Hot Topics
Company Vans - Changes from April 2007
Do you have company vans?
Do you know about the changes effective from April 2007?
Current situation:
If an employer provides a van for an employee and this is also available for private use, other than just commuting to and from the workplace, as from 6th April 2005, employees have needed pay tax on this benefit.
However, as from 6th April 2007, employees will also have to pay tax if you provide them with fuel for private use of the van.
The HM Revenue & Customs rules for the charges are:
|
Type
|
years to 2006/07
|
years from 2007/08
|
|
van less than 4 years old at the end of the tax year
|
£500
|
£3,000
|
|
all other vans
|
£350
|
£3,000
|
If this affects you or if you have any queries in relation to company vehicles, please contact Lisa Davies on 01494 478 801 or email lisa@hradvantage.co.uk
Holiday Entitlement on the Increase
The Government looks set to press ahead with plans to increase minimum holiday entitlements from four weeks to 5.6 weeks by October 2008. The change, notified in January, is proposed to be introduced in two phases; from 4 weeks to 4.8 weeks on 1st October 2007 and from 4.8 weeks to 5.6 weeks on 1st October 2008. There would then be a maximum statutory entitlement of 28 days, instead of 20 days as at present. Other details in the proposals are:
- There would be no qualifying period for the additional holiday entitlement
- Partial days' holiday would not be rounded up to the nearest full day.
- Additional holiday may be carried over to the following leave year, subject to the agreement of both employer and member of staff.
- There would not be an ability to provide payment in lieu of any of the statutory holiday entitlement, except on termination of employment.
- The additional holiday would not be excluded from the calculation of average weekly working hours under the Working Time Regulations.
Consultation on this proposal is due to finish in mid April and we will provide an update when the Government's exact intentions are known. In the meantime, if you require more information, contact Campbell on 01494 478806 or campbell@hradvantage.co.uk.
Can a dismissal be fair if other employees have not been dismissed for the same offence in the past?
Employers know that they have to behave consistently as well as fairly. But does behaving consistently always lead to a finding of unfair dismissal? In a recent case, where a solicitor was dismissed for missing an important deadline it became clear that other solicitors had not been dismissed for making the same error in the past. The employment tribunal said this was unfair, even though it agreed that the decision to dismiss was reasonable, the procedure had been followed and that the dismissal decision fell within the band of reasonable responses.
However, the employer appealed and the Employment Appeal Tribunal reversed the original decision. It said that questions of disparity with earlier treatment must not be allowed to supplant the statutory test under the Employment Rights Act 1996, section 98(4). As the decision was reasonable in the circumstances and the right procedures had been followed the dismissal was therefore fair and the tribunal had 'lost sight of the true question posed by the statute'.
The key point for employers - you are on much stronger grounds if any disciplinary action you are taking is consistent with what you have done in the past but if dismissal is reasonable and you have taken different decisions in the past, you may not be acting unfairly if you take a different view in the future.
HR Advantage High Wycombe expansion
It is an exciting time at the HR Advantage High Wycombe office as we add the top floor at 9 Lancaster Court to our current ground floor space during February. The additional space will give us new meeting/ training rooms, better on site facilities for our clients and an expanded working area for our consulting and admin team. More news and a picture in March!
February/March 2007
