The government has announced measures to strengthen the Prompt Payment Code and reduce the financial pressure on businesses. The measures are outlined in a letter to signatories of the code from Small Business Minister Margot James, and Philip King, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management. These are some of the key points:
The director of a laundry business has been disqualified for six years for allowing his company to employ illegal workers. Mr Montaz Ali Azad ran Eurolinen UK Ltd, which traded as an industrial laundry in Greater Manchester. He was disqualified following an investigation by the Insolvency Service. Investigators found that he failed to ensure that
A BBC journalist has been awarded more than £50,000 compensation after being unfairly dismissed following his failure to report the birth of Prince George. Chandana Keerthi Bandara worked as a producer providing online news about Sri Lanka. On 23 July 2013, he decided not to publish an article about the prince’s birth and focused instead
In multi-cultural society employers increasingly face problems arising from their employees’ religious beliefs; both relating to the employee’s wish to manifest their belief and arising from conflicts between the employee and others of different beliefs or no belief at all. ACAS publishes guidance for employers suggesting good practice when dealing with such matters as recruitment,
Women dent their promotion chances when they become mothers and that affects their future earning power, according to new research. Time spent on maternity leave and reducing hours once they return to work means they gain less experience, which also holds them back and pushes down their pay rates. The research by the Institute for
Citizens Advice has reported a 58% rise in the number of women experiencing employment problems related to maternity leave. Over the last 12 months, the number of mothers seeking advice about their rights have risen from 2,099 to 3,307. The most common problems women report are: Redundancy after they tell their employer they are pregnant
The government has published its longest ever list naming and shaming employers who have failed to pay the National Minimum Wage (NMW). The list names 197 companies across a range of sectors including football clubs, hotels, care homes and hairdressers. Between them they owed their employees £465,291 in arrears because of longstanding underpayment of wages.
Employers may wish to reconsider their strategies for avoiding workplace bullying and abuse following the referendum vote to leave the EU. There have several examples across the country of workers being subjected to name calling and harassment because of the way they voted, and there have been separate incidents of ethnic minorities being abused for
The standard break clauses to be found in most commercial tenancy agreements often lead to disputes, but it’s thought the numbers are likely to rise dramatically over the coming few years as the country adjusts to the Brexit decision to leave the EU. Declining orders mean more and more firms may use the break clause
Four directors have been disqualified from running a company for up to 11 years after failing to carry out their legal duties. The two men and two women ran a gaming company that was placed into administration in April 2014, with an estimated deficiency to creditors of £1,190,744. An investigation by the Insolvency Service found