All articles by Ashleigh Webber
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ArticleTaylors Poultry Services wins appeal in travel time minimum wage case
An employment appeal tribunal (EAT) has ruled that Taylors Poultry Services, which provides labour to farms, did not have to pay workers the national minimum wage while they were travelling to work.The organisation, which employs workers on zero-hours contracts to work on poultry farms, provides minibuses to take staff to ...
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ArticleNHS England launches workforce wellbeing programme
NHS England has launched a £16 million NHS workforce wellbeing programme.The NHS workforce wellbeing programme will run for three years and includes initiatives that have been co-designed and led by NHS staff.NHS Charities Together, which represents around 200 charities in the health service, has provided an initial £6 million of ...
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ArticlePersonnel Today Awards 2024 now open for entries
The 2024 Personnel Today Awards is now open for entries, as the annual celebration of the very best in HR, and learning and development gets underway.Employers have until 11:55pm on Friday 7 June 2024 to craft their submissions for their chance of winning a coveted trophy at a glittering black-tie ...
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ArticleJohn Lewis Partnership and Co-op to increase pay
John Lewis Partnership and the Co-op are to increase their minimum pay rates for 2024.The Co-op has reaffirmed its commitment to paying the real living wage as recommended by the Living Wage Foundation, increasing its minimum hourly wage from £10.90 to £12, or from £12.25 to £13.15 in London. Team ...
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ArticleSurrey County Council payroll error sees employees receive wrong wages
Surrey County Council has apologised to employees after an error with its £30m payroll system saw staff paid the wrong wages.Problems with its Enterprise Resource Planning system, which was introduced last June, have meant some employees including firefighters and teachers have been underpaid.Surrey County Council Trade Unions group, which brings ...
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ArticleCapita withdraws from real living wage rate
Capita has become the latest employer to withdraw from the real living wage scheme after the recommended rate increased by 10% two years in a row.The outsourcing firm said that employees currently paid the real living wage, which is recommended by the Living Wage Foundation and takes the cost of ...
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ArticleTribunal finds Association of Chartered Certified Accountants employee was discriminated against
A social media marketer who was told she “had a baby at the wrong time” and was not transferred into a role that matched her responsibilities in a restructuring exercise has won a maternity discrimination claim at an employment tribunal.Ms Yongo, had been working at the Association of Chartered Certified ...
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ArticleNew family-friendly regulations set to take effect on 6 April 2024
Several new family-friendly regulations, including the right to request flexible working from day one of employment, carer’s leave and extended redundancy protections for new parents, will come into effect on 6 April 2024 in England, Scotland and Wales.The regulations include The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023, which remove the requirement ...
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ArticleTribunal rules stress can be disability without mental health diagnosis
An employment tribunal has ruled that stress can be considered disability without a formal mental health diagnosis from a doctor.At a preliminary hearing to discuss a case brought against Aneurin Bevan University Local Health Board, the tribunal panel in Cardiff found that claimant Mrs Phillips could be considered disabled under ...
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ArticleTesco introduces paid leave for kinship carers
Tesco has introduced a raft of new family-friendly policies, including paid kinship leave for employees responsible for caring for relatives’ children.Employees who have obtained a Special Guardianship Order from a family court will be able to take 26 weeks’ kinship leave on full pay.The retailer introduced the kinship leave policy ...
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ArticleEasyJet joins battle for cabin crew with £1,000 bonus
EasyJet has become the latest airline to offer cabin crew a £1,000 bonus in a bid to attract staff in a tight labour market.New and existing easyJet cabin crew will receive the bonus after the summer holiday season, which is expected to be extremely busy as the ending of travel ...
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ArticleMarks and Spencer announces enhanced pay and benefits package
Thousands of Marks and Spencer (M&S) shop floor staff will see their base pay increase to at least £10 an hour in April, as part of a new reward package announced by the retailer.Some 40,000 employees will benefit from a pay rise, with the hourly rate increasing from £9.50 to ...
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ArticlePublic services facing crippling Covid absence rates
Public services including healthcare, transport and education are coming under strain amid crippling Covid-19 (Coronavirus) absence rates.Key figures in each sector warned of the impact of soaring cases of the virus as the highly transmissible Omicron strain sweeps the UK.Health leaders indicated that the pressure of absences on services in ...
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ArticleDisability pay gap narrows to 16.5%
The UK’s disability pay gap has narrowed slightly, but mandatory disability pay gap reporting is needed to drive further progress, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC).The trade union body’s analysis of Labour force survey statistics found that non-disabled workers earn 16.5% more per hour than those that meet the ...
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ArticleTougher deterrents needed to stop minimum wage breaches
The government’s policy of ‘naming and shaming’ organisations that break minimum wage rules is an effective deterrent against non-compliance, but tougher financial penalties are needed to further minimise incentives for underpayment.This is according to the Resolution Foundation think-tank, which found that smaller firms are more likely to lose out because ...
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ArticleReport finds real terms pay growth still weak
Real wage and pay growth is set to grind to a halt next year, a think-tank has warned, despite the uplift in minimum wage rates and an end to the public sector pay freeze promised in the Budget.In 2022 average earnings are expected to grow by 3.9%, but are likely ...
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ArticleBudget 2021: Pay rises announced
Budget 2021: Chancellor of the Excheque Rishi Sunak has confirmed pay rises for the lowest-paid workers and public sector staff, as well as changes to Universal Credit, today (27 October).Sunak said the national living wage (NLW) will go up to £9.50 an hour from 1 April 2022 – a 6.6% ...
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ArticleGo Ape now owned by its employees
Outdoor adventure company Go Ape has transferred the majority of shares in the business to an employee ownership trust, allowing its workforce to have a stake in the company’s success.Ninety per cent of Go Ape shares have been handed over to staff, with the remaining 10% retained by founders Rebecca ...
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ArticlePay awards set to reach 2.5% by August 2022
Private sector employers expect that the average pay settlement will rise to 2.5% by next September, according to XpertHR.Some 84% of businesses polled expect to increase pay at their next annual review and half of employees are expected to receive a higher award than they did over the past year.Sheila ...
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ArticleTimpson to cover hormone replacement therapy costs
Timpson is offering to pay for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescriptions for employees experiencing the menopause.Announcing the policy on World Menopause Day yesterday (18 October), chief executive James Timpson said staff will be able to claim back the cost of their HRT prescriptions via expenses.The offer comes as Labour MP ...