Author Archive
Free Hugs in Dundee
As its unlikely that we’ll see any snow this year I decided for our last blog post to recycle a previous clip that we’ve used.
It was shot last year in my home town of Dundee and just encapsulates what the spirit of Christmas is all about.
To end our last post of the year I’d just like to thank all the clients that we have worked for their support this year. We know that there are loads of advisors out there who would love your business but we are glad that you chose 44 Financial.
Have a great holiday and we look forward to working with you again in 2012.
Steve Clark
Cost cutting–alternatives to redundancies
We’re constantly working with clients and prospective clients looking to make sure that the money they spend on benefits is effective.
In the current economic climate we look to save money for the employer. In a previous blog post “Is your advisor saving you this much?” we looked at the money we had saved a client who had recently appointed us. You can read the post by clicking here and find out how we saved them £95 per day!
When things like the benefit spend have been tackled some employers are still looking to save costs and then go on to consider redundancies. We received an update today from McDermott Will & Emery – an international legal firm. There’s a really good article in there that cover alternatives to redundancies. It’s well worth a read if you are looking at this type of exercise. You can click here to read the article.
If you are looking to save money on your benefits programme please email us at talk2us@44financial.co.uk.
Steve Clark
Receivership–the ghost of Christmas future?
As I type what is probably the last blog article I can’t help feeling a lot like the Ghost of Christmas Future in the Dickens novel A Christmas Carol.
This morning we received an update from those very nice people at Nabarro which contained a Guide to Receivership. As we see a growing trend of corporate insolvencies it’s something that some businesses are likely to encounter amongst their customers, clients or suppliers.
For that reason I’ve included a link to the guide here. It’s probably not something that you want to read over the festive holiday. You may just want to keep it to one side as a useful reference if you come across the issue.
That’s likely to be all from us here at 44 Financial Ltd. May we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Wealthy New Year.
Steve Clark
Weight for it! More on employment status
There has been a recent appeal in the Upper Tribunal from Weight Watchers (UK) Limited regarding the employment status of their Weight Watchers leaders that run their classes.
Weight Watchers said for tax purposes they were self employed and not an employee. The Tribunal disagreed and found they were employees. The Upper Tribunal looked at the degree of control Weight Watchers had over the leaders. The crux was that the Tribunal looked at the reality of the situation not just the documentation that Weight Watchers had in place.
What does this mean?
People who Weight Watchers thought were self employed are actually their employees. This means that Weight Watchers now face a huge tax bill. This is a clear warning that the Tribunal will ignore any documentation if this doesn’t accurately reflect the true position.
From a benefits perspective it also means that as employees Weight Watchers may face claims for backdated benefits such as pension that other employees are entitled to.
What should employers do?
You should make sure you regularly review your documentation to ensure that this reflects what’s happening in practice. You may also want to ensure they you provisions in place so you can recover tax and national insurance contributions from your employees.
As always if you have individuals working for you that you have deemed self-employed you may need t get some advice from your usual employment and legal advisers.
Steve Clark
U-Turn on Planet Pensions
What a week its already been on planet pensions And it’s still only Tuesday!
Yesterday in our blog post on the new pension rules we first got some idea that the government was going to delay the introduction for some employers. 
By the afternoon the Pensions Minister Steve Webb had confirmed the rumours. Smaller employers are, after all, going to be given a bit of breathing space.
Now this is the same Steve Webb that told a conference almost a month ago to the day that there was no intention of postponing the introduction of the changes. It probably goes to show how little we can read into what politicians say!
So where does this leave us. It all depends on size and whether you are a small or large employer. Size is subjective and we all know that one man’s large is another woman’s small.
As it stands here is what we know from the announcement from the Department for Work & Pensions.
If you employ less than 50 employees
You’ll also get some breathing space. We know that you’ll be given until after May 2015
to comply. This is after the end of this Parliament. We’ll have to wait and see what happens at the next election. However, the government has stated that all firms will have to comply at some point.
If you employ between 50 and 2,999 employees
You’ll get some breathing space. Your staging date will change but we don’t know by how much yet. The DWP will issue more guidance in January 2012.
If you employ more than 3,000 employees
You are unaffected by yesterday’s U-Turn. Your staging date is still the same. The very largest employers have to start complying from October 2012.
What does it all mean for me?
Our research indicates that the majority of companies with less than 50 employees don’t even know yet about these new pension rules.
There’s evidence that more employers in the 50 to 3,000 know about the changes but only a small proportion have started any serious planning.
Clearly, if you are one of these employers you’ll benefit from the delay. What you shouldn’t do is simply stick your head in the sand hoping the whole thing will go away. It won’t.
The delay will allow you to start looking at the cost of compliance and what impact it’ll have on your business income. You’ll also have a chance to look at what you already have in place. It’ll give you time to work out what you have to do.
All is not lost!
Don’t worry if you haven’t had a look at the new rules and how it’ll affect you.
We’re talking to a growing number of employers who are taking this opportunity to look at whether they are employing the right adviser to see them through this minefield.
If you’d like to arrange an initial meeting to find out more about our active benefits service please email us here.