Driver told he ’stank of BO’ awarded £3,000 for unfair dismissal
A delivery driver who was told he “stank of BO” by his female boss has been awarded £3,000 by an employment tribunal. Alex Frowd, 26, said office manager Julie Cummings was “worse than any male boss” he’d ever had, adding he feared being around her [...]

Each year the government sets new Limits with respect to ‘Compensation’ i.e.  maximum redundancy settlements and Payments i.e. ‘Statutory Sick Pay’.
For 2010 from 1st February and this April the increases have been minimal or frozen reflecting low inflation, the economic climate and a general election on the horizon.

New government plans are under way to extend the cigarette ban outdoors to include entrances to workplaces, bus shelters and pub beer gardens. Most businesses have probably stopped employees smoking in ‘front’ doorways/entrances because of the poor image it portrays.
Now however it is wherever smokers ‘herd’ together – which from my experience as an ex-smoker [...]

2010 Pay Rises Likely To Be Around 2%

An early indication that salary increases are beginning to recover is highlighted by a forecast predicting 2% median pay increase across the UK private sector this year – an improvement on predictions of just 1% in March 2009, a Hay Group survey has found.

With the New Year we all hoped the economy would improve and unemployment go down. However in the last quarter of 2009 companies around the world shed jobs; almost 30,000 job losses were announced by British companies in just two weeks during November.  (Nov 21st , Financial Times).

In September we released a comprehensive Swine Flu business pack. The pack, which includes a quick quiz designed to identify how much people know about swine flu, was created to raise awareness, educate and inform businesses about how to minimise the impact of runaway swine flu on operations, staff and profit margins.

The Business Department has delayed the introduction of the Agency Workers Directive (AWD) until October 2011 as part of efforts to cut the cost of business regulation by £6.5bn by 2015.

The limit by which statutory redundancy pay is calculated increases today. The maximum “week’s pay” for the purposes of the calculation is to rise to £380, up from £350.
There is a wonderful ‘mind-boggling’ table that you can use to work out an employees entitlement based on age and length of service.

“Stopping the spread of Swine Flu is just as vital for businesses as it is for the Government, individuals and families.” says Ed.
Unless your organisation is a big one, having a percentage of staff off sick at any one time is bound to cause major problems. In a competitive market, businesses that take common sense [...]

On the 3rd of September we posted details of the new national minimum wage rates that take effect from the 1st October 09. A report called National Minimum Wage – Final Impact Assessment June 09  estimates the following:

1.4 million – aged over 21
140,000 – 18 to 21 year olds
36,000 – 16 to 17 year olds

A [...]