Opinion – Page 3
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OpinionJayne Flint: What does the continuation of the off payroll working rules mean for businesses?
The government announced in the recent mini Budget that it intended to scrap the off payroll working rules from 6 April 2023. On 17 October 2022, it confirmed that this is no longer the case. This means that the rules, which apply when a business engages a contractor who operates ...
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OpinionPaul Kelly: The importance of gender pay gap reporting for businesses
The government’s latest pay gap report, HMRC gender pay gap report 2021, which was published on 27 January 2022, revealed that in 2021, women earned 90 pence for every £1 earned by a man. Following this, there is increasing pressure for employers not just to report the numbers but instead ...
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OpinionRhiannon Barnsley: Auto-enrolment reform gives employees a choice
Nobody is thinking about pension auto-enrolment reform at the moment. Quite frankly, people are more concerned about how they are going to afford to put the heating on this winter, or how they are going to pay their mortgage. Understandably, of course. However, this should not be used as an ...
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OpinionHina Belitz: Are working mothers a symptom of economic downturn?
Fewer women are leaving work after having children. While some see this increased workforce participation as a step towards equality, as inflation surges, many mothers now work out of economic necessity.Although the Equality Act 2010 legally protects women from discrimination in the workplace, inequality and discrimination still remain far too ...
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OpinionConfessions of a benefits manager: Candid integrates a new location
As part of the Higher Being’s strategy for world domination, we have bought out an organisation in east Germany. We have several locations in Germany already, but apparently this firm brings a unique blend of synergies to our niche technology. That is what we always say about random acquisitions, so ...
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OpinionMartin Williams: Conservative plans would render strike action ineffective
Earlier this year, former Transport Secretary Grant Shapps expressed shock at how workers were treated by P and O Ferries, when the firm sacked hundreds of staff members without notice. The government had promised to introduce an employment bill to protect workers. Change was needed to prevent other mass sackings, ...
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OpinionYvonne Gallagher: Bumpy ride for Deliveroo in workers’ union challenge
The Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) Union has announced plans to pursue claims previously made against Deliveroo on behalf of riders and drivers. These assert that the riders are workers for the purpose of a variety of employment statutory rights, in particular the right to union recognition, but also ...
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OpinionSarah Taylor: How can employers organise an unplanned bank holiday?
Following the announcement of Monday’s bank holiday earlier this week, businesses have been rushing to plan accordingly. There are no statutory rules that employers must follow for public holidays as every organisation will differ in its approach, influenced in a large part by the way in which its employment contracts ...
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OpinionJoe Aiston and Ruth Moffett: Uber's revenue increase could shift the gig economy's take on workers
In February 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers are workers and not independent contractors. This judgment has inevitably led to higher costs for Uber, with the ride share business now being required to ensure compliance with national minimum wage, holiday pay and put in place minimum pension contributions ...
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OpinionClaire Haworth: A remote working law may not solve the UK’s labour shortage
It is rumoured that the government is thinking of implementing a law extending the existing right to request flexible working. This would give employees greater flexibility in terms of how they work, including the right to remote working, as set out in the 2019 Employment Bill.At present, only employees with ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: How far can financial support stretch?
As the summer of discontent continues, with reports of staff strikes hitting the headlines almost daily, it is hardly surprising that pay appears to be high on many employers’ agendas. This week alone, employers including Network Rail, Port of Bristol and Lufthansa have resolved pay disputes with staff accepting offered ...
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OpinionLee McIntyre-Hamilton: The tax impact of new employment status guidance
On 26 July 2022, the government published its response to a consultation on employment status, alongside associated guidance. The rules on employment status are important for both businesses and individuals, because they determine employment rights, such as entitlement to the national minimum wage and holiday pay, and whether a business ...
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OpinionKerry Garcia: Part-time workers set to see windfall of holiday pay
The Supreme Court has confirmed the finding of the Court of Appeal that part-year workers could be entitled to receive more holiday pay than colleagues who work throughout the year. The decision will come as a blow to employers with workers who work for only part of each year, such ...
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OpinionSinead Cuthill and Emma Vennesson: Ethnicity pay gap reporting in the UK
In its Inclusive Britain policy paper, published on 17 March 2022, the government stated that it would not be mandating ethnicity pay gap reporting. One of the reasons for this is that it wanted to “avoid imposing new reporting burdens on businesses as they recover from the pandemic.”The government’s position ...
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OpinionNeil Todd: Ineos case shows collective bargaining rights cannot be bypassed
Unite members’ victory at a recent employment appeal tribunal, which saw global chemical firm Ineos being ordered to compensate employees after they attempted to bypass agreed collective bargaining mechanisms, is a significant victory for the rights of trade union members.The decision strengthens the case law relating to what amounts to ...
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OpinionTom Moyes: What is the potential impact of the rail strikes on pay and benefits?
While the new plans proposed by Transport Minister Grant Shapps to reduce the impact of industrial action following recent strikes look great on the surface, there is the potential for a significant negative impact on full-time workers. Whether it is the impact on pay, pensions or further employee benefits, there ...
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OpinionAfzal Rahman: Driving change with living wage accreditation
Low pay is endemic in our economy, and while the living wage is picking up in popularity, there are still millions of jobs that are not paid enough, and millions of people struggling to meet the cost of living. We need to get wages rising again, and to do that ...
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OpinionTom Heys: Why employers need to think about ethnicity and gender pay gaps
Gender pay gap reporting has successfully increased focus on one aspect of diversity, with high levels of compliance. Although reporting will not be mandatory, the imminent arrival of government guidance on ethnicity pay gap reporting means that more employers will be taking a greater focus on ethnic diversity.But more complex ...
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OpinionHollie Ryan: What does the GMB and Deliveroo voluntary partnership agreement mean for its workers?
Earlier this month, Deliveroo announced that it had signed a union recognition deal with the union GMB, which covers more than 90,000 self-employed riders. The voluntary partnership agreement gives GMB the rights to collective bargaining on pay and consultation rights on benefits, health and safety and wellbeing, as well as ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: How far should employers support staff with the rising cost of living?
The rising cost of living has dominated headlines over the past few months, with many households now facing increasingly bleak and difficult circumstances. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 87% of UK adults reported a rise in their cost of living in April 2022. As a result, many ...