Listen to business when it comes to workers’ rights October 9, 2024 The government must remember that employers need flexibility to thrive, writes John Dickie
A ‘New Deal’ for fewer jobs and worse pay? October 8, 2024 Labour’s promise of a ‘New Deal for Working People’ is deliberately worded to evoke the era of Roosevelt, when major federal interventions supposedly shook America out of the Great Depression and conclusively demonstrated the benefits of Keynesian economics. But even Keynes knew it was more complicated than this. Alongside stimulus, he wrote that reversing a [...]
New tips law welcomed but it could cause a headache for hospitality bosses October 1, 2024 A new tipping law, which has made it illegal for companies to withhold tips from employees, has been welcomed by workers and industry bodies but could lead to a headache for employers. Until today, firms were able to choose whether to keep tips made on card, or whether to pass the earnings on to employees. [...]
Regulator warns firms of new duty to protect workers from sexual harassment September 26, 2024 From next month, employers must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers, warned the Equality and Human Rights Commission
Asda workers ‘owed over £2bn in back pay’ as 159 MPs write to bosses September 24, 2024 Retail workers at supermarket giant Asda are owed more than £2bn in back pay, according to the GMB Union. The claim comes as 159 MPs wrote to bosses at the Leeds-headquartered company calling for an end to “pay discrimination” of its supermarket workers. The politicians have also called on TDR Capital, which is about to [...]
Next: Closures on the horizon if court rejects appeal. What is in store for the retail giant? September 22, 2024 Fashion retailer Next lost a major legal battle last month over unequal pay in its UK operations. Now, it has been revealed that if it loses its appeal, it will have to close some of its stores
English football referees’ v HMRC: Top UK court dismisses £584,000 tax appeal September 16, 2024 The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal from the football refereeing body regarding the employment status of 60 referees after the body was hit a £584,000 tax bill. HMRC hit Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) with the tax bill after it determined it should have paid taxation and National Insurance payments for the tax [...]
Labour’s employment rights package is playing with fire September 10, 2024 In the years following the financial crisis, the UK faced an unemployment challenge. As the great recession bit, the unemployment rate started to rise – peaking at over 8 per cent in 2012, around about the time former chancellor George Osborne was being booed at the Olympics. However, by the end of that year the [...]
Asda: Huge equal pay court case starts amid demonstrations September 9, 2024 A court case over equal pay involving more than 60,000 Asda workers has started amid demonstrations being staged in Brighton and Manchester. The GMB union, which has said the case is the biggest ever in the private sector, is arguing that the predominantly female retail workforce is paid up to £3.74 an hour less than [...]
Next pay ruling heralds impending employment law headache August 29, 2024 Next argued that in the wider labour market rates of pay for warehouse workers are higher than for shop-floor workers, and so they pay their warehouse workers more.