Category : Author / Iain Mackintosh

A recent study by HR Magazine has found that UK employees have some of the lowest levels of engagement with their work in the world. But, with business cultures differing from country to country, are there any lessons from abroad that we can learn to make our companies more efficient and profitable?
With that that thought in mind, and using Sweden, Denmark, Japan and Germany as examples, we’ve decided to take a look.

Sweden

In many ways, Sweden is well ahead of the curve in relation to many socio-economic issues. Unemployment is low, as is the national debt and inflation, and labour productivity levels are well above the global average. In addition to this, the Swedish public enjoy excellent standards of living.
So what is the Swedish business culture like that has helped guide our Scandinavian cousins to such success?

Flexible working hours

Sweden is a country obsessed with creating a good work-life balance. In fact, The Independent recently reported, in a bid to improve happiness and productivity, Sweden is currently moving towards a six-hour working day.

Indeed, many of the country’s most successful businesses have already successfully implemented this change – including the Toyota centre in Gothenburg, which made the switch 13 years ago. Since then, the company have improved staff morale, reduced their employee turnover rate and increased profits.

Free perks and healthcare

In recent years, Swedish businesses have made giant strides in promoting health and wellbeing within their workforces. And, among the plentiful perks provided by many Swedish companies, free or subsidised healthcare schemes are high on the list.

For example, employees over 50-years-old are often provided with free medical examinations every couple of years. Plus, many companies provide their workforce with free fruit and subsidised daily meals to help encourage healthy eating.

What can we learn?

Want proof? Inspired by the Scandinavian model, a Liverpool-based marketing agency recently started trialling a six-hour work day and is already enjoying the benefits.
Companies that support health in the workplace typically have a greater percentage of their employees at work every day. For this reason, productivity levels are typically high within Swedish companies. Furthermore, after retirement, Swedish citizens enjoy one of the highest life expectancies in the world, so they must be doing something right.

Denmark

As with their Scandinavian neighbours in Sweden, corporate culture in Denmark focuses on cultivating a happy and motivated workforce. Arguably, though, the Danes place an even greater emphasis on the Law of Jante. For the uninitiated, the Law of Jante dictates that team success is more important than individual achievements. Consequently, the typical Danish corporate hierarchy reflects this principle.

Flat management structures

Many Danish businesses work in small teams without managers, thus creating a flat hierarchy. Without a manager to steer proceedings, teams have to find a way to work together effectively, with all members contributing equally to the cause.

Similarly, many Danish companies make a special point of celebrating their successes together. As everything is a team effort, no individual is worthy of more praise than another when it comes to celebrating company wins. As such, everyone gets recognised for their efforts – no matter how big or small.

What can we learn?

In British business culture, power relations and hierarchical organisations are common. For this reason, Brits tend to defer to seniority and lines of communication get passed down by rank.
However, as a rule, employees in Danish companies are encouraged to work independently. The benefit of such a structure is that all employees feel empowered by a sense of responsibility towards achieving the same goals. This, in turn, makes them feel more motivated, while celebrating successes as a team means everyone gets to feel valued.

All in all, then, a flat management structure can help to cultivate a workforce of empowered employees that feel valued and responsible for a company’s success.

Japan

Japan is an ancient culture with many unique traditions, customs and rituals that extend into the country’s business culture. Although such formalities might seem mysterious from a Westerner’s perspective, you’d be hard pressed to argue that they don’t work given the fact that Japan have developed into an economic powerhouse.

Daily motivational rituals

Many Japanese companies start the day with a morning assembly where workers meet to sing a company song or recite motivational slogans in unison. To the casual observer, this might seem strange. However, to the Japanese, these rituals act in the same manner as a daily pep talk, or other such motivational techniques.

Status equals power

In Japan, face-to-face meetings are a crucial part of building working relationships with clients and colleagues. When meeting in person, it is customary that the highest ranking attendee sits at the head of the table and is addressed first when discussions commence. This behaviour is representative of Japanese culture, which values the wisdom of its elders. From a business perspective, it’s an illustration that respect is earned as a virtue of experience.

What can we learn?

Daily motivational rituals are a great technique for ensuring the long-term goals of a company remain fresh in employees’ minds. Although you might not want to go to the lengths of the Japanese, motivational talks and slogans can help boost staff morale, when used appropriately.

Older generations seem to never tire of telling younger people that they lack respect for older generations. Although this is a sweeping generalisation, in relation to how you conduct yourself in the workplace, there is a lesson to be gleaned.

In most cases, people are promoted within companies because they have displayed high levels of skill and aptitude. Therefore, if you disagree with a manager, it’s probably best to remember they are where they are on merit, and to air any grievances in private.

Germany

It’s perhaps too easy and not always accurate to summarise German business culture into a list of stereotypes. Nonetheless, it is impossible to ignore the fact that Germany is Europe’s industrial powerhouse, the world’s second largest importer and the only country rich enough to save the eurozone from recession. So, those traditional stereotypes must carry some weight, right?

Structure is function

Many German companies choose to enforce strict rules, regulations and processes to ensure all tasks get completed correctly and on time. In some companies, non-compliance to enforced regulations carry penalties, which vary based on the severity of the offence. Although this method for conducting business offers little flexibility, the Germans believe that the benefits of a high degree of consistency far outweigh the negatives.

Plugging the skills gap at source

The Germans treat education very differently to most other major European countries. In upper secondary schools, for example, many students take vocational courses and enter into apprenticeships. For this reason, a far greater proportion of Germans leave the education system 100% job-ready.

For jobs that require a higher form of qualification, in the majority of cases, state-run universities complete the education of potential employees on behalf of German companies. Nonetheless, in Germany, there is no stigma attached to vocational qualifications. Therefore, if you are talented enough, there is no reason that you can’t rise to the top of a German company, even if you don’t have a degree.

What can we learn?

Although the typical British workplace is also governed by rules and regulations, as a rule, they tend to be far less implicit than in Germany. For instance, verbal agreements, unwritten rules and ‘gentleman’s agreements’ still play a vital role in the organisational structure of many UK-based businesses. In theory, therefore, lifting more liberally from the German template should allow more British businesses to attain a higher level of consistency and reliability.

In regards to qualifications, in the UK, intense competition for jobs means that three-quarters of employers require a 2:1 degree. Historically, this has meant anyone without a good degree grade – or a degree at all – has struggled to climb up the corporate ladder in Britain.

Hypothetically, this has curtailed the progress of many talented individuals and stopped them from reaching their full potential. However, this year, several British companies such as Penguin and the graduate recruiters Ernst & Young, have removed degree classification from their job requirements. As a result, more talented but underqualified people will have a better chance of winning top jobs in British companies, just like in Germany.

At Simply-Docs, we provide a wide selection of ready to use business documents and contracts. For more information about how we can help reduce the amount of professional legal input your business needs, contact one of our expert team today.

Many people dream of opening up their own restaurants, but very few are brave enough to take the plunge. That’s not surprising – any restauranteur will tell you that starting a restaurant isn’t easy. And, while the oft-quoted statistic that 90% of restaurants fail in their first year is not actually true, it is a fact that opening a restaurant is not a business venture for anyone looking to get rich quick.

Still, new restaurants are opening in the UK every day. With the right business idea, a bit of expertise, some start-up funding and a lot of hard work, there’s no reason you can’t make your own restaurant succeed.

To help get you started, here are our top 10 tips to starting a restaurant.

• 1.     Be realistic

Ah, to be a restaurateur. Long lunches over a bottle of wine. Friendly regulars who are always smiling. Escaping the nine-to-five grind. What’s not to love?

If you think running a restaurant is going to be anything like that, think again. That’s the fantasy; the reality is very different. If you already work in the restaurant industry, you’ll know this. If you don’t, go get some experience. If you don’t fancy quitting your day job to wait tables and wash dishes, then the realities of running a restaurant probably aren’t for you.

• 2.     Decide what type of restaurant you want

Ethnic eatery or traditional British fare? Family friendly or more for the millennials? Fine dining or fast food? Before you do anything, you need to have a clear idea of your restaurant concept.

By far the most important thing about your restaurant concept is that it’s something you’re passionate about and can honestly imagine devoting yourself to, day in and day out, for years to come. Be honest with yourself and what your skills and interests are, and don’t try to jump on any food trend bandwagons just because they’re popular at the moment.

• 3.     Do your research

Once you’ve got a restaurant concept in mind, it’s time to research its viability. Where should your restaurant be located? Is there a market for your concept there? What is the competition like? And how much do business rentals in the area cost?

You might have to adjust your initial concept at this stage – in fact, you almost certainly will. Just ensure that you don’t end up wandering too far from your original idea without realising, in the spirit of making compromises. It’s surprisingly easy to do.

• 4.     Learn about the rules and regulations

If you’re not one for paperwork, forget about starting and running your own restaurant. Before starting a restaurant, there are a number of regulatory hoops that have to be jumped through – from registering your business with the local authority to ensuring your staff have the right food hygiene certificates.

Fortunately, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have a number of useful resources to help get you started, including a guide to starting a food business and a Safer Food, Better Business for Caterers information pack.

• 5.     Write a business plan

A comprehensive business plan is essential to ensuring that you stay on budget and on track. It should include market research and financial information, and provide anyone reading it with an in-depth understanding of your business idea, not to mention the initial start-up costs and long-term financial forecasts involved.

If, at the end of compiling your business plan, you realise your start-up costs are sky high, go back and refine it further until it seems more manageable. A sound financial plan is essential to the next step.

• 6.     Secure start-up capital

Whether you’re launching a Michelin restaurant or a hot dog stand, a restaurant is always going to require significant start-up capital – enough to cover initial costs and at least six months of running costs.

Ideally, you’ll be able to cover these initial costs using your own savings, or with the help of loans from friends or family, but if this isn’t an option then you’re going to need a business partner or bank loan. Whatever the case, this is where having an airtight business plan is of paramount importance – no one is going to invest in someone whose numbers don’t add up.

• 7.     Hire the right people

A restaurant owner can’t do everything at once, so bring a great team on board who are just as passionate and excited about this project as you are.

In particular, take your time when it comes to finding the right chef. Your restaurant is only as good as the food it serves, and if your chef can’t deliver, no amount of marketing or quality service can compensate for that.

• 8.     Get the restaurant ready to launch

Once you’ve signed a lease on a property, it can be tempting to rush preparations and open your doors to the paying public at once. But you only get one chance to make a first impression – so hold fire, and make sure you get it right.

If your restaurant needs any renovations or alterations, get them done now. Use this time to make sure that everything’s up to code. And decorate the interior and exterior to ensure that they accurately reflect your restaurant concept and create an inviting ambience.

• 9.     Make a menu

Work together with your head chef to create the perfect menu. Try to keep it short and sweet – it’ll keep your kitchen running smoothly and food waste to a minimum, and customers generally find long menus overwhelming anyway.

It is advisable to provide at least some options for customers with dietary requirements, or at the very least to clearly mark which dishes can be adapted to accommodate special diets if required.

• 10.  Get ready for hard work

Once the restaurant is open, say goodbye to weekends and holidays for the foreseeable future. The hard work doesn’t end here; in fact, it’s only just begun. As the owner, it’ll be your job to keep the hundreds of plates required to keep your restaurant running spinning – from marketing and hiring staff to tapering menus and filing taxes.

But, if you love the restaurant business, it’ll all be worth it.

How can Simply-Docs help?

Starting a business is difficult enough, so why waste time and money drafting complicated documents or paying a solicitor to do it for you? At Simply-Docs, we provide a wide range of fully customisable, ready-to-use documents that are ideal for entrepreneurs.

Restaurateurs may be particularly interested in our employment documents, which include all the policies, forms, letter templates and employment contracts necessary to recruit, manage and dismiss employees. We also offer a variety of health and safety documents, plus food and hygiene documents which include all the H&S documents and templates a restauranteur will need when starting a business,

For more information about our services, contact our friendly team today.

Starting a new business is an exciting time, where everything and anything can seem possible. Yet, while it’s important to dream, if you don’t forge a concrete plan for success then failure is almost inevitable.So, if you’re a budding internet entrepreneur, here are 10 essential tips that will help you start your own online business.

• 1.     Identify your market

If you’re considering creating a new business, it’s important to remember that a good idea is worth nothing. Good ideas are ten a penny, and from an entrepreneur’s perspective, the most important thing is to ensure that a good idea can turn into a profitable business.

When starting out, many businesspeople make the mistake of concentrating on an idea or product, rather than a market. However, it’s the viability of a market – or, more accurately, the likelihood of demand for what you’re selling – that will determine success.

For this reason, before pressing ahead, you will need to do research. Survey your audience and look at competitors to determine if the product or service you want to offer is viable for a particular market. When researching online audiences specifically, you can also do keyword research that will allow you to determine the types of problems that people are searching for a solution to online.

• 2.     Don’t quit your day job straight away

The ultimate dream for anyone starting a new online business is to make enough money to quit their day job. Unfortunately, unless you’re either really good or really lucky, this isn’t going to happen straight away.

Budding online entrepreneurs who quit work before their new businesses really get going are often forced to take money out of that business to support themselves. However, in the initial start-up phase, where a cash cushion can make the difference between success and failure, the extra income provided by your day job could become crucial.

So, unless you have enough money in the bank to support the life to which you’ve become accustomed, it might not be the best idea to quit your day job straight away.

• 3.     Website builder tools provide the cheapest option

Once you’ve zoned in on your market and product/service, the next important step is to build a website that does everything you need it to.

Luckily, there are a wide range of creation tools such as WordPress, SquareSpace or Weebly that make the process relatively cheap and easy. As an added bonus, most website creation tools also offer hosting services, which provide crucial storage space and internet connectivity capabilities for people visiting your website.

For more information about the options available, check out the post: ‘Choosing the Right Website Builder for Your Needs’.

• 4.     Keep things simple when designing your site

When it comes to creating a website, there’s a whole gamut of design options available. However, because you only have a handful of seconds to grab and then retain a prospective customer’s attention, usability and functionality are key to e-commerce website design.

Consequently, nothing should take more than a few clicks to buy, any and all fonts need to be easy to read, and site-wide navigation must be as clear as possible. Additionally, while graphics and fancy images might catch the eye, these should only be considered if they don’t distract customers from your site’s core sales message.

• 5.     Craft copy that sells

While building and designing your website, it’s important not to forget about the power of words. After all, it’s your website’s copy that will ultimately help guide potential customers through the buying process and convince them into becoming paying customers.

If you don’t have the utmost confidence in your writing abilities, you can check out ‘David Ogilvy’s 7 Tips for Writing Copy That Sells’ for inspiration. Alternatively, hiring a professional copywriter to create sales copy for you can provide a significant return on investment (ROI).

• 6.     Pick the right domain name

It can be tempting to try to be clever when picking your company name and, by extension, your website’s domain name. Nevertheless, in a similar vein to designing your website, it’s best to keep things simple.

Keep your domain name short and easy to type, and include keywords that describe your business and the product or service that it offers. Try and be memorable – without being confusing – and only use appropriate domain extensions such as .com or .co.uk. Avoid using numbers and hyphens where possible.

Once you’ve picked the perfect domain name, it’s advisable to protect your brand by purchasing all the various domain extensions and misspelled versions. If your business becomes a success, this will help prevent potential competitors from piggybacking off your triumphs.

Furthermore, we would also suggest protecting your brand by registering it as a trademark. For more information about trademark registration and fees, go to the Intellectual Property Office website.

• 7.     Don’t forget search engine optimisation (SEO)

For the uninitiated, SEO involves implementing techniques that boost your search engine rankings while increasing the number of visitors to your website. Although SEO is a multi-faceted discipline that requires a fair amount of technical skill, there are several easily comprehensible tricks you can keep in mind.

Firstly, is the content on your website relevant to your business and does it help provide answers for the things users are searching for? Secondly, in terms of performance, is your website fast loading and is it mobile-friendly? And thirdly, does your website provide a good user experience by being easy to navigate, trustworthy and safe?

Making sure you can answer yes to all these questions will help to ensure your website is optimised for search engines and potential customers.

• 8.     Embrace digital promotion channels

The key to marketing your business online is making sure that your products and services are showcased where potential customers are looking.

For instance, both Facebook and Twitter are excellent platforms for engaging with and attracting new customers, so setting up business profiles on both is an absolute must. Likewise, creating and maintaining a blog on your website is the easiest way to establish a ‘voice’ for your brand and is therefore an integral part of almost every online business.

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising should also be a consideration, as it is one of the quickest and easiest ways to get traffic to a new website. If you’re unfamiliar with the intricacies of PPC, you can read a great overview on the subject here. But, in short, PPC is a form of internet marketing provided by search engines like Google that allows businesses to create ads related to keywords that people are searching for. Consequently, PPC ads are a great way to get your business in front of a highly targeted audience.

• 9.     Don’t hide behind a screen

Customer service is just as important for online business as it is for brick-and-mortar stores – if not more so. Therefore, you need to make sure that the standard customer service channels people expect are clear and present within the design of your website.

This includes social media channels, an ‘About Us’ page and contact details. More important, however, is regularly checking your business’ emails. This is because not replying to customer complaints in a prompt fashion has the potential to significantly damage your brand.

• 10.  Continually evaluate your successes and failures

Many business niches, particularly in the online environment, are subject to rapid change. For this reason, the key to maintaining success over a longer period is constant evaluation. If you are assessing what does and what doesn’t work for your business on a consistent basis, you’ll know what to do more of and what to do less of.

Likewise, looking for new ideas and fresh concepts to implement always has the potential to provide long-term benefits. For instance, once your business is off the ground, is there scope to introduce back-end sales and upselling? Email marketing campaigns? Value-adding videos and guides? In short, you should never stop looking for ways to improve.

How can Simply-Docs help?

We provide a wide selection of ready-to-use internet and e-commerce document templates as well as website terms and conditions and privacy policies that can help reduce the amount of professional input your new online business will need.

We have invested a lot of time and effort into making sure all our documents are customisable and easy to edit. You can create terms and conditions for your website, goods and services terms and any other business legal document you might need quickly and easily.

For more information about our services, please do not hesitate to contact one of our expert team today.

Zero hour contracts continue to be the subject of media attention and this January sees a further move in the direction of strengthening the rights of workers on zero hour contracts.

As you will know from earlier blogs, exclusivity clauses in zero hour contracts were banned in 2015.

New regulations apply from 11 January 2016, giving employees the right to make an employment tribunal claim where they have been dismissed or subject to detriment by an employer following breach of an exclusivity clause in a zero hour contract.

Did you know that around 70% of all new businesses start off in the home? And, after a record number of UK start-ups in 2015, more home-based entrepreneurs than ever are set to take advantage of reduced overheads, non-existent commutes and increased flexibility to get their new business ventures off the ground.While working from home boasts an array of benefits, it’s certainly not always the bed of roses it may appear. For instance, staying motivated to work when surrounded by an array of domestic distractions can take superhuman levels of will power and organisation.

So, if you have recently created a kitchen table start-up – or are considering doing so soon – here are some top tips that will help keep you and your new business’s bottom line pulling in the same direction.

Boost your tech skills

As a work from home entrepreneur, it is unlikely you’ll have access to an IT department that can offer tech support the moment you need it. Yet, with just about every niche becoming increasingly tech-driven, acquiring some basic IT skills could be key to keeping your business running when you encounter a technical glitch.

Networking and conversing with clients and customers electronically is crucial when working from home. For this reason, getting active on LinkedIn groups that relate to your business and developing proficient video conferencing skills are an absolute must. Both will help you minimise the distance barrier between you and the people that matter.

Cloud storage services such as Dropbox and Google Drive are also great tools for entrepreneurs to be literate in. Exploiting cloud storage options provides a quick and easy way to share important information with others. And, for those times when you do actually need to leave the house, saving your files in the cloud provides vital access to work via connected devices from anywhere in the world.

Create an office-like environment at home

For most of us, our home is a haven for rest and relaxation; somewhere to shield us from the stress and strain of the outside world. As a work from home entrepreneur, it is therefore important to create a space that allows you to compartmentalise work from home life.

Consequently, creating an office-like environment at home is the only way to help protect you from a plethora of domestic distractions. If you can, it’s best to dedicate a whole room to your new home office – preferably one that is big enough to accommodate a desk, comfortable chair, storage cabinets, and any other office furniture you might need to create an atmosphere conducive to work.

It’s also worth noting that at least some of the money you invest in creating a home office and some expenses you incur in running it are tax deductible. However, you should always take the utmost care when calculating home office expenses, preferably with the assistance of a professional accountant.

Create and follow a daily routine

For some work from home entrepreneurs, the appeal of being able to roll straight out of bed to start work can become all-consuming. However, in the long-term, working to an unstructured schedule in this manner can significantly compromise your productivity.

The only known solution to avoiding such temptations is to set yourself working hours, and stick to them. Having a plan that includes scheduled breaks should help. Alternatively, if you’re conditioned to working office-type hours, you might want to try scheduling your working day from home in a similar manner.

Whatever system you decide to use for managing your time, consistency is key. We’re all creatures of habit, and formulating a consistent routine is the fastest and easiest way to create a mindset conducive for work.

Get dressed for work

If you don’t create a mental separation between rest and play, it becomes a lot easier to get distracted. While you may be warm and comfortable working in your jogging bottoms or pyjamas, neither are appropriate attire when it comes to motivating yourself for a hard day’s work.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to wear a suit and tie all day, every day – particularly if you’re unlikely to interact with anyone else in a working capacity. Nonetheless, changing into smart/causal clothing can help you switch from a home to work-based mindset more easily, while also reducing your chances of slipping into relaxation mode.

Make sure you get your eight hours every night

In the UK, studies suggest that entrepreneurs work 63% longer than other workers. While it’s natural to want to put extra hours in to ensure your new business is a success, it remains important to find the right balance between work and rest.

Research indicates that the key entrepreneurial skills of planning, problem solving and lateral thinking are severely compromised when an individual is not sufficiently rested. Consequently, if you want to maintain the highest levels of productivity throughout the week, sleeping a little bit more and working just a little bit less may be the best course of action.

Eat healthy and make time to exercise

In addition to making sure you get enough sleep, eating healthily and keeping physically fit are very important for entrepreneurs who want to maximise their potential. And the good news is, as a work from home entrepreneur, you’ll enjoy more flexibility to make time to eat well and exercise.

So instead of letting convenience rule your breakfast choices, take the time saved by skipping the daily commute to prepare brain-boosting foods, such as eggs and fruit, in the mornings. Similarly, you can use the time saved by living so close to your office to make sure you get the requisite number of hours exercise recommended for adults each week.

Remember: over time, good diet and exercise are guaranteed to help tune your mind and body for success.

Technology is more reliable than will power

Procrastination is the mortal enemy of productivity and something that can strike anyone, at any time. If you spend all day at a computer, the internet, with its vast collection of time-sinking websites, can become a major distraction.

If you know you’re attracted to your favourite websites like a moth to the light, there are add-ons for all the major browsers that you can use to prevent yourself from giving in to temptation. StayFocused, for Chrome, allows you to limit time spent on particular websites, while SelfControl and LeechBlock offer similar equivalents for Safari and Firefox respectively.

Get the proper business paperwork

If you’re running a small business from home, you still need to comply with all usual legal requirements applicable to a small business, and this will include completing and submitting certain forms and other documents. You will also still need to enter into the usual business supply/purchase and other contracts to protect your legal position. When you’re trying to get a business off the ground, this can represent an unwelcome and expensive distraction.

At Simply-Docs, we provide an extensive portfolio of ready to use document and contract templates. Although professional legal advice should still be taken as appropriate, in many cases, using our template documents will allow you to substantially reduce the amount of professional legal input your business needs. As a result, becoming a subscriber to our services can offer substantial savings on legal fees, while also allowing you more time to concentrate on making your new business a success.

Have you got any tips for helping home-based entrepreneurs stay more productive? Then join the conversation in the comments section below.

Following the introduction of Shared Parental Leave (SPL) in April 2015, the Government has announced proposals to extend SPL and pay to working grandparents. The proposal stems from the Government’s over-arching aim to increase flexibility and choice in parental leave arrangements and support working parents with the provision of affordable childcare during the first year of their child’s life. In making the proposal to extend SPL, the Government has said that it recognises the crucial role that working grandparents can play in providing childcare and support to their own working children.

SPL was introduced as a means of enabling working mothers to end their maternity leave early in order to share leave and pay with their partner. SPL is currently available only to mothers, fathers, partners and adoptive parents but, by being able to share the SPL with the child’s grandparents, it will provide another option for parents to return to work more quickly. As a helpful by-product, it should also encourage more grandparents to remain in employment, rather than leaving their jobs to help with childcare.

What does this mean for the employer?

Although the extension of SPL has been seen as good news for many working parents, it may be more problematic for employers. With an ageing workforce, the number of working grandparents who may benefit from the proposed extension will be significant: research from the Trade Union Congress indicates that some 7 million grandparents are involved in providing regular childcare to their grandchildren and so allowing their own children to return to work.

If the proposals are implemented, the provisions are likely to be in line with the current statutory SPL scheme and so the entitlement to take SPL will be shared with the child’s eligible grandparents: the grandparents may be able, potentially, to share up to 50 weeks’ SPL. Additionally, eligible grandparents may be able to share up to 37 weeks’ statutory shared parental pay (statutory shared parental pay is currently set at £139.58 a week or 90% of weekly earnings, whichever is the lower). If employers have enhanced provisions for shared parental pay, as they do with, say, maternity pay, they will need to take the same approach with this new entitlement to shared parental pay. This would, of course, add further costs for the employer.

Timescale for new SPL proposal.

As things stand at present, it is intended that the proposal to extend SPL and pay to grandparents will:

• be consulted on during the first half of 2016;
• be brought into effect by 2018; and
• affect working grandparents only.

Employees already have the right to take unpaid emergency leave to care for dependants and to request flexible working provided that they have the required length of service. What do you think the impact of the proposed extension of SPL to grandparents will be for your business?

Gift Aid

HMRC has recently introduced new model wording to be used in Gift Aid Declaration forms from September 2015 onwards. This replaces the previous model wording which may no longer be used after 5 April 2016. The three model forms cover (i) one-off donations; (ii) multiple donations; and (iii) sponsored events. The forms are for use by donors and sponsors of charities or CASCs. Although the content of the forms has changed, the new forms are to be used for the same purposes and in the same way as before. HMRC recommends that the new model wording is used but charities and CASCs may adapt the forms and/or add to the wording, e.g. by adding the logo of, or messages from, the charity/CASC and other details.

What has changed?

The new forms are simpler than the previous versions, and in particular they no longer contain unnecessary references to VAT and Council Tax.

The forms are now worded in a way that demonstrates more clearly the value to the charity or CASC concerned of a Gift Aid claim.

They now also include wording making clear that donors have the responsibility to ensure that they have paid sufficient total tax in the year to cover all their Gift Aid donations, and that they have to pay any shortfall of tax where they have not paid sufficient tax in the year. That responsibility is not a new one, but it was not spelt out in the previous model forms.

Impact and unfairness of claiming back tax from donors

If someone has donated £100 to a charity or CASC under Gift Aid but HMRC finds that they were ineligible to do so under Gift Aid (i.e. they did not pay enough tax to cover the donation), HMRC can claim £25 from him (i.e. the amount of tax which the charity has claimed on that amount), so that the donation will have cost him £125 in total. This is not what he would have expected or intended. The charity will then keep the £100 from the donor and the additional £25 it claimed back from HMRC. If instead the charity had been required to pay back that £25 to HMRC, the donor’s only cost would have been his £100 donation, and the charity would have been no worse off than if the donation of £100 had in the first place not been made under Gift Aid.

This approach by HMRC might be regarded as unfair treatment of donors – many of whom will have donated through Gift Aid when they were taxpayers and then mistakenly made further donations through Gift Aid after they ceased to be taxpayers. Apart from the issue of fairness, if HMRC pursues donors in this way, the effect might be to dissuade some people from making donations who would otherwise have done so, and charities and CASCs would then suffer. Indeed, research carried out for HMRC in 2014 found that serious deterrent messages put off eligible donors.

What will be the effect of these changes?

The Charity Tax Group (“CTG”), which represents the charity sector, had both positive and negative points to make about these changes. The CTG stressed that more needs to be done to promote awareness of the changes and that charities need to ensure that they comply with the requirement to adopt the new model forms. The CTG commented that these new shorter forms are easier for donors to understand and that charities welcomed the new forms – since they are shorter and simpler, they are expected to maximize take up by those donors eligible to use Gift Aid. On the down side, the CTG felt that the new forms’ increased focus on the personal tax status of the donor could have a “chilling effect” on some donors and sponsors.

The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (“LITRG”), a group independent of HMRC which represents low income donors, was more critical of the new wording. The LITRG called on HMRC not to pursue non-tax paying people for any tax due on donations they make to a charity under Gift Aid, their reason being that it would be fairer for any reimbursement to come instead from the charity. The LITRG’s view was that when a person of limited means makes a donation, the last thing the LITRG wanted was for HMRC to pursue him for tax on the donation. The LITRG highlighted the fact that this creates a moral dilemma for charities and CASCs: although legally entitled to keep the Gift Aid tax amounts reclaimed from HMRC, should charities and CASCs reimburse it rather than letting the donors bear the cost of it? If a charity or CASC does not reimburse it, a donor might cancel the donation itself, seeing it as too risky to donate.

What should charities and CASCs do now?

Since HMRC will not accept the old forms after 5 April 2016, it is important that well before that date all charities and CASCs plan the updating of their Gift Aid Declaration forms, their online and printed statements, fundraising scripts and letters for oral declarations, and use up their existing stocks of printed forms and related material. Existing enduring declarations (i.e. declarations covering all future donations, typically used where the donor makes regular gifts to the charity or CASC) do not have to be renewed, and so there is no need to contact donors to update those forms.

As of 8 September 2015, employers in England and Wales are able to refer employees to the new Fit for Work occupational health assessment referral service. This is a new Government service that offers a free voluntary occupational health assessment for employees who are off work through illness or injury for at least four weeks.In particular, the service is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses with little or no occupational health support. However, it is also intended to complement existing occupational health provision for larger employers.

Given that 31% of workers are employed by organisations with no occupational health support (YouGov) and around 815,000 working people each year have sickness absence of four weeks or more, the Fit for Work initiative looks to be a useful one.

However, according to the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals, only one in four organisations expect to use the service. So, why the reluctance?

Probably for two main reasons: firstly, the service is voluntary and employees can simply refuse to be referred; and, secondly, referrals cannot be made until the sickness absence has lasted for four weeks – a long period of absence for any small or medium-sized undertaking to handle.

Still, given that employers and employees alike have expressed a desire for more support in encouraging employees back to work after prolonged sickness absence, this service – described as ‘free, expert and impartial’ – has to be a step in the right direction in controlling long term sickness absence.

To learn more about changes to the government’s Fit to Work scheme, you can read our newsletter that covers the subject in more detail.

Last week, a European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision found that, for workers with no usual place of work, time spent travelling to appointments from home should form part of a worker’s working day. The ruling came about because of an ongoing legal case in Spain involving a company called Tyco, which installs security systems.At present, working time is defined in The Working Time Regulations as:

• Any period during which the worker is working at his or her employer’s disposal and carrying out his or her activity or duties;
• Any period during which he or she is receiving relevant training; and
• Any additional period designated as working time under a relevant agreement.

Working time includes travelling where it is an integral part of the job, e.g. a travelling sales executive or a care worker. This includes travel during normal working hours and travel between sites or clients, since the travelling is an essential part of the work.

The Working Time Directive

The Working Time Directive sets down regulations on matters such as how long employees work, how many breaks they have, and how much holiday they are entitled to. One of its main goals is to ensure that no employee in the EU is obliged to work more than an average of 48 hours a week.

In its ruling, the ECJ said time spent travelling to and from their first and last appointments should be regarded as working time under the European Working Time Directive. The judgment explained that excluding those journeys from working time would be contrary to the objective of protecting the safety and health of workers upheld by EU law.

A groundbreaking decision

This is an important decision for employers with mobile workers, i.e. those without a fixed place of work. Such employers will need to consider how they calculate working time – for example, in relation to the maximum weekly working hours, which could mean that employers will have to ask staff to opt out of the Working Time Directive’s 48-hour working week.

If employers don’t do this, employees could quickly exceed the number of working hours that they are legally allowed to work and employers could find that they are operating illegally and at risk of facing costly claims against them.

Although this case was not concerned with remuneration, there still may be wage implications for employers. For instance, employees may argue that time spent travelling to and from their home for customer visits should count for the calculation of the national minimum wage.

Employers may, therefore, wish to give thought to scheduling the first and last customer visits of the day close to a worker’s home.

This blog looks at what the new Act is, its implementation into law, key changes and what you should be doing now to prepare for some of the more significant changes due to take place.

What is the new Act?

The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 received Royal Assent in the last days of the previous parliament. The Act contains a number of measures which together represent significant change for companies and Companies House customers. The Act is being phased in over a nine month period, with the most significant (and controversial) changes due to come into force in 2016.

The government’s stated aim is that the Act should reduce red tape for SME businesses whilst increasing the quality of information on the public register. It also aims to enhance transparency and ensure the UK is seen as a trusted and fair place to do business.

When is it being implemented?

Certain parts of the Act are already in force and the rest will come into effect over the next nine months, with the bulk of the implementation being in 2016. There are, however, certain important changes in relation to the way directors consent to their appointment (as company directors) that are due to come into force on 10 October 2015.

For our updated template material in relation to this new consent procedure, click click here.

What are the key changes?

One of the major changes is that there is to be a register of ‘persons with significant control’ over companies. Private companies must maintain a register of people who hold – directly or indirectly – more than 25 per cent of the shares in a company from April 2016. This information must also be filed with Companies House as of June 2016.

However, for some companies, this register will prove a big and troublesome exercise, and could be said to fly in the face of the government’s red tape challenge and objective of saving time and money for companies.

Another important change is that the requirement to submit an annual return to Companies House will be abolished. Instead, companies will be required to confirm once a year in a ‘confirmation statement’ that the filing of statutory information is up to date and notify of any changes.

Yet there is concern that some companies will confirm everything is up to date without checking to see whether this is actually the case, and over time the quality of the Companies House register may deteriorate. Furthermore, the register may also become progressively harder to use, as the current ‘snapshot’ approach of the annual return is lost.

What should I be doing now?

Simply-Docs has produced a range of documents to cover the parts of the Act that have been implemented already. In addition, we have produced this information page, which includes headline points that SME businesses need to be aware of and their implementation dates.

We will add to our range of documents in due course. as and when other implementation dates approach. However there are some practical steps that companies can take to prepare themselves, particularly in preparation for the new register of ‘persons with significant control’.

This includes finding out who has significant control of the company now, before contacting these people to confirm their shareholding and explain the types of information that they will need to provide to the company going forward. Doing this now will make the whole process of meeting your company’s statutory obligations much easier in 2016.