Barclays scraps Big Brother-style spyware on staff computers February 20, 2020 Barclays has scrapped the use of spyware software that tracked time employees spent at their desks, the day after City A.M. revealed the banking giant was using the software at its London headquarters. The lender had been criticised by HR experts and privacy campaigners for its use of the technology, which was introduced in a pilot scheme [...]
Rishi Sunak unveils self-employed economic relief package March 27, 2020 The government has upped its response to the coronavirus crisis by vowing to pay low and middle income self-employed workers 80 per cent of their average monthly profits in a package expected to cost the Treasury £9bn. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the much anticipated relief package yesterday, giving self-employed workers the same support announced for furloughed payrolled workers last week. Sunak [...]
‘Snotty tweets’: Amazon clashes with Elizabeth Warren over taxes and unions March 27, 2021 Amazon has become embroiled in a rare public row with US senator Elizabeth Warren over issues including its tax and employment practices. The dispute kicked off on Thursday when the Massachusetts senator posted a video accusing Amazon of “exploiting loopholes and tax havens to pay close to nothing in taxes”. The ecommerce giant replied saying [...]
Two in five UK workers living payday to payday, says survey February 11, 2020 Two out of five UK employees are living payday to payday, a new survey has found, with women and younger workers more likely to be financially stressed. The figures, from insurance firm Willis Towers Watson (WTW), suggest that workers feel increasingly financially vulnerable even as unemployment has hit record lows. Last week, the Joseph Rowntree [...]
Business figures urge government to take swift action to mitigate coronavirus impact March 17, 2020 Some of the country’s top business figures have urged the government to take swift action to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on business in the UK. Speaking to the BEIS committee today, the CBI’s chief economist Rain Newton-Smith said: “We need swift action now to try and protect as many jobs as possible,” [...]
Self-employed bailout: What a freelancer coronavirus package could contain March 25, 2020 Rishi Sunak will tomorrow announce an economic relief package to assist Britain’s five million self-employed workers during the coronavirus outbreak. The package comes come a week after Sunak announced a raft of measures to help businesses and workers suffering from the fallout from Covid-19. Included among the measures was a guarantee to pay 80 per [...]
Average commute increases to 59 minutes per journey, TUC study reveals November 15, 2019 Commuters are spending around 221 hours on average each year getting to and from work according to new research. The average journey to or from work took 59 minutes last year, a study by Trades Union Congress (TUC) revealed. Read more: Toxic tube a health hazard for commuters It is more than five minutes longer [...]
Corbyn would ‘turn back the clock decades’ says CBI after Labour announces plans for workers’ rights ministry September 10, 2019 British business leaders yesterday described Labour’s plans for a new ministry of workers’ rights as an attempt to “turn back the clock decades,” as Jeremy Corbyn set out his vision ahead of a potential election. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said that the proposals did not reflect the reality in most UK workplaces. “The [...]
Will the office become redundant in the 2020s? January 6, 2020 According to a survey by the Trade Union Congress, the number of people who regularly work from home in the UK has increased by 27 per cent over the past 10 years. As more and more companies acknowledge the benefits of flexible working, the technology enabling it continues to advance, offering remote workers improved connectivity. [...]
TUC head warns MPs of ‘serious risk of civil unrest’ in event of no-deal Brexit September 3, 2019 Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), has written to MPs asking them to do everything in their power to prevent a “catastrophic” no-deal Brexit. “A no-deal Brexit would be a disaster for working families,” she wrote. “The prime minister has no mandate to force a catastrophic no-deal Brexit on the country.” [...]