Professional November 2017

Industry news

Workday HCM goes live GRANT THORNTON Ireland, a professional services firm which employs over 1,000 people has gone live with Workday Human Capital Management (HCM), including Workday Recruiting, to help scale and drive business transformation. To support its significant expansion, Grant Thornton needed scalable systems and processes in place in order to reach its strategic goals. Michael Stone, head of HR for Grant Thornton Ireland, said: “We believe this investment in technology will be instrumental in helping Grant Thornton drive its growth within the Irish market.” AN INSIDER’S guide to company car schemes has been launched by specialist vehicle solutions company AMT to help human resources (HR) professionals within small- to medium-size enterprises (SMEs) ensure their companies are not exposed to financial, time or compliance risk through their existing company car schemes and policies. The free downloadable guide (http://bit.ly/2wXksKW) shares insights and asks twelve key questions the answers to which will indicate to vehicle decision makers where there may be room for improvements or even a complete shake up of their current vehicle acquisition process. New timesheets and expenses app EVOKE, A new app for timesheets and expenses to reduce administrative headaches for HR teams and recruiters, is available from Bluefinity (www.bluefinity.com). The app is ready to be deployed to employees and consultants, but can also be customised. Office workers’ views of automation A REPORT – State of enterprise work (http://bit.ly/2x4v6Lh) – by Workfront, a provider of cloud-based enterprise work management solutions, found that UK workers are largely optimistic about the impact automation will have in the workplace. Three in four British office workers welcome the rise in artificial intelligence and robots in the workplace as they believe it will give them more time to do their primary job duties. However, around two in five (38%) feared that “rising automation will place humans and robots in competition for the same jobs in the future.” Other findings include: ● 84% agreed that ‘the use of automation in the workplace will let us think of work in new and innovative ways’ ● 82% expressed excitement ‘to learn new things as the workforce moves toward more automation’ ● 92% agreed that ‘no matter how sophisticated artificial intelligence becomes, there will always be the need for the human touch in the workplace.’ Guide to company car schemes

Where freelancers and contractors work RESEARCH FROM contractor tax adviser, Qdos Contractor of The Qdos Group, has highlighted that despite technology enabling anytime/ anywhere working, just eight per cent of freelancers and contractors surveyed prefer to work completely remotely. The research into 716 UK freelancers and contractors also revealed that more than two in three (67%) independent workers prefer to split their time between working onsite with clients and working remotely with one in four preferring to work purely onsite with clients. This suggests that despite being self-employed and not employees, freelancers and contractors are an important, visible presence in many of the companies which engage them. Seb Maley, chief executive officer at Qdos Contractor, commented “To enable the UK’s independent workforce to truly thrive however, government must rethink its stance on the current tax system and IR35, which is arguably reducing the benefits of self-employment.” ADP recognition in MCPO ADP HAS been identified as the highest-positioned vendor in multi- country payroll outsourcing (MCPO) in the 2017 Everest Group PEAK Matrix report. After assessing thirteen service providers across key dimensions of market success and delivery capability, the analyst firm recognised ADP as the highest-positioned ‘Leader’ and a ‘Star performer’. Ed Flynn, president of ADP’s Global Enterprise Solutions, commented “We’re proud that our solutions help simplify global payroll so employers can focus on driving meaningful business results and building better workforces.” Changes to GAAP ACCORDING TO chartered certified accountants Howards, new standards that change the UK’s generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) represent the biggest upheaval in business accountancy for many years. The new standards change how and when companies account for certain assets and liabilities, with potential implications on profitability and net assets. Areas where the accounting treatment will change include employee benefits e.g. holiday pay. Rebecca Nott, senior manager at Howards said: “These new standards represent a substantial overhaul in how corporate accounts have to be prepared and it’s fair to say that the vast majority of businesses will not grasp fully the significance of the changes.” Time for a cuppa? A SURVEY of UK workers carried out by AppliancesDirect.co.uk, reveals that British workers spend on average 109.66 hours annually taking time in the kitchen to make themselves a drink and have a break from their desk or workstation. The research, which looked in to workplace eating and drinking habits, found 87% of workers believe that regular tea breaks aid their productivity. Respondents cited the optimum tea break time was seven minutes, and believe they should happen on average four times per day outside of lunchtime – totalling 28 minutes per day.

| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | November 2017 | Issue 35 22

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