Monthly Archives: March 2017

Want to win? Forget your product and focus on your people!

Too often, our preparations for the future centre on how disruption will influence our services. One-step-ahead technologies and systems are a powerful part of a future-ready toolkit, but failing to acknowledge the pivotal role of our workforce within this new future presents imminent danger, because it’s not just our products that are changing. The traditional
The post Want to win? Forget your product and focus on your people! appeared first on Small Business.

Read more...

Budget 2017: NI increase for self-employed scrapped by government

Plans to increase National Insurance levels for self-employed people – announced in the Budget last week – have been dropped. Chancellor Philip Hammond has said the government will not proceed with the increases which were criticised for breaking a 2015 manifesto pledge. The plans set out in the Spring Budget were to lower national insurance contributions
The post Budget 2017: NI increase for self-employed scrapped by government appeared first on Small Business.

Read more...

Top tips for avoiding pregnancy discrimination claims

At the end of 2016, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Equality and Human Rights Commission released the results of their research into pregnancy discrimination. They found that one in nine mothers report that they were either dismissed from their jobs, made redundant or made to feel as if they had to
The post Top tips for avoiding pregnancy discrimination claims appeared first on Small Business.

Read more...

What employers need to know about zero hours contracts

The number of people on zero-hours contracts in their main job increased by 101,000 to 905,000 in the last quarter of 2016, compared with the previous year. According to the Officer for National Statistics (ONS), those on zero hours contracts are more likely to be young, women, and those in full or part-time education. The
The post What employers need to know about zero hours contracts appeared first on Small Business.

Read more...

Unemployment hits 41-year low but pay recovery coming to an end

Unemployment has fallen to its lowest level in over 40 years but pay growth is also slowing rapidly – and is already negative in parts of the economy ­– the Resolution Foundation says in response to the latest ONS labour market figures. Employment remained at a record 74.6 per cent, while unemployment fell to 4.7
The post Unemployment hits 41-year low but pay recovery coming to an end appeared first on Small Business.

Read more...

Making the signature witness process easier for small businesses

On a personal level we’ve all had that awkward situation where we are applying to renew our passport and realise at the end of the process that we have to find someone to witness our signature. Thankfully as consumers we do not face this situation all the time, but when you run your own business
The post Making the signature witness process easier for small businesses appeared first on Small Business.

Read more...