News : Valerie Moore
Staff and Employment - 2
02 July 2008
Agency Staff
The rights for agency staff –v- those of the employer has been rumbling on for sometime. It seems that there is now agreement and comes into effect (probably) in April 2009.
It is anticipated that agency staff will have similar working rights to full time staff once they have been in a specific job for 12 weeks. The government says that some 50% of assignments are for less than 12 weeks – which means that 50% are for more than 12 weeks and thus will affect half of all agency staff assignments.
Whilst the final draft is still awaited it is anticipated that agency workers, once they have been in a specific job for 12 weeks, will be entitled to the same benefits as if they were directly recruited by the employer ie
. equal pay
. equal employment conditions.
However it is likely NOT to include
. company sick pay
. entry into the pension scheme.
Final details are still to be published. It is worthwhile now to look at the past use of agency staff and their use in the future and see if this may affect your business; if it does – how ? and are there any budgetary considerations ?
Rolled-up Holiday Pay
This is another situation that has been rumbling on for some time. Can holiday pay be added to the basic rate of pay and paid each pay day – or – should holiday pay be calculated and paid totally separately.
It certainly made sense to include holiday pay with the basic rate of pay for those members of staff who worked intermittently or on short term contracts.
2 years ago the European Court of Justice said that rolled up holiday pay was permissible, but doubt still surrounded this. An Employment Appeal Tribunal now seems to agree that rolled-up holiday is permissible PROVIDED THAT payments are “transparent and comprehensive”.
So what does this mean ? Any such agreement must
. be agreed by both parties
. the enhancement of the basic pay must be genuine
. the written statement about the terms and conditions of employment must state very clearly the amount of basic pay and the enhanced amount for holiday pay
. the payslip must clearly show the basic pay and the holiday pay.
Common sense reigns.
Tips and the Minimum Wage
For those working in bars, restaurants (and other jobs) where they receive tips, those tips do not count towards calculating whether staff are receiving the minimum wage a judge has recently ruled.
Employers must pay their staff at least the national minimum wage regardless of any tips, gratuities, service or cover charges, so long as the tips are not paid directly through the employer's payroll.
Payments via a 'tronc' (an independent tips distribution scheme) does not count towards the national minimum wage.
It was determined that where restaurant or bar service charges are paid by the customer to the employer, but are then paid into a 'troncmaster's' bank account for distribution in accordance with a 'tronc' scheme agreed between the troncmaster and employees, the sums so distributed to employees are not "paid by the employer" for the purposes of being included in any national minimum wage calculation.
A little more information at http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=370654&NewsAreaID=2
The rights for agency staff –v- those of the employer has been rumbling on for sometime. It seems that there is now agreement and comes into effect (probably) in April 2009.
It is anticipated that agency staff will have similar working rights to full time staff once they have been in a specific job for 12 weeks. The government says that some 50% of assignments are for less than 12 weeks – which means that 50% are for more than 12 weeks and thus will affect half of all agency staff assignments.
Whilst the final draft is still awaited it is anticipated that agency workers, once they have been in a specific job for 12 weeks, will be entitled to the same benefits as if they were directly recruited by the employer ie
. equal pay
. equal employment conditions.
However it is likely NOT to include
. company sick pay
. entry into the pension scheme.
Final details are still to be published. It is worthwhile now to look at the past use of agency staff and their use in the future and see if this may affect your business; if it does – how ? and are there any budgetary considerations ?
Rolled-up Holiday Pay
This is another situation that has been rumbling on for some time. Can holiday pay be added to the basic rate of pay and paid each pay day – or – should holiday pay be calculated and paid totally separately.
It certainly made sense to include holiday pay with the basic rate of pay for those members of staff who worked intermittently or on short term contracts.
2 years ago the European Court of Justice said that rolled up holiday pay was permissible, but doubt still surrounded this. An Employment Appeal Tribunal now seems to agree that rolled-up holiday is permissible PROVIDED THAT payments are “transparent and comprehensive”.
So what does this mean ? Any such agreement must
. be agreed by both parties
. the enhancement of the basic pay must be genuine
. the written statement about the terms and conditions of employment must state very clearly the amount of basic pay and the enhanced amount for holiday pay
. the payslip must clearly show the basic pay and the holiday pay.
Common sense reigns.
Tips and the Minimum Wage
For those working in bars, restaurants (and other jobs) where they receive tips, those tips do not count towards calculating whether staff are receiving the minimum wage a judge has recently ruled.
Employers must pay their staff at least the national minimum wage regardless of any tips, gratuities, service or cover charges, so long as the tips are not paid directly through the employer's payroll.
Payments via a 'tronc' (an independent tips distribution scheme) does not count towards the national minimum wage.
It was determined that where restaurant or bar service charges are paid by the customer to the employer, but are then paid into a 'troncmaster's' bank account for distribution in accordance with a 'tronc' scheme agreed between the troncmaster and employees, the sums so distributed to employees are not "paid by the employer" for the purposes of being included in any national minimum wage calculation.
A little more information at http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=370654&NewsAreaID=2