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New
holiday legislation could leave employees feeling blue
GOVERNMENT proposals to increase
paid annual holiday entitlement could compromise benefits for
employees, say experts.
The proposals could see statutory annual leave increased from 20 to
28 days (based on an average 5 day working week). While the prospect
of additional time-off will leave many employees happy faced, it
could cost businesses millions of pounds and leave them with little
choice but to impose holiday deadlines, pressurise employees into
taking holidays needlessly and reduce other employee benefits and
perks.
Employment law expert Neil Gouldson from national law firm Lewis
Hymanson Small explains:- "Businesses realise that they need
to offer good remuneration packages to recruit and retain the best
staff. To achieve this, packages are developed bespoke to employee
requirements and the demands of the business sector they operate in.
Increasing the statutory holiday entitlement will provide businesses
with less flexibility to develop tailored, employee focused terms of
employment."
Under the proposed changes to the Working Time Regulation 1998,
employers will have to make paid time-off available for Bank and
public holidays in addition to the standard 4 week entitlement. The
changes will take place in 2 stages with the 1st taking place on 1
October 2007 when the entitlement will increase from 20 to 24 days.
The 2nd change will take place on 1 October 2008 and see the
entitlement raised from 24 to 28 days.
Gouldson adds:- "These changes will increase operational costs
for businesses during busy Bank Holiday periods, meaning reduced
holiday and overtime rates for people that opt to work. In addition,
the new legislation may see an increase in unused holidays, meaning
that businesses have to roll them over or buy them back. This would
have a detrimental impact on cashflow and operational efficiency,
and result in businesses having to be more stringent in managing
annual leave. Increasing statutory annual leave is not the
answer to improving work life balance for employees. It is merely a
smoke and mirrors exercise to divert public attention from high
taxes. Government effort should be focused on assisting business
development. This will provide employers with more resource to
provide greater benefits packages that can be tailored to meet
individual requirements."
Classic Rock Night
events at the Southport Arts Centre
THE event will consist of a rock
disco playing classic rock music from the 60's , 70's, 80's and just
a few from the 90's plus a live band “THE DILBURYS”
Band info.
The first event will be on St Patrick’s Night, Saturday 17 March
2007 starting at 8pm and finishing at around 1am. Tickets are at
£5.00 and are available on the door or can be booked through the box
office on 01704 540011.
The event will be held in the Studio Theatre in a relaxed nightclub
atmosphere and there will be a bar and food service. The Studio has
a 5k professional sound rig and professional lighting rig.
A second event is planned for Saturday 28 April 2007 - if the events
are successful, the plan is to run them on a regular basis.
Click on for more Art Centre
events... |
DVD
reaches out to black and ethnic minority groups
MERSEYTRAVEL
is reaching out to Merseyside’s diverse black and ethnic minority
communities in a bid to make travelling by public transport easier.
A new DVD simply called “Travel Passes”, and focusing solely
on Merseyside, has been created to give black and ethnic community
groups easily accessible and understandable information about public
transport and concessionary fares. The simple 7-minute DVDs
are available in four common languages; Arabic, English, Somali and
Chinese and were launched on friday 9 March. Now the DVD will
be taken directly into the heart of the communities.
Councillor Mark Dowd, Chair of Merseytravel, said:- “We want
to make sure everyone is included and has the chance to use the
public transport network. Everyone means everyone. This DVD
has taken a lot of hard work from many people within the
communities. It is a fantastic project and should help hundreds of
people every year.”
Neil Scales, Chief Executive and Director General of Merseytravel
added:- “This DVD is a fantastic example of partnerships in
action, we have reached out to the communities and the support we’ve
had has been excellent. We want a public transport network in
Merseyside that is accessible to everyone and this DVD will support
our work and give access to people in communities that may otherwise
be losing out.”
The DVD, first mooted during 2003, the European Year of Disabled
People, is fully funded by Merseytravel and stars people from
Merseyside’s black and ethnic minority communities – some with
disabilities.
Research carried out by Merseytravel’s Community Links Access team
and the Liverpool Voluntary Society for the Blind showed that
hundreds of people from the Somali, Chinese and Arabic communities
were unaware they were entitled to concessionary passes either
because of a disability or as senior citizens. In total, only
54% of the eligible population claim their concessionary passes.
The research highlighted a number of barriers preventing people
within the communities accessing public transport, including
language, accessible information and confidence to use the network.
In developing the DVD, Merseytravel’s Community Links Access Team
and Age Concern, with the support of an elders group from the black
and ethnic minority community, discussed the issues facing them at a
specially convened event. The Community Links team also went
out and met voluntary organisations across Merseyside to ask how
best to address the problem. The organisations supporting the
project include the Liverpool Voluntary Society for the Blind, Age
Concern Liverpool and Joseph Cooper Ltd.
This DVD will be distributed across Merseyside using community
empowerment networks. Anyone who would like a copy can contact
Merseytravel’s Community Links Access Team on 0151 330 1400. |
