Institute of Management Services News

UK Apprenticeship Levy

The UK Apprenticeship Levy has now been in place for a year and has been succesful for many businesses. However despite being touted by the government as the ‘solution to the widening the skills gap in the UK’ many businesses have criticised the reform and question its impact for businesses.

The levy has offered an excellent opportunity for businesses to invest in their workforce through hiring new staff, developing existing employees and shaping their skills to the requirements of the company, it’s also key in enforcing social mobility and allowing people the chance to enter the workforce who may not have been able to do so otherwise.

Productivity was a key deliverable on the government’s agenda when they introduced the Apprenticeship Levy. The aim was to allow businesses to create a pipeline of talent and provide on-the-job training to equip employees with vocation skills necessary for the workforce.

Barclays Bank indicate that their apprentices contribute a huge productivity impact to the business, with each apprentice contributing £18,000 of net productivity gains over the course of their programme.

Posted on: 18-May-2018@10:05:48, updated on: 18-May-2018@10:05:48.

Levels of Presenteeism are increasing in the UK

Presenteeism or people going to work when they are ill is an increasing occurance in the UK.

Recent research indicates that 86% of over 1,000 respondents in a recent survey indicated that they had observed presenteeism in their organisation. Despite the disturbing figures only a minority of companies are taking steps to address these unhealthy workplace practices. 

Professor Sir Cary Cooper, indicates that some managers might consider having greater numbers of staff in the office is good  but he feels this is a terrible way of  thinking. Research on presenteeism shows that even if you are in the office you are not delivering any added value to the organisation, because your productivity is so low.

Posted on: 03-May-2018@22:26:44, updated on: 03-May-2018@22:26:44.

UK Businesses not ready for GDPR

According to research by the data privacy firm Ensighten almost half of UK business owners are braced for a GDPR non-compliance penalty ahead of the 25 May deadline.

On 25 May the Europeant General Data Protection Regulationand will introduce new consumer consent requirements for businesses to adhere to. Essentially, customers must explicitly opt-in to share their personal data with a company.

According to the new research into data governance attitudes ahead of GDPR, 45 % of company owners have set money aside in anticipation of a GDPR fine.

Meanwhile, 61% cent of survey respondents would apply for an extension to the deadline if they could, highlighting a potentially worrying lack of organisation among UK businesses.

It has been known for almost twelve months that these new data requirements would be introduced in May 2018 so companies have no real excuse for not being prepared for there introduction.

Posted on: 01-May-2018@16:02:27, updated on: 01-May-2018@16:02:27.

UK Employment Contracts Supreme Court Judgememt

The Supreme Court has handed down its long-awaited landmark ruling in the appeal of Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v Haywood, that notice of termination takes effect neither when the termination letter is posted by the employer, nor when it is put through the employee's front door – but when the employee actually reads it.

The judgment, published on 25 April, has far-reaching consequences for both employers and employees as it looks set to trigger changes to all employment contracts in the UK.

The ruling means that in the absence of an express clause in a contract outlining when notice is deemed to be given and take effect, a term will be implied that notice will take effect from when it has been received and read by the employee, having first had a reasonable opportunity to do so.

The full judgement can be seen at: 

https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2017-0074-judgment.pdf

Posted on: 26-Apr-2018@12:54:05, updated on: 26-Apr-2018@12:54:05.