Brae branches out!
Brae ‘branches out’
We are pleased to announce a new Glasgow location for Brae Scotland. While we currently work with companies in the West, we are looking to strengthen our presence in the area and have secured a new office at Merchantile Chambers in the city centre.
Our Glasgow location will allow us to develop additional business in the area to compliment our existing Client base. Recent contract wins for Brae suggest significant growth within manufacturing and engineering and making our fixed fee business model more readily available to businesses in the West is a natural step for us.
We welcome any enquiries on 0141 447 0151 and would be delighted to arrange an appointment at our new location:
Merchantile Chambers (2nd Floor)
53 Bothwell Street
Glasgow
G2 6TS
Reed vs HMRC – A wake up call for ‘temp’ agencies…?
Brae has been watching with interest the developments in the recent case of Reed vs HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). A 92 page judgement was released on 6th January 2012 covering all operational aspects of a travel scheme, the application of a dispensation and importantly disclosure of the scheme to HMRC.
Many recruitment agencies operate such a scheme, often via ‘umbrella’ payroll companies, which can offer a competitive edge in terms of pricing. Brae Scotland has never operated such a scheme; all our temporary workers are paid directly, on a traditional PAYE (Pay As You Earn) basis.
As consequence of the judgement, Reed now face a bill of £158m. A judicial review of the case is now likely to proceed. In terms of risk assessment, it may be a wise time for businesses to talk to their temporary labour providers and if a travel and subsistence scheme is operated, consider the following:
· Is the salary sacrifice legally effective?
· Is the dispensation appropriate to the operation of the scheme?
· Are audit procedures sufficiently robust surrounding the eligibility of tax free expenses?
This is a clear wake-up call for businesses who operate travel and subsistence schemes under salary sacrifice arrangements as HMRC is likely to announce a wide-scale review in an attempt to identify schemes which do not meet the requirements of employment law, the taxes acts and Social Security Regulations.
The full judgement can be found here: http://www.financeandtaxtribunals.gov.uk/judgmentfiles/j6100/TC01727.pdf
Need to recruit NOW for your business?
We have people available NOW for temporary assignments. YOU set the pay rate, but we have provided some examples below:
Production Operators (manufacturing/food production) Seeking £6.08 per hour (£8.36 per hour charge rate)
Assemblers and Fitters – Scotland East Seeking £8.00+ per hour (£11.01 per hour charge rate)
Welders (MIG, TIG, Stick) – central belt Seeking £8.00+ per hour (£11.01 per hour charge rate)
Machine Operators, Forklift Drivers – Scotland-wide Willing to work from £6.50 per hour (£8.94 charge rate)
Team Leaders, Quality Control, Production Supervisors Looking minimum £8.00 per hour (11.01 charge rate)
Administration, Finance (Accounts Payable, Credit Control, Payroll), Receptionists – for between £6.50 (£8.94 charge) and £9.00 (£12.38 charge) per hour
Project Management, IT Contractors, Senior Procurement – professional level temp/contract available for immediate assignment
Facilities Managers (Soft Services, M&E, HVAC) available for work throughout Scotland
Brae Scotland welcomes any enquiries relating to your staffing needs, whether they be for permanent or temporary staff. There is no such thing as a stupid question and our expert team offers honest advice and solutions for your business.
Permanent requirements?
We operate to a fixed fee basis from £250 plus vat! Contact us for more information.
You can speak to us now on 01592 862 309 or 0141 447 0151.
Why the Agency Workers Regulations are a bit of a joke…
The great gods of wisdom are sometimes on vacation when regulations are drawn up. The recent introduction of the AWR is a classic example of how a genuinely good idea can be twisted out of all recognition and end up being a bit of joke … well it would be a joke if it wasn’t so damn serious!
The whole point of the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) was to ensure that Temporary Staff would not be taken advantage of. Great, I agree with that.
However, it only applies to Temporary Staff who work for a Recruitment Business… Temps who work directly for companies are NOT covered by these regulations.
Do you see the problem here …
Not only are Recruitment Businesses being put at a disadvantage BUT the very people the regulations were aimed at (i.e. Temporary Staff) are not being covered, simply because they temp directly for a company).
Huge discrepancy here … HUGE hole in common sense …
I hear a review is imminent .. I certainly hope that ALL Temporary Workers are afforded the same rights otherwise we will end up with a two tier playing field for temps and businesses alike.
Is Swedish Derogation a ticking time bomb?
For months now companies and agencies have been working to comply with the new AWR (Agency Worker Regulations), for some the answer has been to introduce Swedish Derogation contracts for staff, which basically means that the temp is an employee of the agency, subcontracted to the employer on a minimum hours contract (mostly ranging from 0 to 4 hours).
The danger for companies and temporary staff is that this Swedish Derogation does not allow for pay parity or equal rights under the AWR and temporary staff can be “paid off” with 4 weeks pay. The minimum hours contracts remain untested and agencies may find a host of employment tribunal cases hitting their desks shortly after the 26th of December.
Employment tribunals will have to look at whether these “minimum hours” are justified or whether the 4 weeks “notice period” should be paid on an average hours over the previous 12 weeks.
My personal view is that many agencies may find the Swedish Derogation rules will come back to haunt them in the not so distant future and they will have to bear the brunt of additional costs themselves.
The rumour is that trade unions and legal experts are already looking into this – it could be the case that employers who knowingly accept Swedish Derogation temporary staff from agencies may have to contribute too … it is a very grey area.
Sadly some of the largest employers are knowingly accepting temporary staff under the Swedish Derogation rules, it seems the AWR may be seen as toothless monster at the moment, until of course the first tribunals take place.
Further information that is well worth a read can be found in the HR Magazine.
Is BT an embarrassment to itself?
As a business owner in the service industry I understand the need to provide customer service of the highest level. I appreciate that we are not perfect and sometimes we make mistakes, every business does but like most small businesses we try our very best to rectify mistakes as quickly as possible. Our clients are important to us, they are “our business” and we appreciate that there are other agencies out there that our clients can use if they decide our service is not what they expect. Thankfully for us this has not often happened but perhaps that is because we care.
Two weeks ago I started to receive phonecalls and texts from an 0800 number informing me that my request to disconnect my home BT line and Broadband has been accepted. Great, apart from I had not made such a request. I contacted BT via Twitter @btcare and after completing a form that I was sent a link for, I received a call that night from a lovely chap who informed me that he could find no trace of this 0800 number and said it was a fraud (as I did suspect myself) and that there was no note on my record that my line was to be disconnected.
Last weekend I had a long weekend in Brighton and came home to find an email from BT informing me that my line was to be disconnected yesterday. I phoned BT at 8am and after numerous attempts to find my way around their inane automated system (whatever happened to speaking to an operator!) I ended up with a girl who said that there was indeed a request to disconnect my line but since I had “phoned in time” that this would now not happen.
Great. Problem solved. Well .. No. At 4pm yesterday I phoned my home number to find out I had been disconnected! After numerous attempts around the system again I ended up with a call centre who were worse than useless.
I was offered a cheap phone and broadband package (funny how after being a loyal customer of many years I wasn’t offered this before!) and informed that I could not be reconnected for 24 hours. This is certainly not good enough for me.
I want to complain and I want a transcript of all my telephone conversations so I can complain at the highest level, and not to some floor supervisor in some faraway place who just kept saying sorry but could offer no explanation.
I was told that I could not have a copy of all transcriptions and notes, which I know under Data Protection I can have and then I was informed that I CAN have these if I pay £10. Wonderful. BT make errors (huge errors) and are totally incompetent but I am expected to pay for this? I don’t think so….
So … I have asked that BT call me in work … I expect more than just an apology … and I expect BT to take a good hard look at their practices and policies.
You may be big BT … but maybe you just need a few more customers like me to take a stand against you …. I am also looking at other providers … any recommendations welcome!
Minimum Wage Increase and AWR
The 1st October 2011 sees two important changes that employers should be aware of:
Increase in National Minimum Wage
Main rate for workers aged 21 and over will increase to £6.08
- 18-20 rate will increase to £4.98
- 16-17 rate for workers above school leaving age but under 18 will increase to £3.68
- Apprentice rate, for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship will increase to £2.60
Agency Workers Regulations
The implementation date for the AWR is 1st October. From this date, temporary agency workers will be given equal rights to pay and benefits in relation to a company’s permanent employees. The majority of our Clients, the impact of this is minimal however, we are happy to meet with ANY businesses who would like us to review and assess their current use of agency workers.
Please contact karen@braescotland.com for further information on any of these statutory changes or to arrange a ‘no obligation’ meeting.
New member of Brae Scotland Team
We are pleased to welcome Wilma Cameron to the Brae Scotland team. Wilma is our new Account Manager and will be developing new business as well as working with Clients and candidates to fill vacancies.
Wilma is well known in the Fife business community and brings a wealth of senior management and sales experience across a range of industries. A perfect fit for out team, Wilma embraces our no-nonsense, ethical approach to recruitment and is already making headway with some new business angles for BraeScotland.
Wilma can be contact directly on 01592 862 309 or wilma@braescotland.com .
