UK employers show a lack of interest in the mental wellbeing of employees, even though many staff are suffering from stress, according to a new study of nearly 1,300 workers by ADP. The research reveals that a third of UK workers (31%) say their employer has little or no interest in their mental health, despite the fact that a fifth (20%) are stressed out on a daily basis, and for almost a third (33%) the issue is so bad that they’re considering looking for a new role. Mental health issues have risen in prominence in recent years, with high... Continue reading

Employees are missing out on entitled expenses because of the stressful ‘pay and reclaim’ process whilst employers are suffering because employees cancel meetings to avoid the upfront expense pay out. According to the new report: Out of Pocket Employees, produced by fuel and corporate credit card provider Allstar Business Solutions, one in four employed adults have postponed or cancelled a meeting to avoid the personal expense pay out. This means that in each small business of just 50 employees, 12 of them are guilty of this, whilst in a ... Continue reading

Business leaders have written to secretaries of state, calling on them to act swiftly to introduce robust new energy performance standards for the UK’s buildings. Headed by the UK Green Building Council (UK GBC) and signed by numerous other business leaders, including Marks & Spencer, Heathrow Airport and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the letter highlights this as an urgent issue, given that the Paris Climate Agreement commits participating countries to limiting global warming to well below 2oC this century; the UK’s bu... Continue reading

The majority (89%) of contractors would like to be offered employment rights when working inside IR35, according to new research carried out by Qdos Contractor. The IR35 legislation is a piece of tax legislation which is based on determining a worker's tax status according to the way in which they operate their services. Of those who wanted employment rights, 50% would like paid holiday; 23% want pension contributions; 14% expect paid sick leave; 1% want paid maternity/paternity leave; and 12% identified ‘other’ benefits, the majority o... Continue reading

Legislating to introduce a criminal offence to punish those found to have committed wilful or grossly reckless behaviour in relation to a pension scheme is one of the key recommendations of a new government white paper that announced new proposals to ‘crack down’ on unscrupulous bosses.  The Protecting Defined Benefit Pension Schemes white paper highlights that, while the government believes the pensions system is working well for the majority of Defined Benefit schemes, trustees and sponsoring employers, a tougher approach is needed for ... Continue reading