End of the Road for 'Rolled-Up' Holiday pay

The European Court of Justice has ruled that payment made together with the hourly rate on account of a worker's holiday entitlement is from now unlawful.

The ECJ considered the issue of holiday payments made on an accrual basis in addition to the hourly rate and in advance of the holiday being taken. This is a common practice particularly in the recruitment industry. The ECH said this was contrary to the principles laid down in the Working Time Directive that workers should be paid in respect of individual periods of annual leave and that this must mean they should be paid at the time that leave is taken and not in advance of it. The ECJ observes that payment in advance of holiday being taken could easily amount to an unlawful payment in lieu.

In addition the ECT also looked at the question of holiday pay rolled up into an hourly rate, which Encore Personnel has always considered to be an unlawful way to account for paid holiday entitlement.

This judgment however not only makes it clear that rolled up holiday pay is unlawful but also makes unlawful, any payment on account of holiday that is paid on an accrual basis on top of the hourly rate and in advance of the holiday being taken. Where there has not been clarity workers may be entitled to claim up to six years of back holiday pay.

Source: Encore Personnel and the REC

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Cockler gangmaster gets 14 years

A gangmaster who left 21 cockle pickers to drown in rising tides at Morecambe Bay has been jailed for 14 years.

Chinese-born Lin Liang Ren, 29, from Liverpool, was convicted at Preston Crown Court of manslaughter.

The gangmaster, girlfriend Zhao Xiao Qing and cousin Lin Mu Yong were also convicted of facilitation - helping cocklers to break immigration laws. Lin Mu Yong, 31, was sentenced to four years and nine months. Zhao Xiao Qing, 21, got two years and nine months.

When they have served their sentences the Home Office will have to decide whether or not to deport the trio.

'Spectacular lies'

Passing sentence on Tuesday, Mr Justice Henriques said Lin Liang Ren had "cynically and callously" exploited his countrymen and women and provided them with dreadful living conditions. He said the gangmaster had been motivated by avarice and displayed little regard for the safety of the cocklers.

Article continues here

Source - BBCi

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TUPE Changes - All you need to know

From 6th April 2006 the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 will come into force. These will replace the well-known 1981 TUPE Regulations. These are the Regulations which make provision for protection of employees where a business is transferred from one entity to another.

• extending the TUPE provisions to cover service provision changes, that is, where services are outsourced, "insourced" or assigned to a new contractor. However, the supply of goods and "one-off buying-in of services" are excluded;
• requiring the transferor to provide the transferee with certain information about the transferring employees, including their identity;
• making it easier to transfer insolvent businesses to new employers;
• enabling employers and employees to agree changes to the terms of employment in certain circumstances where there is a transfer;
• clarifying when it is unfair for employers to dismiss employees for reasons connected to a transfer;
• making the transferor and transferee jointly and severally liable for any failure to inform and consult with the transferring employees.

Source Shepherd+ Wedderburn

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Boots to invest £250m in its supply chain

Boots has announced that it is investing £1.9bn in its Boots The Chemists chain, including £250m in its supply chain and community pharmacies.

The funds, which came from the sale of Boots Healthcare International, will invest in three key areas as Boots improves its community chemist estate, modernises and automates its supply chain and restructures its IT arrangements.

The supply chain revamp will see a modern automated ?70m warehouse built in Nottingham to supply the retail operation. 700 smaller stores are expected to receive substantial investment as Boots attempts to reinforce its position as a provider of healthcare in local communities.

Setting out the investment plans, Boots chief executive, Richard Baker said: "This is a major step forward in our plans to build a better Boots. The successful sale of BHI has allowed us to return ?1.4bn to shareholders and accelerate our future plans. Our small stores have been under-invested and are important to the communities they serve."

He also went on to say that: "Our proposed supply chain investment is based on proven technology delivering greater productivity and lower operating costs. This will allow us to compete even more effectively while delivering a better service to our stores."

Boots has confirmed that it has started consultation with its employees on a proposal to introduce an automated facility which would significantly reconfigure its supply chain.

The rest of this article can be read by clicking here

Source - Logistics Manager.Com

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Plugging the gaps

Demand for managerial interims in the logistics industry is at a record high, according to supply chain recruitment specialists George Henderson Recruitment.

Over the past five years the company has seen a steady increase in clients seeking to fill temporary senior positions, ranging from project managers to commercial managers and managing directors. Since the beginning of 2006 the company has placed over twice as many interims compared to the same period last year.

Mark Botham, managing director for George Henderson said: "The supply chain industry is undergoing constant change and is presenting more challenges as a result. Our findings suggest that many logistics operators are now turning to interims to address these challenges, without having to pull internal resource from core activities."

He also goes on to say that: "Many interims are brought in as specialists to resolve the specific issues that sometimes occur following a merger or an acquisition. Others provide an immediate solution to filling the voids left by sudden resignations or long-term sickness."

Aside from the salary, candidates are attracted to short-term positions because of the variety of challenges they can experience in a relatively short period of time.

"The changing face of the supply chain and the rising awareness of temporary management roles on both sides of the recruitment process, will continue to fuel the growth of the interim market."

Source Logistics Manager. Com

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Stakeholder pension schemes: are you liable?

A recent survey by Bibby Financial Services has shown that even though the Welfare and Pensions Reform Act has been in place since October 2001, approximately half of all small to medium sized employers in the construction industry have failed to provide any access to pension schemes for their employees.

What do you require to do?

Every employer requires to designate a stakeholder pension scheme and to facilitate access to it (including by operating a payroll deduction facility for contributions) for its 'relevant employees', unless:

• it has fewer than 5 employees, or
• it has no relevant employees, or
• it offers all of its relevant employees membership of an occupational pension scheme or Group Personal Pension (GPP). Any employees who are aged under 18 or who are within 5 years of retirement do not have to be offered access to a stakeholder pension scheme. For a GPP, the employer is required to pay a contribution of at least 3% of the employee's salary (although this can be made conditional on the employee matching those contributions up to 3% of salary) and that the GPP has no exit penalties.

A 'relevant employee' is an employee who:

1. has worked for his employer continuously for at least 3 months,
2. has earned above the National Insurance lower earnings limit continuously over the last 3 months, and
3. is not prevented by an HM Revenue & Customs restriction from contributing to a UK pension scheme - e.g. by being resident overseas.

Therefore, unless a qualifying alternative pension arrangement is offered, even if none of an employer's relevant employees wish to join the employer's stakeholder scheme at a particular point in time, the employer is not freed from the ongoing requirement to have designated and to facilitate access to a stakeholder scheme and to provide details of it to its relevant employees. Any failure to do so could lead to a fine of up to £50,000.

Source Macroberts Solicitors

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Skills for Logistics launches 'Experience Counts' scheme

Skills for Logistics, the Sector Skills Council has unveiled its new 'Experience Counts' project, which involves the design and delivery of short customer care learning packages in both print and electronic formats.

The project has been specifically aimed at older LGV drivers to enhance the employability of these workers by raising their core skills in; communication, IT and problem solving.

Chris Campbell, National Manager Scotland, at Skills for Logistics. "Skills for Logistics latest intelligence indicates that the average age of LGV drivers in Scotland is 49. Most drivers in this age group were recruited based on their ability to drive, however as the job is evolving and higher demands are made on IT skills and customer care, training in these areas is vital."

The work is being supported by the Scottish Executive.

Source - Logistics manager.com

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Asda appeals against Tribunal's decision

Asda has announced that it is going to appeal against an Employment Tribunal's £850,000 fine, as the GMB moves to ballot in mid-April, for strike action.

An Asda spokesperson said: "We're bemused as to why the GMB keep moving in this direction and feel our colleagues - some of whom are their members - would be better served by us spending our time working together rather than preparing for industrial action."

"We're disappointed with the tribunal's decision and, having taken the time to fully consider the ruling, believe it's wrong and that's why we've decided to appeal."

The Tribunal found that Asda illegally offered an inducement to 340 GMB members at its Washington depot, to give up a collective agreement and was ordered to pay £2500 to each member.

Micky Hopper, GMB organiser for the washington depot said: "Asda Wal-Mart cannot accept the judgement of an independent panel about their anti-union activities. The decision to appeal will spur GMB members in Washington and the other depots to vote 'yes' for strike action to secure proper national bargaining rights when the ballot papers land next month."

Source Logistics Manager.com

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Issue 25– March 2006

Welcome to the April issue of encore enews.

New employment law changes are highlighted this month in the ECJ ruling over rolled up holiday pay and we give a simple overview of the new TUPE changes.

And, following the prosecution of the Morecombe Bay gangmaster, the recruitment industry has accepted the need for licensing and Encore Personnel will be one of the first agencies to receive a licence. However we believe there is evidence that 'gangmaster' activity goes on in the hospitality, catering and construction sectors. Will we need these to come under the act?

Greg Latham

Managing Director