National Living Wage will “destroy jobs”, says ex-Sainsbury’s boss Justin King August 29, 2015 Justin King, former chief executive of Sainsbury's, has described the National Living Wage as “ludicrous”, and claims it will “destroy jobs”. Read more: July Budget 2015: Will George Osborne’s new national living wage hit the number of people in work? During a discussion on BBC Radio 4's The New Workplace, due to be aired at [...]
Sainsbury’s to pay staff above minimum wage August 26, 2015 SAINSBURY’S has become the latest retailer in the UK to pay its shop staff above the government’s new national living wage from next month. Britain’s second biggest retailer announced today it will pay all its 137,000 non-management store colleagues at least £7.36 from 30 August, up from £7.08 previously. Ikea also revealed a pay hike [...]
From TfL Tube strike and Greek debt crisis to awful colleagues and FTSE woes: Here’s what got us talking this week August 21, 2015 There was a flypast. There was a bus in someone’s front garden. And somewhere – or perhaps everywhere – the sound of prosecco corks being popped overtook those of champagne. Here’s what got us talking this week 1. Our colleagues To be fair, it’s something we probably discuss most weeks, and we’re not alone. Perhaps that’s [...]
Mears boss slams David Cameron’s care policy despite firm’s higher profit August 18, 2015 THE CHIEF executive of social care support services company Mears has blasted government policy for taking the sector to “breaking point”. “The government’s decision to delay reforms to social care funding would appear to leave it with no plan for social care, with funding reform having gone backwards five years,” Mears boss David Miles said yesterday. [...]
What George Osborne needs to do to get Britain’s productivity engine started again August 11, 2015 Productivity is the engine of economic growth. For a quarter of a century prior to the financial crash, Britain’s productivity engine ran smoothly as output per worker increased at an average rate of more than two per cent a year. But in 2008 the engine stalled. In the last seven years there has been no [...]
Chancellor George Osborne faces backbench revolt over cuts to tax credits August 10, 2015 The government is set to face its first Conservative backbench revolt over the Budget, after MPs voiced concerns about plans to reduce tax credits by up to £1,000 a year. The Times reported the chancellor will face “real anger and frustration” around the changes, which mean 3m families will lose on average £1,000 a year, [...]
Is London fair? Those living in the capital are most worried about wages and housing August 3, 2015 Londoners are vehemently in favour of capping chief executives' salaries, it turns out, after a new poll found 79 per cent of those living in the capital think it's unfair for a chief executive running an organisation that employs those on the minimum wage to be paid more than £500,000 a year. According to the [...]
Greece crisis: After six months in power Alexis Tsipras’ Syriza government has left the country with a veritable Mount Olympus to climb July 30, 2015 Alexis Tsipras’ six-month old left-wing Syriza government has put the country through a breath-taking roller-coaster of ideological hysteria, politico-economic gambles, and farcical constitutional experiments. Now it faces a rockier path ahead than the one it inherited. Perversely, at the time they lost power, the previous government was beginning to boast financial indicators pointing [...]
Ikea creating a happy home for workers too as firm embraces living wage July 28, 2015 One of the crucial aspects of the chancellor’s Budget was the commitment to raise the living wage for over 25s to £9 per hour by the year 2020, a rise from the current rate of £7.20. Our immediate post-Budget research showed the policy to be very popular – across supporters of all of the [...]
“Catastrophic failure”: Careworkers’ warning to George Osborne on minimum wage July 27, 2015 The government has been warned that George Osborne’s new minimum wage for carers could prove to be a “catastrophic failure” if all costs are not fully funded. In a letter to parliament, the UK Homecare Association (UHA) said it welcomed the government’s commitment to low-paid workers, but said it estimates that “to address the existing [...]