All Tax and legislation articles – Page 9
-
ArticleAutumn Statement: National insurance contribution rate cut to 10%
Class 1 national insurance contributions (NICs) will be cut to 10% from 6 January 2024.Currently, employees pay 12% NICs on earnings above £12,570, and 2% on earnings above £50,270. From next year, employees will pay 10% and 2% respectively. According to the government, which announced the move in the Autumn ...
-
ArticleAutumn Statement: State pension to increase by 8.5% from April 2024
The state pension will increase by 8.5% from April 2024.Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced the rise in the Autumn Statement, with the increase based on average earnings data published in September and in line with the government’s triple lock policy on pension changes. Hunt confirmed that the state ...
-
ArticleAutumn Statement: Government announces plans to offer pension pot for life
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has announced plans to offer a pension pot for life in the Autumn Statement 2023.This will give employees a legal right to require a new employer to pay pension contributions into their existing pot, avoiding the accumulation of multiple pension pots throughout their working ...
-
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 ...
-
OpinionAnna Dabek: Creating a menopause friendly workplace for womens’ wellbeing
More women are citing menopause as a reason for claims of discrimination or unfair dismissal at tribunal. The number of cases which did so increased by 44% in 2021.Menopause is not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. That said, over the last couple of years, women have brought ...
-
ArticleUK Supreme Court rules Deliveroo riders are not workers
The UK Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that Deliveroo riders do not have the right to be classed as workers and cannot unionise following a seven-year legal battle.In the case of The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain v Central Arbitration Committee and another, Deliveroo riders have been seeking to ...
-
OpinionElla Bond: The effects of a tribunal about dismissal regarding returning to office
In the legal case Follows v Nationwide Building Society, an employee was awarded almost £350,000 in compensation after successfully claiming unfair dismissal and indirect disability discrimination by association. The case serves as a stark reminder for employers to exercise caution when imposing mandates for employees to return to the office, ...
-
ArticleGovernment to legislate to retain rolled-up holiday pay
The government is to legislate to retain rolled-up holiday pay for irregular hours, zero hours and part-year workers and set out that it must be calculated based on total earnings in the pay period.Its announcement follows a consultation earlier this year that sought views on reforms to the Working Time ...
-
OpinionRhiannon Barnsley: Automatic-enrolment act is no cure for the epidemic of under-saving
The Royal Assent of the Pensions (Extension of Automatic-Enrolment) Act marks a significant development in the UK pension landscape. There are notable changes that could shape the retirement savings framework for certain employers and employees, but more needs to be done to fix the consistent under-saving for retirement that is ...
-
ArticleLancashire County Council ordered to pay £800,000 in discrimination case
An employment tribunal has ruled that Lancashire County Council must pay out more than £800,000 to a teacher who was made to reapply for her job while on sick leave with cancer and then sacked.Anne Healey worked as an early years specialist for the council’s schools improvement service since 2012 ...
-
ArticleHomes England ordered to pay £24,000 in equal pay case
Homes England has lost an equal pay case against a senior employee who was paid £14,000 less than her male colleagues.Jennifer Owen joined the organisation as a quantity surveyor in November 2020 on a salary of £51,258 per year, which was the minimum in her pay band. She was told ...
-
OpinionAdrian Crawford: Bankers’ bonuses uncapped
The bankers’ bonus cap has been scrapped in the UK from 31 October 2023 as a post-Brexit measure reportedly designed to liberalise City pay and boost the competitiveness of the UK as a financial centre.First introduced by the European Union in 2014 in response to the 2008 financial crisis, the ...
-
ArticleWorker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill receives Royal Assent
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill has received Royal Assent as of this month.The initial bill drafting proposed liability on employers for harassment of their employees by third parties, such as a customer, client, supplier or contractor, which meant an employee could therefore be harassed by simply ...
-
OpinionColin Godfrey: Supreme Court ruling on unlawful wages deduction from unpaid or underpaid holiday pay
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the important case of Chief Constable of Northern Ireland v Agnew. In a judgment that will be welcomed, the Supreme Court has determined that, in a claim by an employee for an unlawful deduction of wages arising from unpaid ...
-
ArticleTribunal awards former White Lake Cheese employee £20k for pregnancy discrimination
A former office worker, who was unfairly dismissed and discriminated against on pregnancy grounds by White Lake Cheese, has been awarded £19,700 by an employment tribunal.Storm Botha started working at White Lake Cheese as a cheese-making assistant in September 2020. After two months, she occasionally worked in the office doing ...
-
OpinionJenny Arrowsmith: The growing issue of menopause in the workplace
HM Courts and Tribunal Service’s June 2023 data revealed an increasing number of employment tribunal cases citing menopause as a contributing factor. There has been a steady rise in cases over the past few years. In 2017, there were five cases, increasing to six in 2018 and seven in 2019. ...
-
ArticleTribunal rules Starling Bank must pay £1.1m following health-related dismissal
Credit: rafapress / Shutterstock.comA former solicitor employed by Starling Bank has been awarded £1.1 million after an employment tribunal ruled that she had received unfavourable treatment and been unfairly dismissed.As an asthmatic, Gulnaz Raja told her employer that she would need to work from home and have time off during ...
-
OpinionLaura Tracey and Rubina Kakuji: How to support your employees during Baby Loss Awareness Week
Baby Loss Awareness Week is held every year in the UK from 9 – 15 October and is a time for people to come together to commemorate the lives of babies lost in pregnancy or at or soon after birth.Regardless of the stage of the pregnancy that loss occurs, it ...
-
ArticleSupreme Court rules Police Service of Northern Ireland must pay £40m in holiday pay case
The UK Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal made by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and ruled that it will have to pay approximately £40 million in holiday pay to its officers.In 2018, an industrial tribunal determined that unlawful deductions were made from the holiday pay of nearly ...
-
OpinionAudrey Williams: How can EU equal pay regulation benefit UK workers?
The government has confirmed that it will ensure European Union (EU) derived protection under equal pay laws will remain in place for employees and workers. It is important to remember the assurances given previously, that leaving the EU would not have the effect of eroding employment rights.This has come under ...