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By Michael Scutt, 10/12/2009 3:15 pm

I’ve been maintaining radio silence for too long – sorry about that but the day job got in the way – and thought it was about time I put up another post. Part of the problem is that there has been a lot of stuff to write about and knowing where to start. However, our darling Chancellor, or should that be Mr Darling, Chancellor – has made my task a little easier today following his Pre-Budget Report, particularly with his tax on bankers’ bonuses.

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By michaelscutt, 11/06/2009 9:00 am

This is a thought that has been exercising me (and some of my colleagues) today. In comparison to some of my commuting co-workers (particularly those training in to Waterloo) I had a fairly smooth journey in; not that I want to seem smug about it you understand.  It took Nicola, our trainee solicitor, two hours to get from Waterloo into the City.  She wasn’t alone with nightmare tales to tell.   Reading over someone’s shoulder at the station I saw that the London Lite newspaper has also been questioning it given the travel chaos the RMT has foisted on us today. On their letters page they published a selection of readers’ comments which were 4 – 3 against the RMT. The general consensus around my office was that tube workers shouldn’t be allowed to strike, given the amount of chaos and severe disruption it causes.  Is it just me or do the RMT always seem to call a strike when there is a major sporting event on (the Lions tour to South Africa and the ICC Twenty20 World Cup spring to mind and the Ashes Test series starts next month – are there any strikes planned for then?).  At least the weather isn’t that brilliant for them this week.

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By michaelscutt, 15/05/2009 9:00 am

I’ve written before about the National Staff Dismissal Register (NSDR) in the Retail Sector and the blacklist published by The Consulting Association (TCA) in the construction industry.  The former is a joint venture between Action Against Business Crime (a consortium formed between leading retailers and the Home Office), the latter a database compiled by a private company that then sold details to about 40 leading construction companies.  News comes this week that the government is planning to introduce regulations to proscribe blacklists used by companies to identify Trade Union members and thus not employ them.  The TCA blacklist appears to have identified trade union members as trouble – e.g “ex shop steward definite problems” and similar.  The government thinks, rightly, that potential employees should not be discriminated against because of their Trade Union membership.

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By michaelscutt, 11/05/2009 9:00 am

Apologies for the recent silence.  Last week I took Mrs J. and the Junior Jobsworths to Southwold, Suffolk, for a brief holiday.  I had every good intention of posting whilst away but couldn’t get WiFi access.  I have to admit that I didn’t try that hard either. 

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By michaelscutt, 23/04/2009 9:00 am

As you will probably have heard by now, the Chancellor announced an increase to Statutory Redundancy Payment in the Budget yesterday, from the current figure of £350 to £380 per week. He hasn’t said from when the new increase will take effect and the lower figure itself was only introduced in February this year.  The government is also considering further legislation on SRP rates in the next Parliament.

So, what does the increase mean?  SRP is only payable (by the employer) to employees with two years’ continuous employment experience and that figure is paid to employees between the ages of 22 and 41.  For qualifying employees over 41 they will receive 1.5 times £380 = £570.  For those under 22 the applicable figure becomes £190 per week.

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By michaelscutt, 31/03/2009 9:31 am

The recent indignity suffered by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith over her husband’s viewing of two “adult” films, which she then submitted as part of her parliamentary expenses claim got me thinking again about the slightly older furore over Sir Fred Goodwin and his humungus pension, and the ongoing hysteria over bankers’ bonuses.  I posted a couple of weeks ago on why I thought it unlikely that Harriet Harman’s threat to take government action to recover Sir Fred’s pension would be successful.  In the meantime Congress in the USA has got itself worked up into  a  lather over bankers’ bonuses and is considering a 90% rate of tax on all executives (from those institutions receiving state bail outs, particularly AIG) receiving compensation packages in excess of $250,000.