Four-year high - UK unemployment is on the up

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that UK unemployment has risen to a four-year high.

The number of people out of work rose by 108,000 to 1.54 million between October and December, the ONS said.

The jobless rate is now 5.1 per cent, up from 4.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2005, and the highest level for three years.

But the number of people out of work and claiming benefits has actually fallen by 2,000 to 904,200 in January.

Reacting to the figures, experts have warned that the subdued jobs market is likely to add to pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates in coming months.

Source: Recruitment Consultant Magazine February 2006

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EU says eastern workers are good

The European Commission says the UK, Ireland and Sweden have reaped economic rewards from opening their labour markets to workers from Central Europe.

In a report published on Wednesday, it says the new workers from states which joined the EU in 2004 have boosted growth without increasing unemployment.

Most older EU member states restricted access to their labour markets. They have until the end of April to decide whether to continue the restrictions for another three years.

On Tuesday, Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson called on Europe's political leaders to "Have courage - put away your fears". "Be proud and take advantage of the sheer energy, dynamism and hard work that people from the new member states bring," he said.

His call was echoed by British Conservative MEP Philip Bushell Matthews on Wednesday, who said the countries of "old" Europe were "showing themselves at their protectionist worst" on the issue.

Germany and Austria have indicated that they will extend restrictions on workers from the new member states. Finland and Spain have said they will drop restrictions from 1 May.

Some other countries, including Belgium, France and the Netherlands, are reported to be considering opening up some sectors of their economies.

To read this article in full click here

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Firm sacked after staff underpaid

A company has been sacked from a multi-million pound contract to clean the Tube after it was found hundreds of workers were being underpaid.

About 400 cleaners were paid £5.05 an hour, instead of the agreed £5.50.

Metronet, responsible for maintaining most Tube lines, said actions of the Blue Diamond firm were "inexcusable".

A spokesman for Blue Diamond said it was "disappointed" to lose the contract and it had always intended to work towards the £5.50 an hour minimum wage.

The contract will be terminated on Thursday, and a new firm will be hired to complete the three-year contract, thought to be worth £30m.

The Transport and General Workers' Union said the firm had robbed workers of thousands of pounds.

'Decent thing'

Jack Dromey, the union's deputy general secretary, said "Metronet have done the decent thing, acting promptly and properly to terminate the contract.

"This company did the dirty on the cleaners and is paying the price."

Andrew Lezala, chief executive of Metronet, said the contract was signed last October but workers only realised they were being paid the incorrect amount in recent weeks.

He added: "Metronet have adopted a set of values and behaviours which we expect our partners to embrace. We will not tolerate contractors who fail to meet these standards."

Mr Lezala said he did not know if the employers were being greedy or were trying to cover costs it had not anticipated.

The union is taking legal advice about the possibility of lodging a claim for back pay.

Source: BBCi

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The Share Dividend

Though often seen as something that happens only at big companies - for instance, Next has a popular share-ownership scheme - giving workers a stake in the firm can work for smaller businesses, too. Proof can be found in Millstone Lane, in Leicester. The 50-plus staff at Encore Personnel were given a slice of the equity of the business a year ago.

It is an option, as staff cannot take it with them if they leave and will only get to cash it in if and when the company is sold. There is no cost to the employee, no money to invest, but the result, says managing director Greg Latham, is higher staff retention in a sector notorious for "churn".

Furthermore, the workers have a clear understanding of the link between personal and collective achievement and reward. It was, he said, deceptively straightforward to organise. Many other smaller businesses could take a look.

Mr Vigars joined Encore from a competitor in 2003 - a business he had worked for since graduating.

"There appeared to be much better prospects than at the company I was with," he said.

"There was a chance to be a part of a rapidly expanding company from the early stages and to influence that growth by having a part to play in its development.

"Now there is another reason for staying, said Mr Vigars, who has been promoted twice since joining and is now industrial divisional manager in Leicester. Encore also has offices in Telford, Coventry and Northampton.

"The share scheme is a huge incentive to stay. It gives me some security. I'm ambitious and want to earn huge amounts of money in my career.

"This stimulates my personal interest in the company, makes it much more focused. You appreciate the bigger picture. My bonus is paid on this branch's performance, but with the share scheme, I have an interest in the whole show and want everyone to strive towards that common goal.

"Mr Latham said: "We wanted to retain the staff because, as a service industry, we don't have a product as such. The only thing we can develop is the staff. There has always been a lot of staff movement in recruitment. Sales people generally aspire, usually to pastures greener, and there is a plethora of competitor agencies.

"We wanted to stop the cycle of interviewing, recruiting and losing. We looked at the benefits package and what came up was a staff share-option scheme.”Unlike some schemes, the one Encore Personnel chose is Inland Revenue-approved and designed for smaller firms. It is open to all staff and all said yes.The owners have set aside 10 per cent of the firm for the scheme.

Each year, an eighth of that 10 per cent is divided up between the workers, with each given a share dependent on their seniority and whether they are a star performer. Mr Vigars ticked all three boxes and got the maximum available.

The first round of awards was announced on the firm's annual away trip, to Dublin.

To read this article in full click here

Source: Andy Gilchrist, Leicester Mercury

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Insurance damages for form trip

An insurance worker from Fife has won compensation after she tripped and fell over a pile of accident claim forms.

Linda Riley reached an undisclosed out-of-court settlement after claiming £5,000 from her employer Norwich Union.

Miss Riley, from Newburgh, said she had suffered pain and loss of earnings since falling while at work in the company's Perth office three years ago. The insurance underwriter tripped over files which had been left lying on the floor by another office worker.

Lost wages

She claimed Norwich Union had a duty to provide a safe system of work and the untidy files presented a danger. Miss Riley sued the company's parent group Aviva PLC in an action at Perth Sheriff Court and it was confirmed that her claim had been settled by the award of compensation.

Miss Riley claimed that she was left with pain in her left ankle, lower leg and foot, and needed a course of physiotherapy. She said she was absent from work for a period and lost wages as a result, as well as still suffering from pain three years after the accident.

Miss Riley was unavailable for comment at her home

Source: BBCi

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Online guide cuts time and hassle of admin

Business Link is providing 50 free tools to help company owners and managers deal with red tape. Rachel Bridge reports

ONE of the biggest headaches for small-business owners is finding the time to deal with all the administration that their company requires.

Now, thanks to the application of user-friendly technology, Business Link, the advice organisation backed by the Department of Trade and Industry, has come to the rescue with the launch of more than 50 free online tools. They are much simpler to use than a long-winded guide — and, crucially, they take only a few minutes rather than several days to complete.

Mark Holden at Business Link said: “These days people want to do things quickly and they want to do them online. We are trying to help owners and managers of small and medium-sized business through the complications of government requirements. Although we have 450 guides for small businesses on our website, it takes time to read them. These new tools help small businesses get through that information much quicker.”

He pointed out that one of the tools, called Do I Need to Register for Vat?, takes the user through a dozen questions that simply require yes or no answers. Previously you would have had to wade through a 284-page document from Revenue & Customs to get the same information.

Holden said that eventually Business Link hopes to take the interactive process even further, so that small-business owners can go online to do all the administration required by the government.

Here are some of the tools that are likely to prove most popular with small-business owners.

The business start-up organiser

www.businesslink.gov.uk/startuporganiser

This tool is aimed at helping people get their business off the ground. It starts with a questionnaire and then provides users with a personalised list of step-by-step tasks to complete at their own pace. The users decide which aspects of starting their business they particularly wish to focus on and they can then set dates for the completion of tasks. It takes five minutes to complete.

Health-and-safety performance indicator

www.businesslink.gov.uk/healthsafetyindicator

Designed to help small and medium-sized businesses improve their health and safety, this has been developed with the help of the Association of British Insurers and will provide a benchmark against other businesses. The idea is that it will also enable users to review their performance with their insurance brokers, helping them to get the best terms for their business. It takes 10 minutes to complete.

Personal development planner

www.businesslink.gov.uk/pdp

This aims to help business owners assess and develop their management skills. It takes users through a series of questions about their business, their role and behaviour at work, their attitude to work and how they deal with different work scenarios. Then it formulates an action plan to help users develop their weaker areas and enhance their skill sets. It takes 20 minutes to complete.

IT risk assessment tool

www.businesslink.gov.uk/itrisks

The IT risks tool aims to enable small businesses to reduce the time and cost of managing an efficient and secure IT system. Specifically, it aims to help businesses understand and protect against the most common IT-related risks, such as viruses. But the idea is that it should also enable them to be more proactive in developing ways of keeping every aspect of their business IT protected — for example, by taking regular back-ups of critical business information, ensuring its integrity, and storing it offsite.

Once a business has carried out an IT risk assessment, it will be presented with a detailed breakdown of the risks, advice on how to reduce them, and links to further guidance. It takes five minutes to complete.

Written statement

www.businesslink.gov.uk/writtenstatement

This tool enables the business owner or manager to create a written statement of employment tailored for an individual employee. At the end, you will be able to download the completed statement on your own computer, print it off and hand it to the employee. If filled in correctly, this will provide employers with a document covering all the terms and conditions that they must give to a new employee within two months of his or her start date.

This tool has been checked and approved by lawyers. It takes 25 minutes to complete.

Planning tool transformed management

TERRY BIDDULPH, managing director of Discus Systems, an IT services provider based at Coleshill in North Warwickshire, used Business Link’s Personal Development Planner tool to assess the management skills in the company.

He said: ‘It took about 20 minutes and it was really useful because it brought out facets of my personality I know about but perhaps not everybody else does. I am now encouraging other people here to try it.

‘It really made me think — and as a result we are now developing a new two-year strategy for the firm.

Source Sunday Times 19^th February 2006

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Issue 22– February 2006

Welcome to the February issue of encore enewsWhilst many in industry have enjoyed returns from the opening of labour markets to workers from Central Europe the underlying jobless rate is now at the highest level for 4 years. These two, conflicting stories are our lead articles this month and produce further considerations open for conjecture.

Finally, two other articles I believe you will find particularly useful are the Enterprise Management Investment Scheme, an Inland Revenue approved staff share option scheme that is proving invaluable at Encore and a toolbox of online resources available from Business link

Greg Latham

Managing Director