Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) has made available a revised Code of Practice dealing with discipline and grievance procedures.  The Code has been approved by the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. The draft guidance will now be put before Parliament for approval. The revised Code provides broad principles on discipline […]

The Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR), has launched a campaign advising employers on how they can reduce the amount of administration involved in dealing with their employment law obligations. The BERR believe that some employers are routinely over-complying or duplicating work. Employment Relations Minister Pat McFadden said: “Complying with legislation can be […]

The government has announced that foreign nationals who wish to become British citizens will have to earn the right to stay here. The government’s new tough approach, outlined in a draft Immigration and Citizenship Bill, will require all migrants to speak ‘English’ and ‘obey the law’ if they want to gain citizenship and stay permanently […]

Tucked away in a recent issue of  ‘Notes for payroll software developers’ is a  bit more information on the timescale for the increase in the current year’s personal allowance from £5,435 to £6,035 and the reduction in the higher rate point from £36,000 to £34,800. These changes mean that basic rate taxpayers will benefit by […]

Tax credits are state benefits which are generally available to lower income families. However, entitlement to the credits is significantly increased where individuals pay for childcare or have a dip in normal levels of income perhaps due to incurring trading losses. Individuals who have already claimed tax credits for 2007/08 have to finalise their provisional […]

According to the CBI the average UK office worker spends 95 minutes of their working week surfing the web for personal use. This they estimate costs the economy £10.6 billion a year. The research showed that many employers are supportive, in principal, of staff visiting non-work related websites. Employers regard it as employee motivator or […]

An Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled in HMRC’s favour in the case of Annabel’s Restaurant and Nightclub.  The case concerned the payment of tips through a ‘tronc’, which is an arrangement which sometimes operates in the restaurant industry. The ‘tronc’ which operates as a separate independent payroll, run by a ‘troncmaster’ is used by some […]

This year ‘Tax Freedom Day’ fell on June 2. The statistics make interesting reading in that the average UK taxpayer spends more than five months of the year working for the government as opposed to working for themselves. According to the Adam Smith Institute, which pulls together the statistics, government spending is set to reach […]

As you may be aware there is a statutory system of tax and NIC free mileage rates for business journeys in an employee’s own vehicle. These mileage payments are known as ‘Authorised Mileage Allowance Payments’ (AMAP). The statutory rates for the current tax year are:   Rate per mile Up to 10,000 miles 40p Over […]

For many years, there have been requirements for employers to verify the identity of their workers in order to prevent illegal working. Penalties under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 were increased from 29 February 2008 and the Home Office UK Border Agency website has been updated to show a list of employers fined […]