Industry news
Industry news
The office A SURVEY of 1,096 British workers by CartridgePeople.com ( The Small Of ce Home Of ce (SOHO) Workers Report 2016 – http://bit.ly/2ibDcdP) reveals that: ● though employees at companies such as Capital One can enjoy ‘sleeping nooks’ in which to take rest breaks, less than one in ten (7%) of survey respondents would like sleeping pods in their ideal office ● while Google’s headquarters feature slides, basketball courts and grown up playground equipment, just 8% described them as a key component of their dream office, and ● only 8% of respondents were interested in social media office enhancements, such as the selfie booths as seen in the offices of fashion retailer, Missguided. What workers really want are simple environmental enhancements, such as: windows that open to provide fresh air during the working day (49%); separate eating areas in which to enjoy their meals away from their desks (44%); and plants and flowers (40%). Pay&Benefits magazine folds THE DECEMBER 2016 issue of Pay&Benefits magazine was the last published by RELX (UK) Limited. The publication had undergone several name changes since the ground-breaking subscription-based monthly newsletter Payroll Manager’s Review – published by Tolley Publishing Ltd in the 1980s – subsumed Payroll Alliance’s membership periodical Payroll Journal and launched as a monthly magazine. In 2002, though the title changed to PMR , the publication retained much of its original historical focus on and connections with payroll. In 2007, it was rebranded as PHR: Payroll and Human Resources with a new direction covering a range of topics beyond payroll. Within two years, the magazine was relaunched as Pay&Benefits when Kavitha Sivasubramaniam was appointed as editor. The revised focus allowed the magazine to concentrate on the issues that most closely affected payroll. Development (CIPD), just 5% of new fathers and 8% of new mothers have taken up shared parental leave (SPL) since its introduction in April 2015. One fifth (21%) of the 1,050 senior human resources professionals surveyed for the report said they had received requests from male employees to take SPL. The research attributes low take-up rates in part to a lack of affordable childcare for children up to the age of two. The report urges employers to offer more family-friendly policies and benefits, such as flexible working. Only 30% of those surveyed said their organisation actively promotes flexible working options to employees who have caring responsibilities, and 11% said their company has a childcare policy that covers the range of support available to working parents. Rachel Suff, employment relations adviser at the CIPD, said: “[T]he complexity of the rules and the financial gap between statutory maternity pay and statutory shared parental pay in the early weeks are clearly outweighing these positives in reality for many.” Extending SPL to cover grandparents is seen by 25% of respondents as a step too far. Sarah Jackson, chief executive of Working Families, commented “Extending it to grandparents, as the government has proposed, is a red herring that will further complicate and undermine the policy’s intention – to encourage fathers to share care of their new baby.” Shared parental leave take up ACCORDING TO research (http:// bit.ly/2je2uKb) by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and
JSA Services acquires Paysure CHESHIRE-BASED CONTRACTOR accounting firm, Paysure, an umbrella company which specialises in the freelance and temporary worker sector, has been acquired by JSA Services, a leading provider of specialist accountancy, payroll and employment services to contractors and freelancers. This deal will be the sixth acquisition in the last two and half years for the highly acquisitive group. Aegon and Cofunds AEGON HAS completed the purchase of Cofunds following regulatory approval. Commenting Adrian Grace, Aegon chief executive said: “The completion takes us a major step further in our transition from traditional life company to fully-fledged platform business. Our focus now is to help intermediaries grow their business, grow their profitability and manage their risk and costs effectively.” The first meeting of the advisory board to bring together twenty to thirty firms represent intermediaries of all varieties and sizes to guide Aegon’s development was held in December. Aegon outlined its intermediary focus, platform strategy and what users can expect to see in the coming months. Cascade ISO accreditations CASCADE, THE human resources software specialist, has secured ISO accreditations ISO27001 and ISO9001 which reflect the company’s commitment to information security and quality control. ISO27001 signifies a robust approach to data risk management and international information security best practice. ISO9001 recognises the quality systems that have been put in place. Cascade’s commercial director Jayne Clarke said: “These international standards act as strategic guidelines that equip organisations like ours to tackle multiple modern business challenges. This independent ‘seal of approval’ lends further authenticity and credibility to the strategic goals and policies that we roll out, and gives customers complete confidence in our support moving forward.”
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Issue 27 | February 2017
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
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