All Tax and legislation articles – Page 19
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OpinionKerry Hudson: Is a change ahead in flexible working laws?
UK employees seeking flexible working arrangements to help manage their work-life balance could be caught short unless they have completed at least 26 weeks of service for their current employers.With a great many businesses and employees still away from the office since the start of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, and ...
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OpinionEmma Clark: Will there be more menopause-related employment tribunal hearings?
Recent analysis of figures from the HM Courts and Tribunals Service showed that the menopause was cited in five employment tribunal cases in the last nine months of 2018. That rose to 10 cases in the first six months of 2021.While there has been a rise in claims which refer ...
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OpinionJeremy Harris: What are the long-term consequences of the pensions pay gap?
During a House of Lords debate on 22 November 2021, following a question posed by Labour life peer Lord Sikka about the UK government's efforts to tackle entrenched gender pay inequality, the pensions gap was highlighted as an issue of major concern.The pensions gap, it was noted, contributes to societal ...
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OpinionLorraine Heard and Karen Plumbley-Jones: Has gender pay gap reporting closed the wage gap between men and women?
18 November marked Equal Pay Day, the date from which on average women work without pay for the rest of the year as a result of the gender pay gap. Since April 2017, it has been compulsory for large employers with 250 or more employees to publish a gender pay ...
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OpinionSuzanne Staunton: How can employers tackle furlough fraud?
With the UK government’s furlough scheme having come to an end, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has now stepped forward to start counting the cost of the scheme to taxpayers. Already, many instances have been identified of bogus companies having been set up purely to siphon off public funds, the ...
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OpinionKirsty Pake: How to solve a problem like pension scams
To quote the Department of Work and Pensions: “pension scams are a menace”. Until now, trustees’ hands were tied where a member had a statutory right to transfer their benefits and, even in cases where the receiving arrangement appeared to be a scam, they were obliged to make the transfer.Regulations ...
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OpinionTim Tyndall: FCA employees facing pay and benefits changes
Following a flurry of interest in the proposed changes to pay and benefits at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), most notably from unions keen to look after members and to attract new ones, the FCA chose to publish its consultation document aimed at its employees to a wider audience.In opening, ...
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OpinionSophie Wahba: What can employers do to manage stress in the workplace?
Managing the mental wellbeing of employees is a matter of growing concern for many business owners, as the stress of the last 18 months has taken its toll on the workforce.A 2020 Perkbox survey called The 2020 UK workplace stress survey suggests that an astonishing 79% of British adults commonly ...
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OpinionKate Brown: How to avoid reduced pay and benefits impacting staff engagement
At the beginning of October, British Airways announced plans to rehire some 3,000 employees after cutting around 10,000 jobs in the peak of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic last year. The airline has been heavily criticised in the press for re-engaging staff on less favourable terms, including reduced pay and benefits.This ...
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OpinionEmma Clark: Breaking the staff menopause taboo
All women will experience the menopause at some point during their life. It can also impact both trans and non-binary people who may not identify as female. Most of those who experience the menopause will do so between the ages of 45 and 55, and between 75% and 80% of ...
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AnalysisTop tips for introducing salary sacrifice pension schemes
A salary sacrifice pension arrangement should not be agreed if the effect of this, such as a reduction in the employee’s pay, would lead to a breach of the national minimum wage legislation. A simple step, such as giving employees full transparency on which businesses the ...
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OpinionKaren Plumbley-Jones: Guidance for employers on the furlough scheme end
How many jobs have been saved by the furlough scheme? We won't ever know the answer to that question, but 11.6 million jobs have been supported by the scheme at some point. That equates to roughly 40% of the total UK workforce and we have seen far fewer redundancies than ...
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OpinionRichard Freedman: Government launches consultation on making flexible working the default
The UK government has launched a consultation considering various reforms to the existing flexible working legislation.The consultation sets out a number of proposals for reshaping the existing regulatory framework to facilitate the objective of expanding the ability to work flexibly. The most striking element is the proposal to give all ...
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OpinionRanjit Dhindsa: Introducing mandatory ethnicity pay reporting
On 20 September 2021, UK MPs took part in an e-petition debate on the introduction of mandatory ethnicity pay reporting for UK organisations.The petition, which received more than 130,000 signatures, followed the introduction of mandatory gender pay reporting and the publication of the McGregor-Smith review of race in the workplace, ...
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OpinionAhmed Al-Nahhas: How employers can help staff mental wellbeing
A recent tribunal ruling threw into question whether some employers truly understand the impact post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can have on staff from a military background.The tribunal found British Airways (BA) had discriminated, harassed and demonstrated a lack of empathy towards an RAF veteran with PTSD, who worked as an ...
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OpinionLee McIntyre-Hamilton: National insurance rise causes concern among employers
Given the sizable budget deficit and the demands of the NHS and social care, it will be no surprise to many that taxes are set to increase with the new 1.25% health and social care levy. However, the timing and nature of the rise has rightly caused grave concern among ...
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OpinionAndrew Crudge: Should the menopause be included in the Equality Act?
There is a strong case to add the menopause as a specific protected characteristic under the Equality Act. As it stands, where an employer discriminates against an employee because of issues relating to the menopause, the employee may possibly have grounds to bring a claim for sex, disability or perhaps ...
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OpinionKate Payne: Is the GMP equalisation update realistic?
When it comes to guaranteed minimum pension (GMP) equalisation on past transfers, the new Pensions Administration Standards Association (PASA) guide does a good job of explaining the total mess schemes find themselves in as a result of the 2020 Lloyds judgement, and how the obligation might be discharged in a ...
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OpinionKeely Rushmore: How the change to the furlough scheme will impact employers
The news that a significant proportion of businesses are contemplating redundancies as the furlough scheme winds down is perhaps not a surprise.Based on the new rules set out by the government, employers are now being asked to contribute 20% towards the salaries of those whose wages are being subsidised by ...
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OpinionJennifer Smith: Why making flexible working the default could be too rigid
The Labour party has unveiled new plans for making flexible working “a force for good”. This focuses on the right for employees to work flexibly as a default from day one of employment, including flexi-hours and an end to supposed one-sided flexibility that favours employers.While such proposals are extremely relevant ...