutions, that staff a Nevada warehouse often have to wait up to ...
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Article23% think shared parental leave will help gender discrimination
Less than a quarter (23%) of UK employees believe that new shared parental leave reforms will result in women being viewed more favourably by employers, according to a study conducted by Enterprise Rent-A-Car.The research, drawn from a survey 2,012 employees and 100 recruitment decision makers in November 2014, also revealed ...
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ArticleEAT rules that holiday can be carried over
Holiday allowance can be carried over where employees are unable to take annual leave because of reasons beyond their control.An Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) found in NHS v Larner in 2012 established that employees can take holiday at a later date because of sickness, but in The Sash Window Workshop ...
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ArticleFinance Bill includes tax changes
The draft Finance Bill 2015, published yesterday, provides more detail on the diversion of profits for multinationals, further guidance on changes to pension flexibility and narrowing of the options for small business tax planning.The 552-page draft bill also includes changes to individual savings account (Isa) allowances between spouses on death ...
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ArticleHMRC provides VAT guidance on pension fund management costs
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has provided further guidance in its Revenue and Customs Briefs on VAT in relation to pension funds management costs and services.The publication details the consequences of the European the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) Europe in PPG Holdings BV and confirms the ...
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ArticleAutumn Statement's impact on benefits
Chancellor George Osborne gave his Autumn Statement on 3 December 2014. There were several changes impacting employee benefits.Chancellor confirms plans to scrap pensions death taxGovernment to go ahead with OTS benefits simplification reformsPersonal tax allowance to rise to £10,600Higher-rate tax threshold to riseIsa tax advantages extended to partnersFuel duty to ...
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ArticleGovernment to go ahead with OTS benefits simplification reforms
Autumn Statement 2014: The government has confirmed that it will go ahead with the Office Of Tax Simplification’s (OTS) recommendations and reform the rules for employee benefits and expenses.It has accepted 51 of the 58 recommendations made by the OTS.The proposals will make the taxation of benefits and expenses more ...
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ArticleHigher-rate tax threshold to rise
Autumn Statement 2014: The higher-rate tax threshold will rise to £42,385 from April 2015.The current higher-rate threshold is set at £41,865 per annum.According to Chancellor George Osborne, this will take 138,000 people out of the higher-rate tax band.Lesley Fidler, associate director at Baker Tilly, said: ”In the past, generosity at ...
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ArticlePersonal tax allowance to rise to £10,600
The government will increase the income tax personal allowance to £10,600 from April 2015.This is higher than the previous planned increase of £10,500 announced in the Queen’s Speech in June. It means the first £10,600 of an employee’s annual salary will be exempt from income tax. Anna McCaffrey, senior associate ...
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ArticleChancellor confirms plans to scrap pensions death tax
Autumn Statement 2014: Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed that the government will scrap the 55% tax rate to which pension savings are subject on the death of a scheme member.The plans, which were first announced in September 2014, will come into effect from April 2015.Zoe Murphy, partner at law firm ...
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ArticleLinklaters to offer enhanced shared parental leave
Linklaters will offer enhanced shared parental leave (SPL) to staff following the statutory rights that have come into force in the UK this week.The global law firm is offering employees full pay for up to six months’ leave, subject to certain conditions. This is inclusive of any maternity or paternity ...
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ArticleUpdate of key compliance issues in November
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that overtime pay must be included in holiday pay calculations.PricewaterhouseCoopers lost a sex discrimination case against an employee, Erik Pietzka, who wanted to work flexibly but had his request rejected. The employment tribunal heard that the employee who dealt with Pietzka’s application was of ...
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ArticleGovernment updates bring-your-own-device guidance
The guidance applies to any type of BYOD software product running on a personally-owned device including: container applications on personally-owned smartphones, bootable USB media on home PCs and remote desktop or remote application products.The security aspects in the guidance include: creating an effective BYOD policy to ensure devices are only ...
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ArticleGovernment taskforce to assess holiday pay ruling
A taskforce is to be set up to assess the possible impact of the ruling on holiday pay from the Employment Appeal Tribunal.In the UK Employment Appeal Tribunal judgement it was decided that holiday pay should reflect non-guaranteed overtime.The taskforce, which was announced by business secretary Vince Cable, will consist ...
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ArticleOvertime must be included in holiday pay
The Employment Appeal Trubunal (EAT) has ruled that overtime pay must be included in holiday pay calculations.The decision relates to three conjoined cases:Bear Scotland v Fulton and Baxter.Hertel (UK) v Wood and others.Amec Group v Law and others.Bear Scotland v Fulton focused on whether overtime pay or shift allowances should ...
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Article50% to offer new pension flexibility to older staff
Half of respondents could offer new pension and remuneration flexibility to older workers to enable them to take advantage of the new Freedom of Pensions rules, according to research by Jelf Employee Benefits.The new legislation, which is due to come into force in spring 2015, will allow older employees, (those ...