Abolition of National Insurance Contributions by employers for apprentices under 25

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Legal Services

​Abolition of National Insurance Contributions by employers for apprentices under 25

From 6 April 2016 employers of apprentices aged under 25 years old shall be exempt from payment of secondary Class 1 (employers) National Insurance contributions on earnings up to the Upper Earnings Limit for those employees, which is currently £827.00 per week or £43,000 per year. The change effects apprenticeships falling within the relevant statutory framework for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; and evidence between the employer, apprentice and training provider is required for employers wishing to apply for the relief. Alternatively, in England and Wales, proof of government funding of the apprenticeship may be regarded as sufficient evidence of the same.

The government’s guidance on the changes can be found here

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Compulsory National Living Wage effective from 1 April 2016

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Legal Services

​Compulsory National Living Wage effective from 1 April 2016

From 1 April 2016 a National Living Wage of £7.20 per hour for workers aged 25 and over is set to be introduced. Entitlement to the National Living Wage will include not only employees and workers, but also apprentices aged 25 and over, casual labourers and agricultural workers. The Low Pay Commission will recommend any future rise to the rate, but it is anticipated that the National Living Wage will rise to £9.00 or over by 2020.

The National Living Wage differs from the ‘Living Wage’, which is assessed in accordance with the basic cost of living in the UK, and which employers can voluntarily choose to pay. This rate is currently £9.40 per hour in London and £8.25 for the rest of the UK.

The National Minimum Wage will remain in force for workers under the age of 25, and will continue to be updated on 1st October every year.

Worker complaints of underpayment must be brought to the employee in the first instance. However, if the employer continues to refuse payment workers can advance their complaint to ACAS to seek resolution, or HMRC. Failure to pay employees the correct rate of pay will result in penalties being levied against the employer and this will be up to 200% or double the value of the underpayment owed, unless the full amount owed to the employee or worker is paid within 14 days.

The maximum fine for non-payment will be £20,000 per worker and failure to pay could result in an employer being banned from being a company director for up to 15 years.

The Government has published guidance notes on the National Living Wage which can be found here

 

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​No automatic right to time off for religious holidays

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Legal Services

​No automatic right to time off for religious holidays

The Employment Tribunal has recently considered the case of Gareddu v London Underground, in which an employee had claimed that it was discriminatory for his employer to refuse him 5 consecutive weeks’ annual leave during the summer for him to attend a series of religious festivals with his family in Italy.

In this case, the Tribunal decided that there was no mandatory requirement for the claimant to attend the series of festivals amounting to individual events, nor was there a close enough link between his religious beliefs as a roman catholic, and the need to attend the festivals over a consecutive 5 week period. The claimant himself conceded that his wish to attend could have been met by the holiday being taken in blocks over a similar period.

Although employees do not have an automatic right to time off for religious reason, employers should accommodate requests for annual leave to cover religious occasions where it is reasonable to do so.

In-keeping with the position taken by the Courts, employers should refuse a request only where it has a legitimate business need that can be objectively justified. Where it is not possible to grant an employee’s original request, the employer should discuss the options with the employee as it may be possible to come to a compromise. For example, the employee may agree to a reduced period, or to take unpaid time off.

Employers should be mindful of whether their policies, criteria or practices relating to holiday entitlement may be detrimental to staff requiring flexibility in order to engage in their religious practices as this might amount to indirect discrimination.

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FGNS 50th Anniversary – Stories, Photos and Documents Wanted

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Fulham Good Neighbour, local charity supporting older people, will be celebrating its 50th anniversary later this year. We are looking for previous staff, trustees and beneficiaries who would like to come forward and share their stories of the organisation as well as any photographs or documents they might have. Anyone who has any materials to share or simply wishes to reconnect with old friends is encouraged to contact Krzysztof Mikata-Pralat at chrismikata@fulhamgoodneighbours.org or on 020 7385 8850

fulham good neighbour logo

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Administrator – Doorstep Library

Doorstep Library Logo

Administrator

We need a super-efficient and friendly administrator to help us grow!  We organise volunteers to bring books and the joy of reading into the homes of children in some of west London’s most disadvantaged areas. We need someone to join our small team to support our project work. The post is based in our office in Fulham Broadway.

Full Job Description

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Interreg North West Europe (NWE) Seminar

The Interreg North West Europe (NWE) programme is a transnational  programme funded by the European Commission. It involves Ireland, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and parts of France, Germany and the Netherlands. The programme allows partners in North-West Europe to find solutions to commonly shared challenges regarding territorial development.

A call will be launched in mid-April inviting proposals for projects in the following areas:

  • innovation (capacity of regions, enterprise competitiveness and social benefits through innovation)
  • low carbon
  • resource and materials efficiency

Our seminar will give you more detail about the programme and help you assess whether this funding opportunity is right for you.

Who is eligible for funding ?

  • public authorities
  • agencies, research institutes, thematic and non-profit organisations
  • enterprises and business support organisations
  • only non-profit organisations can be lead partners

For more information and details, please download our briefing note from our website as well as the application package.

When?

Tuesday 19 April 2016, 10.00 – 13.30

Where?

Europe House 32 Smith Square, London SW1P 3EU

To find out more and see whether this seminar is for you please contact Hugo Clarke hugo.c@accesseurope.org.uk or call 0207 749 5159.

To register please fill in the form and return it to info@accesseurope.org.uk.

Registration is essential and will close on Tuesday 12th April 2016.

Please find below links for the registration form and the Seminar Programme.

Registration form

Seminar Programme

This event is free.

 

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Tackling difficult volunteer situations

hfvc event

 

This short training session is for anyone working with volunteers.

During the session participants will:

  • Identify what consitutes a difficult volunteer situtation
  • Explore the impact a difficult situation can have on an organisation
  • Discuss solutions to difficult volunter situations
  • Identify how to manage the exit of a volunteer
When
Where
Dawes Road Hub – 20 Dawes Road, London SW6 7EN, United Kingdom – View Map

Register here

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Volunteering Projects

Volunteering Projects

Works4U, the not-for-profit social enterprise branch of Hammersmith & Fulham Volunteer Centre is looking for volunteering opportunities/projects available in the local community that would suit a large group on 7th June.

When: The activities must be available on 7th June 2016
Team Size: We are looking for activities which can be undertaken by a team size of 40-80 people.
Time: The task must be able to be completed in an afternoon from 12:00 – 17:00 pm
Types of activities could be: Park Clean-ups, River Clean-ups, Gardening, Painting/Decorating, Befriending Older people, Cooking meals & promoting healthy eating, Afternoon tea party etc. We are open to ideas and the volunteers are keen to do something that has a real impact. If you are not sure if you have an idea, then please do get in touch and we can help formulate one.

If you want to discuss your project and/or want more information on how you could use our help please call Aparna on 020 8741 9876 or E-mail:
aparna@works-4u.com 

Please get in touch with us with your ideas and projects as soon as possible as we are looking to lock down the project in the next few weeks. However, we have many other teams of volunteers looking to support the community throughout the year.

We look forward to working with you!

Works4U Team
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WESTFIELD ANNOUNCES NEW FUNDING FOR COMMUNITY PROJECTS IN WHTE CITY

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Westfield London is launching a new community grants initiative as part of its expansion plans for the centre. The community grants scheme will support local organisations, who are looking for funding of up to £1,000 with up to 20 projects being selected per year over the next two years.

The community grants scheme is designed to focus specifically on a diverse array of projects and individuals from our borough, and aims to make a significant difference within our local neighbourhoods.

A new community grants panel, led by representatives from local businesses, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, local organisations and Westfield London, will meet twice annually to decide where funds will be directed based on bids received.

At each round of funding the panel will judge bids based on applications on three separate themes: Innovative and creative approaches to employment and training; Opportunities for young people aged16-24 and support for people with disabilities or health problems. In addition to fitting in with at least one of these themes, successful applicants will be required to show that they are based locally in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham or the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and they will have to submit a detailed breakdown of how the money will be spent and what objectives the funding will help them to achieve.

Westfield London currently provides 12,000 jobs, both as a direct employer and by attracting world-class retail employers. The proposed retail and residential expansion will create a further 8,000 jobs.

Since opening in 2008 Westfield has taken a proactive approach to engaging with the local community. The Westfield London Jobs & Training Advisory Panel was set up in 2012 in order to support employment and training at Westfield London and its surrounding communities. Since 2012, the wider White City Opportunity Area has developed further with even more jobs in the pipeline for local people in the area. As part of the new plans, the Work Zone will receive a further £600,000 worth of funding. The Work Zone, which is based on site at Westfield London in the Shepherd’s Bush Library, was set up to assist retailers and contractors to recruit locally, and to alert residents and jobseekers to available jobs and to assist jobseekers to gain access to the right employment and skills training for jobs at the shopping centre.

Commenting on the launch of the panel, Duncan Bower, Director of Development at Westfield, said: “Westfield London has had a transformative impact on the W12 area, delivering 12,000 jobs and £2.3 bn of investment to this part of London since opening in 2008. As we embark upon the next phase in this success story we want to make sure that the success of this investment is felt as widely as possible in the White City area. Westfield has a good track record in working with local organisations and the establishment of the grants panel will build on this.”

 

Jon Gilchrist, Executive Director of the Bush Theatre and one of the panellists, commented:   “The Bush Theatre has been making new theatre in Shepherd’s Bush for 44 years – and we are incredibly proud to be part of this vibrant and diverse corner of London. As someone who both lives and works in W12, it’s a privilege to form part of this panel – ensuring that the changing landscape in the area has a lasting benefit to the residents of the area. I hope that the Westfield community grants panel can work to harness the innovation and ideas that we encounter on our streets every day.”

Panellist Steven Cotton, Employer Engagement Manager for Resurgo’s Spear programme, said: “We are so pleased to continue our work with Westfield and in White City through the grants panel. From our experience, we know that there is a huge amount of innate local talent. Supporting projects that serve local need will bring tangible benefits to the local area.”

Panellist Emma Morgan, Manager at Big Local, said: “At Big Local we are dedicated to supporting the development of local people’s skills and talent and I believe that Westfield’s community grants panel will play an important part in encouraging this and investing in our vibrant and diverse local community. As part of the grants panel we look forward to working with a range of local organisations as they submit bids for funding”.

ENDS

For more information on the community grants scheme please visit Westfield London’s website: http://westfieldlondon-plans.co.uk/community-grants/.

 

Contact

Caroline Mattias
Weber Shandwick
Caroline.Mattias@webershandwick.com
+44 (0)20 7067 0432

 

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