You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2011.
In an astonishingly frank speech on 25 January, Mervyn King explained that high inflation had squeezed real take-home pay by 12 per cent over the last few years. And this was on the day we learned that the economy had shrunk by 0.5 per cent in the final quarter of 2010. Mervyn King also said that he expects CPI inflation to head to between 4 and 5 per cent in the coming year so there will be no respite from this reduction in disposable income. More
It is well known that employers can be liable for discriminatory acts of their employees. For example, if one employee subjects another to racist abuse, the victim can claim for discrimination or harassment against the employer if the employer has not taken reasonably practicable steps to prevent such incidents occurring. But what happens if the harassment is carried out in the workplace by someone for whom the employer is not legally responsible? More
Average weekly earnings grew at 2.1 per cent in the year to November 2010 while RPI inflation hit 4.8 per cent in December, the month before VAT rises to 20 per cent. This means that over the course of 2010 most employees have seen a reduction of nearly 3 percentage points in the value of their earnings. Figures from the Office for National Statistics released on 19 January show overall earnings growth is consistent with the IDS measure of pay settlements which rose at the median from 2 to 2.2 per cent in the last months of 2010. More
A silent, but significant, revolution takes place on 31 January 2011. Few may realise it, yet it will reform one of the oldest and largest of institutions in this country. More
Higher petrol, diesel, gas and food prices drove inflation higher in December 2010, even before the rate of VAT was raised to 20 per cent at the beginning of January 2011. The Retail Prices Index (RPI) rose to 4.8 per cent in December, up from 4.7 per cent in November. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose to 3.7 per cent, up from 3.3 per cent in November. More
More than three times as many private sector firms expect to pay higher bonuses in 2011 compared to those who think they will pay less than in 2010. This apparently upbeat prediction by employers for corporate performance in the UK has emerged from the annual IDS survey of management reward practice and trends, published in The managers’ benchmark pay report. Projecting future bonus payments is difficult because they depend on future business outcomes, but the sentiment across much of the private sector is that performance, as well as incentives, are on the up. More
It has traditionally been employees who have had to plan ahead for retirement. However, with the abolition of the default retirement age (DRA) now one step closer – following yesterday’s publication of the Government’s consultation response on this issue – it is employers who must formulate plans to cater for an ageing workforce and to manage the eventual departure of their more senior employees. More
The pressure on business leaders to provide direction and get the best out of employees has possibly never been greater. In 2011, the leaders of many organisations will need to engage staff and lead them through a significant period of change. More
When it comes to benchmarking pay the usual refrain is ‘how do I know I am comparing like with like; am I comparing apples with like apples’. Quite often you have a specialist position in mind. The position may be new to the organisation or the current post holder is about to leave. You want to be sure you are paying the right money for those particular skills and experience. More
Employment lawyers are always cheered when their pet topic makes it into the mainstream media, as it has this week. Less cheeringly, though, the thrust of this week’s media coverage of employment law has been that there is too much of it and that it is too easily abused, with tribunals amounting to legalised extortion. There is an increasingly popular view that the proliferation of employment rights and easy access to the tribunal system breeds spurious claims and unnecessary cost. The question of whether – and how – access to the tribunals should be restricted has therefore become a hot topic. More
