Archive for May, 2008

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A Working Group, led by Imelda Walsh, HR Director of Sainsbury, has published its Report into the options for extending the existing right to request flexible working to parents of chil-dren up to the age of 16. As mentioned in a news item last week, the Government has already announced its intention to amend the [...]

In a decision given on 2 May 2008 in the case MKM Computing Ltd v Revenue & Customs, the Special Commissioner upheld an HMRC decision that Mr. Ellwood, sole director of MKM Computing (MKM), would have been an employee of London General Holdings (LGH) if his contract had been made directly with LGH. The case [...]

The reduction in the basic rate of tax, from 22% to 20%, has prompted HMRC to review its guidance for employers and employees on the operation of Payroll Giving schemes. Donations given by employees under payroll giving benefit from the “net pay arrangement”, whereby donations to charities are deducted from gross pay before tax (but [...]

On 13 May, the Chancellor announced to Parliament that, in order to reduce the impact of the removal of the 10% tax rate from April 2008, the personal allowance will be increased by £600, from £5,435 to £6,035, giving a new emergency tax code of 603L the basic rate limit, the amount of earnings on [...]

On 14 May, the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, gave a preview of the legislative programme for the next parliamentary session that is to be announced in the Queen’s Speech. Several of the measures are of interest in the context of payroll and HR. Legislation is planned that will provide a right for young persons to [...]

The Income Tax Division, on 13 May, published a document outlining proposed changes to the taxation of company cars and fuel provided to employees by their employers. In line with the Treasury Minister’s announcement in his 2008 Budget speech, the proposals for a thoroughly updated system are based more on environmental impact and aligned with [...]

One of the changes included in the Employment Bill that is currently before Parliament is the repeal of the statutory dispute resolution procedures, prompted by the Gibbons Review which found that the statutory procedures led to disputes becoming formalised and encouraged the involvement of lawyers at an earlier stage of the grievance. In their place, [...]

The Information Security Breaches Survey is published bi-annually by the DBERR and PricewaterhouseCoopers plc. The results of the 2008 survey have been published and show, among other things, that most businesses are now investing in security defences and that information security breaches are causing less disruption to companies’ operations than two years ago. In the [...]

Employees needing to claim tax relief for the provision of business-related expenses received during the 2007/08 tax year may do so by completing form P87 Tax relief for expenses of employment year ended 5 April 2008. The form has sections for claiming mileage allowance relief for the use of a personal car or van for [...]

The Income Tax Division of Treasury has released a further enhancement to its Online Tax Services which will allow employers to submit employee details. Employers can now via the internet: view a list of current and previous employees and tax codes for existing employees submit details of employees commencing or leaving their employment rather than [...]

The Labour Court has given notice that it will sit on 22 May 2008 to consider an application to increase the wages and subsistence rates for workers employed by companies in the Electrical Contracting Industry. If the Court makes an Order varying the Agreement, the new wages and employment conditions will apply to all workers [...]