UK businesses more concerned with compliance than tax

17th February 2012

Twice as many UK executives have said they are more concerned with compliance costs for keeping pace with increased regulation than they are with taxation, new research has found.

More than half (56%) of senior managers consider “red-tape” to be one the biggest barriers to growth, a figure which has increased from 43% in Q1 2011. Conversely, less than a third (27%) citied tax as a major concern compared to 38% in the same period.

Kerrie Machin, Head of Sales at Citation plc commented: “We know that red tape is as much of a burden today for business owners than it has ever been. With almost a quarter of a million employment tribunals each year, company directors are juggling their time between running their businesses at the same time as trying to remain compliant, often at the detriment of both.

In my experience, companies that use Citation find that once they implement our simple and easy to use systems and procedures, they can get on with running their business and sleep soundly at night knowing their business is guaranteed to be compliant".

Source: Research carried out by Royal Bank of Scotland Corporate & Institutional Banking.

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British Firms Braced for "National Sickie Day"

6th February 2012

British businesses are bracing themselves for record levels of employee absenteeism today, which has become not-so-affectionately known as ‘National Sickie Day’.

Experts have estimated that the combined costs of these absences to British businesses could run into the tens of millions of pounds.

The first Monday of February is notorious for high numbers of British workers calling in with “illness”, hence the unfortunate moniker. The combined factors of cold weather, commuting in hours of darkness and the financial hangover from Christmas are thought to make this day the most likely day for absenteeism in the workplace.

Gillian McAteer, Personnel and Employment Law Helpline Manager at Citation Plc commented: “Losing working days can adversely affect a business’s productivity and financial stability. It’s therefore very important to be able to distinguish between genuine cases of absenteeism through illness and cases where an employee has “pulled a sickie.” At Citation, we develop tailored solutions that help our clients manage absenteeism more effectively, in accordance with their business needs.”

Gillian states that before employers take disciplinary action, they need to ensure that they have protected themselves adequately, adding: “This means making sure that your business is compliant with the appropriate employment legislation, and acting within the legal frameworks for dealing with employee absenteeism.”

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'Rounding up' continues for maximum tribunal awards and redundancy pay

11th January 2012

In his speech, 'Reforming employment law', Business Secretary Vince Cable announced that future tribunal award and redundancy payment limits would be "rounded to the nearest pound". With a 5.6% increase in the September 2011 RPI, this means that the maximum tribunal compensatory award for ordinary unfair dismissals should increase to £72,230 and the maximum week's pay for the basic award should to £422 for dismissals where the effective date of termination is 1 February 2012 or later.

Under the "rounded to the nearest pound" formula, the maximum week's pay for redundancy should also increase to £422 for dismissals where the relevant date is on or after 1 February 2012, and these figures have been reported in Citation's January 2012 Personnel & Employment Law update.

Unfortunately for Mr Cable, actions speak louder than words and, as previously, the maximum tribunal compensatory award will be rounded up to the nearest £100 (to £72,300) and the maximum week's pay for the tribunal award and for redundancy will be rounded up to the nearest £10 (£430).

Statutory guarantee pay will increase from 1 February 2012 to a maximum of £23.50 a day (from £22.50).

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