A manufacturer of steel pipework has been fined for failing to purchase compulsory insurance to protect its employees. Essex firm Ductwork Environmental Services Ltd was fined £1,000 at Harlow Magistrates’ Court today and ordered to pay £750 in costs.
Employers will already be struggling to take on board these changes, but the announcement of an additional public holiday, coupled with a late Easter in 2011, will mean two long weekends in quick succession with only three working days between them. This could result in a rush by employees to take an extended break by bridging the gap between the two long weekends.
Following the release of an independent review into the implementation of pension auto enrolment, the government has agreed that all employers must provide pension schemes or enrol staff in to the new National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) from 2012.
National Money Helpline recommends that employers talk to suitably qualified Independent Financial Advisers about how the pension reform will affect them and what they can do now to avoid getting caught out in 2012, do not bury your head in the sand hoping this will go away 2012 will be here before we know it.
The recession has resulted in both a fall in total employment (down by a net 580,000 in the two years to spring 2010) and a shift from full-time employment (which has fallen by 910,000) to part-time employment (which has increased by 330,000).
The headline figure for claims to Employment Tribunals in the year ending 31st March 2010 show a massive 56% increase in claims over the previous year.
