Industry News June 2011

• Over two thirds of businesses will let employees choose retirement date
  More than two thirds of businesses will react to the abolition of the Default Retirement Age by allowing employees to retire when they wish, according to a new survey  £19m fines for failure to pre-screen staff
  - Companies throughout the UK have been fined some £19 million over the past 12 months, after failing to undertake the appropriate pre-employment checks on staff members
• Payroll Giving receives mixed response
  - Members of the payroll industry have been left with divided opinions following the first ever Payroll Giving Conference, reports Payroll World
• River Island recognised for best HR software use
  - River Island has been commended for its use of HR software in the HR Excellence Awards 2011, reports HR Magazine
• Admiral staff to share in £1.6m bonus
  - Insurance group, Admiral has announced its employees will share in a £1.6 million bonus, reports HR Magazine
• HR "best placed" to facilitate change
  - HR departments are "best placed" to help facilitate change swiftly and effectively in organisations
• Saab find funds to pay staff
  - In an encouraging change to last week's headlines, Saab have announced that they can now pay their employees, according to BBC News
• Employees' wellbeing can make a "happy, healthy" workforce
  Paying attention to employees' wellbeing can not only improve time and attendance records, but also ensure a happy, healthy workforce is created
• Line managers with HR skills can help firms
  - Line managers who employ efficient HR skills to a business can help their firms prosper during the tough economic climate, reports HR Magazine
• CIPP announces "Make payroll shine" is National Payroll Week theme
  - Those in payroll services will be encouraged to "push the profession forward" during September's National Payroll Week, reports cipp.org.uk
• ASDA employees rewarded with £49m sharesave payout
  - Nearly 15,000 ASDA employees will receive a record payout when a sharesave scheme soon matures
• Pre-screening candidates makes "financial sense"
  - Undertaking pre-employment checks on candidates makes strong "financial sense", according to Katherine Harrison, a screening specialist
• Companies should offer personalised benefits
  - Companies should consider offering personalised benefits packages to their employees, in order to help improve retention strategies - as well as the time and attendance of existing staff
• £1.4 billion spent on footballers' wages last year
  - Premier League football clubs are spending 68 per cent of their incomes on wages, a report has found
• LPC report to investigate pay for interns
  - Pay for interns and apprentices will be the main focus of the Low Pay Commission's (LPC) 2012 report
• Benefit assessment could return 800,000 back to work
  - Thousands of people could be joining the company payroll if a new government test into incapacity benefit succeeds, The Telegraph reports
• Managing directors getting tough on sick days
  - Half of British managing directors have admitted to checking up on sick employees, according to a new survey
• Two-thirds of women take full maternity leave entitlement
  - A study has shown that more women are taking their full maternity leave entitlement; twice as many as in 2006
• Brits need to save more for retirement
  - British employees are failing to save enough money for retirement, according to a new survey
• CMI reveals results of salary survey
  - The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has released the details of its recent salary survey, which found that pay rises in Britain were at their lowest in ten years, Managers.org.uk confirmed
• Over two thirds of businesses will let employees choose retirement date
  - More than two thirds of businesses will react to the abolition of the Default Retirement Age by allowing employees to retire when they wish, according to a new survey
• Payroll may link with mobile phone charges
  - A council in England may consider integrating the charges accumulated by employees' mobile phones with the company's payroll process, Friend Feed has revealed
• Offensive tax wording to be revised
  - Offensive terminology pertaining to "incapacitated individuals" found in tax legislation is to be brought into the 21st century, reports Payroll World