Business
News - June 2007
Additional
Paid Paternity Leave
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The rules for maternity pay and leave
are complex and things may be set to
become more complicated for employers
and more generous for employees.
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full article
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| Health
and Safety |
The Institute of Directors
and the Health and Safety Commission
(HSC) are asking for help in the production
of new, authoritative guidance setting
out what is expected of directors.
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full article
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| Further
National Minimum Wage Penalties |
Alistair Darling, the Trade and Industry
Secretary, has announced that the government
is to target employers with new fines
if they pay below the National Minimum
Wage (NMW).
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full article
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| Charities
Guide |
A concise guide for small charities
has been issued. The Cabinet Office and
Charity Commission have launched 'Charities
Act 2006 - what trustees need to know',
which is being marketed as a concise
guide to the biggest shake up of charity
law for centuries. The guide is primarily
aimed at those running small charities
to enable them to make the most of the
new laws.
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full article
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| New
Cash Declaration Rules |
HMRC have announced new
rules applying to people coming to or
leaving the UK. From 15 June 2007, people
travelling to or from a country outside
the European Union (EU) will need to
declare any sums of cash of 10,000 Euros
or more (or the equivalent in another
currency) to HMRC. There is no requirement
to declare cash if travel is to or from
another EU country.
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full article
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| Farepak
Ruling |
Following industry agreement, the new
Christmas Pre-payments Authority has
been set up to prevent a repeat of the
Farepak collapse. The new body will be
responsible for overseeing schemes to
ring-fence the money of Christmas hamper
savers.
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full article
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| Smoke
Free from 1 July |
In last month’s enews we reported
that, as a result of provisions in the
Health Act 2006, enclosed public places
and workplaces have to be smoke free
from Sunday 1 July 2007. This date applies
to England only.
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full article
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| Reduced
Rate VAT for Products to Give Up
Smoking |
‘Over the
counter’ sales of smoking
cessation products, such as chewing
gum and nicotine patches, will
be subject to the reduced rate
of VAT of 5%. The reduced rate
will apply for a period of one
year only from 1 July 2007. The
dispensing of prescription items
will unaffected by this change.
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full article
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| Injury
Costs Recovery Scheme |
The NHS Injury
Costs Recovery (ICR) scheme came
into force earlier this year
and expands the cases where the
NHS can reclaim the cost of treating
injured patients where personal
injury compensation is paid.
The ICR scheme replaced the previous
Road Traffic Act scheme.
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full article
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| Home
Information Packs Delayed |
The date for introducing
Home Information Packs (Hips) in England
and Wales has been put back to 1 August
2007 and will initially apply to homes
with at least four bedrooms. The packs,
which will contain useful information
for any buyer, were due to become compulsory
from 1 June 2007. Scotland is due to
introduce its own version of the pack
in 2008.
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full article
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