Summary: All the latest payroll and HR news delivered
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Date: 13 June 2008
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This week’s news stories include:
• Employers slow to take advantage of Web 2.0 opportunities
• Nuclear immigration rules relaxed
• UK vacancies and employment remains high
• Service delivery sabotaging effectiveness of HR departments
• Employment growth decreases yet employers still hiring
• HMRC news
• Case law: Equal pay
• Helpdesk: Taxable pay tables
Employers slow to take advantage of Web 2.0 opportunities
Organisations are neglecting to take advantage of Web 2.0 to help
attract and retain key talent, the annual Recruitment, Retention
and Turnover survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel
and Development (CIPD) has revealed.
The study collated the responses of 779 organisations and found
that 80 per cent did not currently use Web 2.0 online methods to
recruit employees and only eight per cent planned to implement the
technology in the next year.
While most respondents believed that social networking sites were
useful in attracting potential employees, many were concerned about
negative comments damaging their organisation’s reputation.
Of the organisations that did use social networking, they said that
it was not employed as a means of vetting potential candidates.
“Through the richness of multimedia and connectivity, web 2.0 technology
provides an opportunity to bring the employer brand to life and
create experiences online that allow potential employees to experience
what it is like to work within the organisation,” said Deborah Fernon,
Organisation and Resourcing Adviser for CIPD.
What are your views on the use of Web 2.0 and social networking
sites to attract employees? Does the system need to be tightened
up? Email PHR’s Editor Kavitha Sivasubramaniam by clicking here.
Nuclear immigration rules relaxed
The Government is easing the rules on workplace immigration for
the nuclear power industry.
The consequence of this will be that 27 job categories will now
be open to non-UK workers, creating up to 60,000 new jobs in the
industry.
The Home Office claimed that adding the jobs to the national shortage
list would help the UK attract the “right skills”.
However, unions are concerned that British workers may be affected
by the more relaxed rules.
The changes are part of the Government’s new points-based migration
system, where workers from the majority of Europe are entitled to
apply for jobs in the UK without restriction.
For specific occupations, including those in the nuclear power industry,
the Government has drawn up a list of jobs where there is deemed
to be a skills shortage.
The new rules allow employers to recruit outside the European Economic
Area, to other parts of the world.
What are your views on opening jobs up to workers outside the UK?
Email PHR’s Editor Kavitha Sivasubramaniam by clicking here.
UK vacancies and employment remains high
New figures show that employment remains high at over 29.5 million,
an increase of 446,000 compared to last year, as more people take
advantage of job opportunities.
The number of vacancies remains at a near record high with more
than 678,000 jobs available, up 35,000 compared to a year ago.
The figures also reveal that more people are looking to get back
into employment. Although there is a slight increase in the number
of people claiming unemployment benefit, the overall figure remains
low when compared with the last 30 years.
“A decade ago the challenge we faced was high unemployment,” said
Stephen Timms, Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform. “Today,
with record numbers in employment, the task we face is to make sure
people have the right skills and other support to move into and
progress in work.”
Service delivery sabotaging effectiveness of HR departments
Many HR professionals across the UK believe that they can have more
effect on the commercial performance of their employers but are
held back by a focus on day-to-day service delivery.
The research, commissioned by recruitment process outsourcing firm
Ochre House, surveyed 102 organisations, finding that 83 per cent
believe that HR departments can have more effect but 81 per cent
felt they were being held back by service delivery.
However, almost two-thirds are hesitant about outsourcing in this
area as it is regarded as “too important”.
The poll found that HR directors believed they could achieve more
for their businesses in five main areas – leadership development,
retention, attraction, productivity and growth. Yet more than half
felt that they had been prevented from addressing these areas due
to insufficient backing from their CEOs or boards.
“We found most heads of HR admitting that their departments were
currently spending the bulk of their time on recruitment and basic
HR services,” said Damien Stork from Ochre House. “However it was
clear that they actually wanted to reduce this commitment and redeploy
resources to workforce planning and leadership development.”
The three major obstructions to redeploying resources into these
more strategic areas were defined as inadequate systems and processes,
insufficient resources and current levels of skills in the department.
What are your views on service delivery? Does it affect how efficiently
your HR department is run? Email PHR’s Editor Kavitha Sivasubramaniam
by clicking here.
Employment growth decreases yet employers still hiring
Despite a substantial fall in the rate of employment growth and
a rise in unemployment benefit claims, employers are still hiring
and there is no sign yet of a rise in redundancies.
The latest official labour market statistics, published by the Office
for National Statistics, showed that the labour market is cooling
only moderately.
The fact that there is no increase in redundancies and there is
a slight pick-up in the growth of regular pay means that, despite
the rise in unemployment, there is no strong case of a cut in official
bank rates.
“The jobs market overall remains relatively buoyant but signs of
the impact of the credit crunch are beginning to emerge,” said John
Philpott, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel
and Development. “Combined with continued strong growth in the number
of people entering the labour market, the economy is now generating
too few jobs to prevent the dole queue from starting to lengthen.”
HMRC news
Electronic PAYE payments due
Electronic payments for PAYE month 2, the period ending 5 June 2008,
are due by 22 June 2008.
If PAYE payments are paid electronically, cleared funds must be
with HMRC by Friday 20 June.
This means the last day for initiating payment is:
• Wednesday 18 June if you pay by telephone, internet, BACS Direct
Credit, Bank Giro or Alliance Leicester Commercial Bank (previously
know as Girobank)
• Friday 20 June if you pay by CHAPS
This is only a guide as your bank or building society may take longer
to process the payment and will operate a cut-off time for initiating
a payment that day.
The payment is due early because the 22 June 2008 is a Sunday –
a non-banking day.
Employer annual returns delayed
A small number of Employer Annual Returns due for issue between
April 2008 and May 2008 have been delayed.
This affects employers who have notified HMRC that they have ceased
as an employer during 2008/09 or who have requested a duplicate
return for an earlier tax year. HMRC can confirm that all Returns
have now been dispatched.
If you do receive a Return and you have already sent in your completed
Return, you must destroy the duplicate.
Current phishing scams
The following phishing activity is the most frequently reported
fraud attempt to HMRC at the present time:
Tax Rebate – Updated 05 June 2008
HMRC is aware of a number of scams aimed at persuading customers
to complete a form revealing their bank or credit card details,
on the pretext that a payment of tax will be paid directly into
their bank account.
Previous forms have shown a potential tax rebate using the email
addresses of:
notice@hmrc.gov.uk
hmrc@hmrc.gov.uk
admin@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
info@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
no-reply@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
HMRC does not send out emails using these email addresses.
Case law: Equal pay
Potter and others v North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and
another appeal
[2008] All ER (D) 236 (Apr)
The two appeals concerned a procedural dispute which arose in the
context of litigation in the Newcastle-Upon-Tyne region, in which
women employed by the National Health Service were claiming under
the equal value provisions of the Equal Pay Act 1970.
One “sub-multiple” within that litigation was a group of claims
brought against the employer in the instant appeal by a group of
nurses at various grades and some medical secretaries.
Procedures for equal pay claims (the Equal Value Rules) set out
in Schedule 6 to the Employment Tribunal (Constitution and Rules
of Procedure) Regulations 2004, SI 2004/1861 (as amended) had been
adopted and adapted over a series of interlocutory hearings.
The employees compared themselves to 12 comparators. In accordance
with r 4(3) (b)(ii) of the Equal Value Rules, the employment tribunal
directed that an independent expert prepare a report on the question
of whether the work of each of the employees was of equal value
to that of the comparators on whom they relied.
The parties sought to agree job analysis reports (JARs) for the
job done by each employee and each comparator. The JARs were to
have formed the factual basis for the independent experts’ evaluation.
A dispute arose in relation to the JARs and the employer’s position
was that they were to state the facts only as at the date at which
the claim in question was made.
The employees maintained that the JARs ought to describe the job
and state any relevant facts in relation to the entire period of
the claim. That difference in position was potentially important
to the extent that there were asserted to have been material changes
in job content – capable of affecting the value of the jobs.
The tribunal held the correct comparison period for evaluation of
equality by the independent expert was at the date of the presentation
of the claim. It held, inter alia, that given the JARs had
been prepared on the basis that they had, it would have caused undesirable
delay and complication to have them revisited in order to include
further facts in relation to possible changes over a number of years.
The employees appealed.
The appeal would be dismissed.
Helpdesk: Taxable pay tables
Q: We are confused about which taxable pay tables to use,
having not yet received paper copies from HM Revenue & Customs.
Do the May 2008 tax tables apply from 18 May or 6 April?
A: This year for the first time we have two issues of taxable
pay tables B to D. The first set, dated 6 April 2008, apply from
the beginning of the tax year and take into account the withdrawal
of the 10 per cent tax band and the reduction of the basic rate
to 20 per cent. However, the second set, dated 18 May 2008, reflect
the Budget increase to tax bands and apply from paydays on or after
this date but the increase is backdated to
6 April 2008.
Do you have a burning payroll question? When Payroll Alliance
corporate members and students do, they simply phone the Payroll
Alliance Help Desk for an answer. For information about membership
and this service, call 020 8401 1828/9.
To comment on any of the stories or issues in this week’s newsletter
email PHR’s Editor Kavitha Sivasubramaniam by clicking here.
