Damian Green describes development in the labour market as 'exciting'.Jobs of the future may not have stable hours, holiday pay, sick pay, or pensions, the Work and Pensions Secretary has said.Damian Green described the trend in employment practices towards the so-called “gig economy” as “exciting” and said the changes had “huge potential”.The Cabinet minister’s endorsement of the approach comes a month after an employment tribunal found that drivers for the Uber car service should … [Read more...]
HMRC ‘unwilling to give any steer’ on IR35 changes
The taxman is “unwilling to give any steer” on his approach to April’s IR35 changes to the very parties who will be liable and responsible for those changes, an agency body alleges.This current reticence by HMRC to provide the parties with the “real detail” on how the new rules will work makes it probable that it won’t be released until next year, says APSCo.The agency body reached this conclusion after it held a meeting with the Revenue’s policy officers Neil Chattell and Julie De … [Read more...]
HMRC launches new employment status unit
Recruiters have been urged to review their practices to ensure individuals are not being misclassified as self-employed.The warning comes from employment lawyers after it emerged HM Revenues & Customs is launching a specialist unit to investigate firms suspected of withholding employment protection from workers, by using agency staff or calling them self-employed.The move was confirmed last week in a letter from financial secretary to the Treasury, Jane Ellison, to Labour MP Frank … [Read more...]
Heads go to Downing Street with ‘dire’ funding warning
Head teachers have written to Theresa May to warn that a funding crisis could make schools reduce hours, lay off staff or stop teaching some subjects.The letter to the prime minister has been signed by the heads of every state school in West Sussex, who argue they need £20m in emergency funding.They say the "distraction" of grammar schools cannot be a priority ahead of basic funding and staffing.The government has promised a complete overhaul of school funding in England.But the … [Read more...]
£20,000 trainee GP offer to boost doctor recruitment
Dr Heidi Phillips said her profession faced "huge challenges" to hire and keep GPs.New cash incentives will be offered to doctors who train and work as GPs in Wales in a bid to tackle an issue with recruitment.Junior doctors will get £20,000, providing they stay for at least one year after completing their training.Those who train as GPs will also get a one-off payment of £2,000 to cover the cost of their final exams.It is part of a Welsh Government campaign to get doctors to … [Read more...]
Important information for all our Contractors
This is for information only, you do not need to do anything at the moment.It's been 3 years since our Pension Auto Enrolment and now we must go through our first re-enrolment. Automatic re-enrolment is a statutory process that all companies have to go through.This means that from 31st October 2016, any workers that have opted out 12 or more months ago and are still active, will be automatically re-enroled.All you need to do if you wish to opt out again, is to follow the original … [Read more...]
Pension Re-enrolment is here!
We can’t believe that it’s been 3 years since we first completed Auto Enrolment. This means those who have opted out previously and more than 12 months ago, will be re-enrolled if eligible. Here’s what the Pensions Regulator says about re-enrolment:Every three years you must put certain staff back into a pension scheme. This is called ‘re-enrolment’.Your re-enrolment duties must be carried out approximately three years after your automatic enrolment staging date.Your … [Read more...]
Good News, HMRC announce the Personal Tax account service
Tax accounts for Business owners have been in operation for a number of years to enable the business to keep track of tax paid, payments due, etc. however there has been no provision for a simple easy to use system for the employees. Employees have had to endure long waits to connect to HMRC and lengthy discussions and form filling to ascertain whether there have been under or over payments in tax or simply advise of changes in personal circumstances.Good News, HMRC have announced that … [Read more...]
Travel and subsistence expenses changes from April 2016
Following on from yesterday’s Finance Bill 2016, we now know that the Government has ignored the widespread warnings issued by industry bodies and has pushed ahead with its plans to cut travel and subsistence expenses for contractors, from April 2016, which, were as we expected. The main changes are as follows: • T&S expenses will not qualify for tax relief on “ordinary commuting” type expenses where an intermediary is involved unless the worker is not subject to (or the right of) … [Read more...]