2016 -
November
DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION - 29.11.2016
Does “unfit for work” mean the employee is disabled?
In the case of Lee v HSBC Bank Plc 2016, the employee claimed that she was disabled from the point her GP certified her as being “unfit for work”. What did the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decide?
TRIBUNAL FEES - 29.11.2016
Tribunal fees: all change?
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has carried out an in-depth review of tribunal fees on behalf of the government and proposed radical changes. What’s been suggested and will they happen?
GRIEVANCES - 29.11.2016
Exit interviews: is this a grievance?
Like most employers, you probably conduct exit interviews for departing employees. What if an employee raises a complaint during such an interview. Should you automatically trigger your grievance procedure?
WORKING TIME - 29.11.2016
Commuting and working time calculations
Apparently, over 3.7 million UK employees undertake a daily commute of two hours or more. Must you take excessive travelling time into account when calculating an employee’s weekly working time?
PAYROLL - 29.11.2016
The state pension age and payroll changes
An employee will soon reach state pension age but she has no plans to retire. Even though she’ll carry on working for you as normal, there’s an important change you must make to your payroll. What is it?
CONTRACTS - 29.11.2016
Employment contracts and electronic signatures
To save time and money, it’s been suggested that you send employment contracts by e-mail and request an electronic signature where the terms are accepted. Sounds good but will this create a binding contract?
UNFAIR DISMISSAL - 29.11.2016
Fairly dismissed for refusing to work overtime
An employee who was dismissed after she refused to work overtime in the run up to Christmas has lost her tribunal claim for unfair dismissal. What had the employer done to protect its position?
DEFERRING CGT - 28.11.2016
How can you legally delay paying that tax bill?
Your client has realised a substantial capital gain in the current tax year, and is looking to you for advice on how they might push back the payment date. How might the enterprise investment scheme (EIS) be of use to them?
INCOME TAX LOSSES - 28.11.2016
When is it worth offsetting losses against capital gains?
When your clients make a trading loss, there are a number of options for its utilisation. One of the least well-known is offsetting capital gains. When might it be worth using this, and how do you go about it?
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT - 28.11.2016
Big changes on the way for industry
HMRC is currently consulting on whether to punish advisors who “enable” tax avoidance. The professional bodies have released new guidance in response. What do you need to know?
EMPLOYMENT EXPENSES - 28.11.2016
Making the most of scale rate payments
Where employees reclaim subsistence expenses, it is fairly common for them to be paid a benchmark scale rate as set out by HMRC. How can you advise your clients to pay higher rates without complicating the reporting?
ESTATES IN ADMINISTRATION - 28.11.2016
A little-known last resort for the cash-strapped estate
When one of your clients dies there may be an inheritance tax bill for the estate to settle. Increasingly, people who are wealthy on paper have little cash in reality. What options are open to administrators who are struggling to raise funds?
SOFTWARE - BROWSER - 28.11.2016
Copying disabled?
There are still websites which disable the menu that is opened by right-clicking, so as to prevent visitors from copying text or images from the webpage. How can you circumvent this?
SOFTWARE - WINDOWS - 28.11.2016
Starting with a clean slate in Windows 10
As you may have discovered, Windows 10 can be fickle at times. In most cases, you can use the System Restore feature to revert to a previous state, but sometimes you may need to start over.
BUSINESS - WEB SERVICES - 28.11.2016
How to send a virtual invitation
Suppose you would like to invite customers, suppliers or other business relations to a business event. You could do so via a letter or an e-mail of course, but are there dedicated online tools that can help you?
PERSONAL WEBSITE - DOMAIN NAME - 28.11.2016
Free mail and website hosting for your domain name
If you already have a domain name or are planning to acquire one, there’s no reason why you should pay for web or mail hosting. Indeed, some domain registrars offer free mail and/or web hosting. Here are some possibilities.
BUSINESS - WEB SERVICES - 28.11.2016
Chat with your colleagues
The advantage of chat compared with e-mail is that it enables more direct real-time communication. HipChat and ChatWork allow you to chat in a professional context. We tested both tools for you.
E-MAIL - MISCELLANEOUS - 28.11.2016
Helpmonks: e-mail for teams
Is your sales or support team communicating with your customers without your knowledge? Helpmonks claims you can avoid this problem via its “shared mailboxes”.
SOFTWARE - FILE COMPRESSION - 28.11.2016
How to work with compressed files?
Are you still exchanging very large files via e-mail? Then it will pay to compress or “zip” these files in order to save space. What are the best free tools for this purpose?
SOFTWARE - BROWSER - 28.11.2016
Surfing even better with Firefox - version 50
The Firefox web browser has been around since 2002 and has now reached version 50. It comes with several new features which are expected to make surfing even more efficient.
WEB SERVICES - ONLINE COMMUNITIES - 28.11.2016
The best apps for LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the social media channel par excellence for maintaining and extending your professional contacts. It’s a versatile service, but perhaps there are apps that add even more options?
SECURITY - PRIVACY - 28.11.2016
Keep your cookies under control
Cookies are tiny text files which a webserver places on your hard disk. Some cookies are useful, but others monitor your surfing behaviour. How do you separate the wheat from the chaff and manage cookies optimally?
BUSINESS - MISCELLLANEOUS - 28.11.2016
SMEs and remote working
A survey has shown that many current and potential employees want more flexible working. This can also benefit SMEs. It’s an on-trend topic.
WASTE - 24.11.2016
More plastic bans?
New laws in France could see certain plastics banned and replaced with compostable materials. Is the UK likely to follow its lead and, if so, what might it mean for you?
ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITTING - 24.11.2016
Avoid additional inspection visits
A manufacturer operating under an environmental permit has seen its risk rating increased by the licensing authority and, as a consequence, now has to pay higher fees and face more intervention visits. What can be learned from this?
STATUTORY NUISANCE - 24.11.2016
How to deal with statutory nuisance issues
If you’re responsible for causing a statutory nuisance, you’re likely to receive a great deal of interest from your local authority environmental health department. How should you manage the situation?
GREEN PRODUCTS - 24.11.2016
Not getting the results you’ve been promised
Campaign groups are launching an investigation into electrical appliances as they suspect that manufacturers are cheating on their energy performance tests. What’s going on?
FLOODING - 24.11.2016
Flooding 2016 - the state of play
There has been a series of reviews on flood risks and how they’re being managed. What are the findings and is there anything new on the table for businesses?
NATURAL RESOURCES - 24.11.2016
Time to get approval for your timber imports?
A national online licensing system for importing sustainable timber has been delayed, although importers will still be able to obtain approval for their products. What do you need to be aware of?
POLLUTION - 24.11.2016
Blocked drains and fat fines
A small business in the Midlands has been given a hefty fine for blocking drains. What happened and what do you need to do to avoid falling into the same trap?
BANKING - 24.11.2016
Get ready for the new £1 coin
In March 2017 the Royal Mint will release a new £1 coin. As well as an updated design, it will have improved security features. What does your business need to know about this change?
CONTRACTS - 24.11.2016
Has the contract been “frustrated”?
Another company wants you to accept new, but less favourable, terms of business. It says that a refusal on your part will amount to “frustration” meaning that it can end the contract automatically and walk away. Is this correct?
TAX - CAPITAL ALLOWANCES - 24.11.2016
A tax deduction for insulating your home office?
In the winter your home office gets a little chilly making it harder to work. If you upgrade your windows and doors or add some wall insulation, will HMRC chip in to the cost by allowing you a tax deduction?
TAX - RAISING FINANCE - 24.11.2016
Can making a gift to your company trigger a tax bill?
One of our subscribers gave his company £15,000 cash to help it buy new equipment. The local tax inspector argued that it should have been declared as a taxable transaction on the company’s corporation tax return. Is he correct?
PERSONNEL - 24.11.2016
Self-employed or your employee?
You often use the same self-employed individuals to carry out work for your business. A colleague says that following the “Uber ruling”, these people aren’t really self-employed, they’re actually your workers. Are they right?
COMPANY LAW - 24.11.2016
PSC reporting rules to change
Changes proposed by the EU are likely to affect all UK businesses which are required to keep a register of people with significant control (PSC). What’s changing and when?
INVOICES - SCAMS - 24.11.2016
More firms caught out by bogus invoices
Statistics show that more than 20% of businesses receive fake invoices each year. While you can’t stop them being sent, what steps can you take to avoid inadvertently paying them?
INHERITANCE TAX - 24.11.2016
The new IHT relief - don’t miss out
The inheritance tax residence nil rate band (RNRB) will be phased in from 6 April 2017. Its purpose is to reduce the tax payable by estates on or after that date, but a spouse’s earlier death might still trigger a tax saving. When might this apply?
CAPITAL ALLOWANCES - 24.11.2016
Are you timing purchases of equipment tax efficiently?
You’re working out budgets for the next financial year and they include significant purchases of equipment. Naturally you want to ensure you obtain the tax deductions for these as soon as possible. How can you ensure you achieve this?
TAX PLANNING - 24.11.2016
The end of tax planning?
New guidance takes a tougher line regarding the advice which accountants can give on tax planning. How might this affect you?
PROFIT EXTRACTION - 24.11.2016
Reducing the tax bill when you sell your company
The government continues to attack owner managers of companies who gain a tax advantage from building up cash in their companies before selling or winding them up. How might a contract of employment help protect you?
VAT - 24.11.2016
HMRC changes its mind on zero rating
If you’re involved in constructing new buildings to make dwellings, or converting buildings into dwellings, there’s a new twist to the VAT rules which could work to your advantage. Could your project now qualify for zero or reduced rate VAT?
EXPENSES - 24.11.2016
Is there a problem with the new expenses exemption?
Owner managers of companies, especially recently formed ones, could be caught in a trap inadvertently created by the job expenses exemption that was introduced for 2016/17. What’s the problem and is there a solution?
PAYMENTS - 24.11.2016
Can you spread your tax bill?
The 2015/16 self-assessment tax return deadline is 31 January 2017. It’s also the date on which you must pay the balance of tax you owe for that year. However, there is a way to spread the tax bill. How is this done?
employee expenses - 22.11.2016
Helping employees get tax relief
If you process the payroll for employees who aren’t fully reimbursed for the items they buy for their job, then they may be able to claim tax relief on the difference. If they ask you about this, what do they need to know?
apprencticeship levy - 22.11.2016
Will you be affected by the new apprenticeship levy?
In April 2017 a new apprenticeship levy is being introduced. If your business has to pay it, this will need to be done through the monthly PAYE process alongside tax and NI. How much will you need to pay?
PAYE - 22.11.2016
RTI obligations of paying employees early
Your company’s usual payroll date is the last day of the calendar month, but this month you need to pay some of your staff early. It sounds tricky, but what’s the simplest way to handle the extra payday under RTI?
Holiday pay - 22.11.2016
Calculating holiday pay on termination
You have been asked to calculate the holiday pay due to a full-time salaried employee who has decided to leave part way through the holiday year. What’s the correct way to do the calculation?
pensions - 22.11.2016
Auto-enrolment - the hidden worker trap
It’s possible that as many as 460,000 people are being treated as self-employed when they should be workers. For auto-enrolment purposes why does this matter and how can you avoid the trap?
NATIONAL INSURANCE - 22.11.2016
Are you paying too much NI?
One of your workers claims you’ve deducted too much NI from her salary. She says you have the “earnings period” wrong. As this was calculated by your payroll software you’re sure it’s right. What’s the problem?
RTI - 22.11.2016
“KC” NI number problem
A new starter has given you an NI number starting with “KC”. When you tried to file their first FPS, it was rejected. Is their number valid?
ACCIDENT REPORTING - 21.11.2016
Must you report accidents to non-employees?
A visitor recently had an accident on your premises. Are you obliged to report it under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013?
ENFORCEMENT - 21.11.2016
Health and safety in numbers - annual update
The HSE has published details of the number of fatalities, serious accidents and cases of ill health at work. What stands out and how might you use this information?
ENFORCEMENT - 21.11.2016
Directors and managers in the dock
Figures obtained by a law firm identify that the number of directors and managers prosecuted for health and safety offences has increased. What’s to know?
MACHINERY - 21.11.2016
Buying machinery from abroad
It’s becoming easier than ever to purchase products and materials from abroad, within sensible timeframes and at a low cost. But you need to be very careful with machinery. What’s the concern?
CONSTRUCTION - 21.11.2016
Is your helmet the right colour?
In October 2016 it was widely reported by the media that new rules would mean that Bob the Builder would no longer be allowed to wear his yellow helmet. Where did the story originate and is there any truth behind it?
WORKPLACE - 21.11.2016
HSE bites back
When a staff member was attacked by the company guard dog, it set off a chain of events which landed a garage owner in court. What happened and what should have been done differently?
FIRE SAFETY - 21.11.2016
Landlords putting lives at risk
A number of recent cases involving landlords has highlighted that ignoring fire safety duties can be costly. What had they failed to do and how can you avoid ending up in a similar situation?
HOLIDAYS - 16.11.2016
Statutory holiday entitlement in their last year
Every employee is entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks’ paid annual leave each holiday year. But suppose an employee is leaving. How is the matter of holiday dealt with in their final year of employment?
DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS - 16.11.2016
A live final written warning (for something different)
Let’s suppose that an employee has been accused of misconduct. They are already subject to a live final written warning but it’s for something entirely different. Does that mean it cannot be taken into account?
BEHAVIOUR - 16.11.2016
Dealing with embarrassing party behaviour
During the Christmas party season many employees end up behaving in an embarrassing fashion. Quite often, this behaviour won’t warrant any disciplinary action but how should you tackle the situation?
DISMISSAL - 16.11.2016
Does no contact = a dismissal?
In the case of Sandle v Adecco 2016 the employer hadn’t heard from the employee for some time. Equally, it had made no attempt to contact her. The employee subsequently claimed unfair dismissal but lost. Why?
SICKNESS ABSENCE - 16.11.2016
Fit notes: it’s time for an overhaul!
The government has finally concluded that fit notes aren’t working effectively. Before it overhauls the current system it wants to know your views. So how can you have your say?
MATERNITY - 16.11.2016
What rights do breastfeeding employees have?
An employee who is returning from maternity leave says that you are legally required to provide an appropriate area where she can express milk. Is this correct and if not, what is she entitled to exactly?
STAFF HANDBOOKS - 16.11.2016
Your mother is on the phone - again!
One of your employees routinely receives personal calls on your business landline during the working day. The most frequent caller is their elderly mother who often stays on the phone for ages. How can you put a stop to this?
SEARCHING - INTERNET - 14.11.2016
An answer to all your questions?
For most people, Google is the starting point for all their Internet searches. Yet there are alternative websites which present information in the form of “Questions & Answers”. Are these services still relevant today?
SOFTWARE - MEDIA PLAYERS - 14.11.2016
Choose the best media player for all your platforms
As their name suggests, media players allow you to play audio and/or video files. There’s a wide variety of players available, so which ones are really worth installing in Windows, Mac, iOS or Android?
SOFTWARE - SERVERS - 14.11.2016
A free test environment for server applications
Many useful applications require a server installation, e.g. blogs, CRM, CMS, web forums or photo and video sharing. How can you create a server environment in which you can test such an application in advance, free of charge?
SECURITY - BACKUP - 14.11.2016
Manage the files in your Google Drive
Google Drive is one of those handy cloud services which lets you store files online free of charge. Here are some tips to manage your files in Google Drive even more efficiently.
E-MAIL AND CALENDAR - APPS - 14.11.2016
Innovative e-mail and calendar apps
Most apps to manage your e-mail and calendar stick to a classic design and therefore tend to look identical and a bit dull. Would you like something more innovative, offering a different way of working or a new design?
LEISURE - PHOTOGRAPHY - 14.11.2016
Retouching faces
There are lots of free web services which allow you to edit photos, such as FotoFlexer and LunaPic. But there are also dedicated tools to retouch portrait photos. We put some of them to the test.
CYBER SECURITY - 14.11.2016
Preparing cyber security defences
SMEs are some of the companies most at risk from cybercrime. We look at what the government is doing and how SMEs can stay safe.
SOFTWARE - WINDOWS - 14.11.2016
Make the most of the Windows 10 update
Some time ago the Windows 10 anniversary update was released and has been installed on most computers. The update presents a number of new features which make working with Windows easier.
PERSONAL WEBSITE - WEBSITE DESIGN - 14.11.2016
What’s on your website menu?
Your website visitors should be able to locate the information they need fast and intuitively. You can make this a lot easier for them by providing a clear menu structure. But how do you achieve this in practice?
BUSINESS - ONLINE COLLABORATION - 14.11.2016
Collaborate in your business via Facebook?
Early in 2015 Facebook at Work was heralded as a new professional communication platform. Now it has been launched officially under another name: Facebook Workplace. How useful is it?
SOFTWARE - WINDOWS - 14.11.2016
Do you know these built-in Microsoft tools?
The Windows operating system contains a lot of useful but well-hidden tools. Here are three which we believe can come in very handy at times: the Snipping Tool, Steps Recorder and Magnifier.
EMPLOYMENT STATUS - 10.11.2016
Ruling in key employment status case
An employment tribunal has ruled that Uber cab drivers do have workers’ rights. Could the decision have knock-on tax effects for your business?
PROPERTY - 10.11.2016
New cash basis rules for landlords
HMRC is working on a new tax system for property rental income and expenses. When will it apply, how might it affect your record keeping and will it save you any tax?
