Please note that our helpline will be open at the following times over the Christmas period:

• up to 23rd December: normal hours (ie 9.00am - 6.00pm)
• 24th December: 9.00am - 1.00pm
• 25th December: bank holiday - closed
• 26th December: bank holiday - closed
• 29th December: normal hours (ie 9.00am - 6.00pm)
• 30th December: normal hours (ie 9.00am - 6.00pm)
• 31st December: 9.00am - 1.00pm
• 1st January: bank holiday - closed
• 2nd January: closed
• 5 January: normal service resumes!

The revised Acas Code of Practice has now been published. This is scheduled to come into effect on 6 April 2009 when the statutory dismissal and grievance procedures are abolished. An unreasonable failure by either an employer or employee to follow the Code will result in a tribunal being able to increase any award by up to 25% (so less than the current 50%).

The Code is now slightly longer than the first draft (10 pages) but significantly shorter than the previous code (48 pages). It will be accompanied by 'fuller, freestanding, non-statutory guidance' which will provide additional advice. The draft has changed substantially since it was first published and is much more even handed - ie obligations apply both to employers and to employees to take action without unreasonable delay etc.

The main points to note are as follows:

• Unlike the statutory dismissal procedures, the code specifically states that it does NOT apply to redundancies nor to the termination of fixed-term contracts.
• Employers and employees are required to 'seek' to resolve issues in the workplace. This wording has changed from the draft code which stated that they should "do all that they can" to resolve issues.
• The Code suggests that employers and employees should also read the ACAS guidance to ensure they understand how disciplinary and grievance issues should be handled.
• Introduction: definitions of disciplinary situations (which include misconduct and/or poor performance) and grievances ("concerns, problems or complaints that employees raise with their employers") are now included.
• Discipline - right to be accompanied: the previous draft code suggested that although there is no statutory right to be accompanied at an investigatory meeting, it is good practice and failure to do so might lead to a compensation adjustment or even to a conclusion that the dismissal is unfair. Following the consultation, the revised code now simply states that accompaniment in such circumstances "may be allowed under an employer's own procedure."
• Discipline - evidence: the draft code contained no requirement to give relevant evidence to the employee in advance of a hearing; the revised Code now states that it "would normally be appropriate to provide copies of any written evidence, which may include any witness statements, with the notification."
• Discipline - stages: the recommended process is now written warning, final written warning and dismissal (note: no verbal warning as a first stage).
• Discipline - appeals: should all be confirmed in writing (an additional requirement on top of the existing procedures!)
• Discipline - attending meetings: an addition states: "Where an employee is persistently unable or unwilling to attend a disciplinary meeting without good cause the employer should make a decision on the evidence available." "Persistently" is not however defined so there will be some interesting cases before we are clear on this - it might have been useful to have had something more easily quantifiable eg "on more than two occasions fails to turn up or attend".
• Grievances - in writing: the draft was amended to make it clear that a grievance should be raised in writing - so similar to the current statutory provisions.
• Grievances - appeals: an employee should appeal if he/she is not content with any decision made.
• Overlapping grievance and discipline: a new section states that the disciplinary process may be temporarily suspended to allow a grievance to be heard or, if the grievance and discipline are related, the issues may be dealt with concurrently.
• Collective grievances: an additional new section states that the code does not apply to grievances raised on behalf of two or more employees by a trade union or other appropriate workplace representative.

The revised new Code can be downloaded from Acas's website: www.acas.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2114 This is still marked as a draft until it gains parliamentary approval.

The Employment Bill received Royal Assent on 13 November. The Act repeals the statutory dispute resolution procedures and related provisions, makes changes to the enforcement of the national minimum wage, employment agencies and trade union membership law.

Points to note:

Dismissal

• The statutory dismissal and grievance procedures are repealed, this is planned to take effect from April 2008.
• The rules which made a dismissal automatically unfair if an employer fails to comply with the statutory procedure now go. Instead, we revert to the previous situation where an employer's failure to comply with a fair procedure will make a dismissal unfair (even if the failure would not have affected the outcome), however any compensatory award may be reduced to reflect the likelihood that the dismissal would have gone ahead if the correct procedure had been followed (you may see this referred to as the "Polkey" principle).
• Tribunals may adjust awards of compensation by up to 25 per cent for an unreasonable failure to comply with any provision of the new ACAS Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance (see above). So a reduction from the current 50%!
• A new fast-track procedure means that tribunal claims can be determined without a hearing provided both parties agree.
• ACAS may prioritise cases where demand for conciliation exceeds their available resources and the fixed conciliation periods are removed - but ACAS will get an extra £37 million in extra funding to assist them in offering an improved helpline amongst other things.
• Tribunals may award compensation for financial loss (for example bank charges incurred by the employee), following certain types of monetary claim, such as unlawful deduction from wages or non-payment of redundancy pay.

National minimum wage

• There will be new penalties for underpayment and a new, fairer, method of calculating arrears. The current maximum fine of £5000 will be removed and unlimited fines will be introduced for the most serious cases of non-compliance, which will be tried at Crown Court.
• The current enforcement and penalty notices will be replaced with a single notice of underpayment.
• The position regarding voluntary workers is clarified.

Employment agency standards

• More severe penalties will apply to those who do not comply with the employment agency standards and the inspectorate is given greater powers to demand and secure copies of financial information from an agency or from its bank/building society. The number of inspectors will also be increased.

Trade union membership

• Trade unions may now exclude members of particular political parties from membership of the union.

Most of the Act is due to come into force on 6 April 2009.

The government has now started consulting on its proposals to disallow any tips paid to workers (mandatory or voluntary) from counting towards the national minimum wage. (Currently tips paid through the payroll may count towards the NMW, but tips paid directly to the worker may not.) Official statistics suggest that up to 44,800 workers may get tips that are used towards their NMW pay. The Government estimates that changing the law to stop restaurants, hotels and bars using tips in this way could cost these businesses up to £73 million per year.

However, although tips will no longer count towards the minimum wage, there is no requirement that the money left as tips should be paid to workers. Employers may continue to keep a proportion of the tips, but must make it clear to customers how their tips are being used.

Consultation closes on 16 February 2009.

For further details see www.berr.gov.uk/consultations/page48902.html There is also a quick online survey where you can give your views.

Tiers 2 and 5 of the new points-based system came into effect on 27 November. All employers wishing to recruit migrants from outside the European Economic Area need to apply to the UKBA as soon as possible to become a sponsor.

• Tier 1 which covers the highly skilled, has already been implemented.

• Tier 2 (skilled workers) replaces the previous work permit scheme. Tier 2 migrants have to demonstrate that they have:
  • an acceptable standard of English. The UK Border Agency has recently published details of approved English language tests for Tier 2 on its website - see www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk
  • enough money to support themselves, and any dependants that come with them, for the first month of their stay in the UK. There are two ways to do this: either they must show that they have personal savings of at least £800 (plus £533 for each dependant) which they have had for three months, or they need written confirmation from their A-rated sponsor that the sponsor will maintain and accommodate the migrant (plus any dependants if they are to enter the country) until the end of the first month of their work in the UK.

• Tier 4 (students) - from March 2009 new rules will apply to both colleges and universities that want to recruit foreign students, and to students themselves. Every non-EEA student must be sponsored by a UK Border Agency-licensed education institution, supply biometric information and meet new criteria. The colleges and universities will need a sponsor licence and must apply to the UK Border Agency for this no later than 2 February 2009 in order to ensure that a sponsor application is processed in time for the March 2009 policy implementation. Once a licence has been obtained the college/university will need to comply with certain duties or risk losing its licence. As from autumn 2009 a new 'sponsor management system' will require colleges/universities to inform the UK Border Agency when students fail to enrol on courses or miss lessons.

• Tier 5 covers temporary workers entering the UK for a short period.

For more information, please visit the BIA website: www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk or call the PBS Employer Helpline on 0845 010 6677.

In addition to the above, foreign nationals living in the UK began applying for identity cards on 25 November. The cards include fingerprints and a photo. The new identity cards will be mandatory for all foreign nationals and should provide a simple secure means of validating their right to work. The first identity cards will be issued to those who are applying to remain in the UK as a student or getting married. All new foreign nationals and those extending their stay will have a card within three years. It is estimated that by the end of 2014/15 about 90% of all foreign nationals will have been issued with one.

Manchester and London City airports will be amongst the first to have identity cards for UK nationals. The ID cards will be issued without charge and additional funds will be made available to them to support improvements to the infrastructure and process for pre-employment checking and issuing of airside passes.

The UK Border Agency has issued guidance showing how to validate an identity card, see www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk.

And the HMRC has published a new guide for those who wish to come to the UK to work. It provides useful information including what documentation they will need and what taxes will apply to them. See: www.hmrc.gov.uk/migrantworkers/index.htm

The Education and Skills Bill has also received Royal Assent.

This will raise the education and training age to 17 years by 2013 and to 18 years by 2015, but will not force pupils to stay on at school as there will be a range of options for training and learning alongside employment. The Act will require those who leave education without achieving a certain level of qualification to participate in accredited training. (Young people aged 16 and 17 without basic qualifications already have the right to take paid time off from full-time work for relevant training, but they are not required to do this.) Employers will be required to allow these employees the equivalent of one day a week off to undertake training (which may be accredited training provided by the employer) and cannot employ such individuals if they have not made appropriate training arrangements. This new requirement to train will not start to come into force until 2013. Responsibility for delivering the Connexions service will pass to local authorities to ensure that it is integrated, targeted and impartial.

The above rights should not be confused with the proposal to give all employees in England the right to request time off for skills training once they have worked for their employer for 26 weeks and for the employer to consider such requests seriously. This is expected to come into force earlier, in 2010.

And whilst on the subject of education, the Department for Children, Schools and Families has published a new guide to the 14-19 diploma, aimed at employers. Entitled "Improving Business by Improving the Skills of Young People" it explains the role of employers in designing the Diplomas, how they prepare 14-19 years olds for their working lives, and the new opportunities available to employers of all types, sizes and sectors to get involved with schools and colleges. Copies can be ordered by calling 0845 60 222 60 and quoting reference: 00733-2008BKT-EN.

And another one! The Agency Workers Directive was also passed - this time by the European Parliament. This will give temporary workers in the UK the right to receive equal pay and conditions to permanent staff after 12 weeks with an employer.

Research by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation concluded that 48% of its 300 respondents thought it would increase the cost of filling a temporary vacancy by 10%.

It would seem that the directive is causing much concern amongst recruitment agencies:

• 57% said the average assignment went beyond 12 weeks - so more than expected
• 35% said their clients would struggle to identify a comparable worker
• two-thirds said the legislation would expose them to a greater risk of being taken to an employment tribunal
• four in 10 thought extra costs would be incurred by consultants being diverted from making placements to chase up equal pay information.

The European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee has adopted, with amendments, the revised directive on European works councils. This applies to organisations that employ at least 1000 people in the EEA, 150 or more of whom work in each of at least two EEA Member States.

The changes to the directive seek to improve the effectiveness of information and consultation of employees and to increase the number of European Works Councils. Currently whilst there are around 820 European Works Councils, only 36% of organisations to which the directive applies have them.

The full European Parliament will vote on the directive shortly.

The recent publication of a list containing the names, addresses and in some cases, occupations of 13,500 BNP members has caused some controversy!

The Scouts hit the charity news when they suspended a trustee who was on the list. A spokesman for the Scout Association said the charity has had a written policy on membership of particular political parties since the mid-1990s, and forbids membership of four political parties: the National Front, the BNP, the Nation of Islam and Hezbollah Tehiyah. The spokesman said the trustee had been informed of his suspension in writing this week. "He will have to make a choice: if he wants to be a member of the BNP, he cannot be a member of the scout movement."

But can you fairly dismiss an employee for being a member of a political party? Whilst action may be possible (and necessary) in some circumstances, caution is advised in order to avoid the risk of claims of unfair dismissal or unlawful discrimination (on grounds of race or religion/belief). As ever, the question of the impact on the person's ability to do his/her job properly is crucial. There is a big difference between political activism and mere membership of a political party. If an employee's political activities have an impact on, for example, colleagues, customers and/or the local community, or prevent the person from doing his/her job properly, or adversely affect the organisation's reputation, then action may be reasonable. The specific circumstances of the nature of the role and the organisation are crucial: if membership of certain organisations is incompatible with the individual's job and there is a clear policy spelling this out, or if the organisation has strong ideological views on social or political issues there may be stronger grounds for action.

Also note that information about an individual's political beliefs can be classed as sensitive personal data under the Data Protection Act, so such cases need to be dealt with sensitively.

For dismissals occurring on or after 1st February 2009, the following increased maximum rates will apply:

• compensatory award: increases from £63,000 to £66,200
• a 'week's pay': increases from £330 to £350
• the maximum redundancy payment: increases from £9,900 to £10,500
• a day's guarantee pay: increases from £20.40 to £21.50

A Freedom of Information Act request by the Sunday Telegraph found the total amount awarded by employment tribunals was £32m in 2006-07 (£7m higher than 2004-05). Unfair dismissal awards made up the majority of payouts, increasing from £19.8m in 2004-05 to £26.6m in 2006-07.

The number of claims lodged has continued to increase, up to 238,000 in 2006, and sex discrimination claims nearly doubled, from 14,250 to 28,153 in 2006-07, although sex, race and disability discrimination payouts remained generally the same over the same period.

However, the Citizens Advice Bureau has published a report ('Justice Denied') which says that one in ten successful employment tribunal claimants do not receive their award from their employer. Unpaid awards can only be enforced by claimants taking legal action in the civil courts: however, the report claims that many employees never try to enforce this. The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 will remove the requirement to register claims for a fee of £35, however the Bureau had hoped that the Employment Bill would include something to increase the powers of tribunals to enforce awards.

Recent research by the Confederation of British Industry has found that firms with fewer than 50 staff settle most claims, despite receiving legal advice that they would probably win almost half of the cases.

The 2008 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) published by the Office for National Statistics show that women have slipped further behind men in the pay stakes.

However, the CIPD is cautioning against simply attributing the gap to poor employer practice: they say '... it is simplistic to conclude that the gender pay gap is the result of overt pay discrimination by employers. The gap mainly reflects variations in the type of jobs done by men and women, different working patterns and, in particular, the impact of child and elder care on women's career choices and hours of work.'

The ASHE tables contain UK data on earnings for employees by sex and full-time/part-time workers. Further breakdowns include by region, occupation, industry, region by occupation and age-groups.

For further information see: www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=15187

Discrimination: is a requirement to have a degree ageist?

Not necessarily so! In (1) Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police (2) West Yorkshire Police Authority and others v Homer, whilst the original tribunal had found indirect age discrimination, the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) decided that a requirement to have a law degree to be entitled to be graded at a higher pay scale did not put a 61-year old employee at a particular disadvantage on the grounds of his age, even though he could not have obtained a degree (studying part-time) before he retired.

The degree was not required only of those over a certain age, nor did the EAT feel that it was in principle more difficult for an older person to obtain the qualification than a younger person. Whilst Mr Homer could not materially benefit from any law degree he might obtain, that was because his working life was limited by his age. The EAT described such a disadvantage as "the inevitable consequence of age; it is not a consequence of age discrimination".

The EAT upheld the appeal and substituted a finding that there had been no age discrimination.

Discrimination: is a requirement not to wear a visible crucifix religious discrimination?

You may recall the case of the British Airways (BA) check-in clerk who claimed religious discrimination. Nadia Eweida was suspended in September 2006 after she refused to conceal a small crucifix on a necklace. BA's policy at the time required that jewellery be worn only if it could be hidden from view. She claimed it was her human right to express her faith by having the crucifix on display. She returned to work in February 2007 after BA revised its uniform policy but then claimed discrimination on the grounds of her religion and sought £20,000 in back pay and compensation from the airline.

She claimed that she refused £8,500 from BA to settle out of court - a bad decision, since the case went to appeal, and she lost! The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the employment tribunal's ruling that she was not indirectly discriminated against and said that it was not a requirement of her religion that she should have to show the cross.

Discrimination: white employee claims different treatment is race discrimination

Mr Mahoney claimed that his complaints were not followed up because he was white, and that he received different treatment to that which a black employee would have received. In Mahoney v London Underground, Mr Mahoney's allegations of bullying were not investigated, and the worker Mr Mahoney claimed was bullying him was neither questioned nor suspended.

Mr Mahoney won his claim of racial discrimination and was awarded £6,000 for injury to feelings plus an apology from London Underground.

Tribunal bias

It's rare that claims of bias are made against tribunals, but in City & County of Swansea v Honey the EAT agreed to a bias appeal.

The case was an unfair dismissal case involving a senior legal executive with Swansea Council - who was awarded the statutory maximum compensation.

Whilst the parties involved in the tribunal were unknown to the tribunal members, the union wing member was a District Secretary of the RMT which was involved in a campaign against the local authority and held a "thoroughly negative" view of the local authority.

The authority argued apparent bias and the EAT agreed. It recommends that if a tribunal lay member has had any contentious dealings with an employer or has articulated criticism of an employer, this must be declared and will probably be considered as apparent bias - even if the individuals involved in the employment tribunal claim were unknown to the member.

Loss of earnings claims when on benefits

Mr Fox suffered from a debilitating skin disorder and then contracted Bells Palsy. He was dismissed by Sheffield Forge Masters.

The employment tribunal held that the employer had discriminated against Mr Fox on grounds of his disability, and failed to make reasonable adjustments for him. They had failed to follow their own absence procedure, including their policy on disability-related absences, during the dismissal proceedings.

The tribunal awarded compensation based on loss of earnings, and the employer appealed, as Mr Fox was claiming incapacity benefit. They argued that he should not receive compensation for loss of earnings which he would not have had anyway.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal judged that the original employment tribunal was correct, and that Mr Fox could receive loss of earnings despite being on incapacity benefits. He was awarded more than £40,000.

Whistleblowing applies to third parties also

In Hibbins v Hesters Way Neighbourhood Project, Ms Hibbins was a language teacher seconded to the neighbourhood project by her main employer, the Gloucestershire Neighbourhood Project Network. After reading something in the press, she realised that a prospective student she had just interviewed was a suspect in a rape case and passed his contact details to the police.

She informed Hesters Way of her actions and alleged that she then received criticism for this, and lodged a grievance with her main employer. She eventually resigned and brought a tribunal claim against Hesters Way. She lost on the basis that her whistleblowing did not relate to any wrongdoing or failure by her employer and her disclosure was therefore not a protected disclosure.

On appeal to the EAT, her appeal was upheld. The EAT said that the original tribunal had been wrong to conclude that the whistle blowing provisions do not apply where the "wrongdoing" or "failure" was by a body which was not the employer of the person who made the disclosure. The Employment Rights Act states that a "qualifying disclosure" is one which in the "reasonable belief of the worker making the disclosure tends to show that a person has failed ... with any legal obligation to which he is subject." The EAT held that the meaning of "a person" goes beyond the employee's employer so protected disclosures can relate to failings by someone other than the employer.

Last month we updated you on this, and it would now seem that the future of the UK's opt-out from the 48 hour week is even less certain. The agreement reached in June 2008, which would have allowed member states to continue using the opt-out, must be endorsed by the European Parliament. On 5 November 2008 the Employment and Social Affairs Committee voted by 35 votes to 13 to remove the opt-out in three years time.

The full European Parliament will debate this before voting in mid-December. Whilst Peter Mandelson vowed to protect the opt-out and gain enough support from UK MEPs to vote to keep it, and whilst Conservative MEPS are likely to vote in favour, Labour MEPs have consistently voted against it: and even if MEPs from all UK political parties voted to keep the opt-out there would still be too few votes to sway the decision.

Senior HR figures are warning that employers will face increased pay bills if people are banned from working more than 48 hours per week and according to government figures more than one in 10 employees work more than 48 hours per week.

The UK currently has the longest hours working in Europe - we work an average of 43.5 hours a week compared to 38.2 hours in France and 39.9 in Germany.

Research by Friends Provident reveals that one in four adults plan to work longer hours over the next six months, while one in eight intend to take on a second job in order to cope with the credit crunch. Almost two-thirds (61%) of their respondents said they felt more stressed, run down and prone to illness than they did three years ago, and more than one in 10 blamed the majority of stress on work, specifically from their bosses and colleagues.

Do keep an eye on your staff, and ensure that you have well-known rules which require employees to declare any extra work, so that you comply with the Working Time Regulations and your health and safety responsibilities. In particular, if you work in a sector where things are particularly busy prior to the Christmas break, do ensure that the minimum breaks and time off are observed.

The Government plans to replace GP's sick notes with 'fit notes' during the second part of 2009. These will focus on what people can do rather than what they cannot. It is planned that these will be produced electronically, rather than on paper.

At the same time, a national training programme is being designed to help GPs deal with health and work issues and to enable them to adapt the advice they give to help people stay in or return to work.

According to the Health and Safety Executive, the number of accidents and injuries at work fell during 2007/08. Reported significant injuries at work (resulting in absence of 3 days or more) fell by 10% and major injuries declined by 5%. See: www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/hssoct08.htm

And whilst past statistics have shown that more accidents happen on a Friday, particularly between the hours of 4pm and 6pm, than at any other time, the Annual Road Casualties report for 2007 shows a drop in deaths and serious injuries at peak times on a Friday. AA road safety experts found that last year there were fewer people killed or seriously injured on Fridays from 8am - 9am and from 5pm - 6pm compared to the average rates for the same hours between Monday and Thursday.

The AA and Work Wise UK believe that this may be due to a change in working patterns over the last eight years, in particular the increase in flexible working. The AA analysed peak period figures for accidents over the last eight years and found that the 'Fatal Friday' phenomenon is on the decline. In the past the higher accident rates were believed to be due to more traffic, tired drivers at the end of the week and the 'Thank God its Friday' effect leading to lack of concentration.

We've added the following this month:

• an introduction to internal communications - see /docs/guides/internalcomms.html
• an appraisal preparation form - see /docs/lf/reviewpreparation/index.html
• an interview expense claim form - see /docs/lf/interviewexpenses/index.html
• an absence record - see /docs/lf/absencerecord/index.html
• a leaver's form - see /docs/lf/leaverreport/index.html and
• a new range of holiday forms for 2009 and 2010 - see /docs/lf/holiday/index.html

We're all working later.....

A new survey from the Age and Employment Network reports that nearly two-thirds (63%) of job seekers aged 50+ believe they are seen as too old by employers and just 13% thought the age legislation had helped older people find work. However, in apparent contradiction to this, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest that job hunting might actually get easier when people reach retirement age. In the quarter to August 2008, there were decreases in employment for all age groups apart from those above retirement age (60/65+) who showed an increase of 12,000. Employment rates for those above retirement age reached a new high of 11.7%.

The ONS reports that the average age at which men who were economically active at 50 withdrew from the labour market reached 64.6 in Q2 2008, the highest level since this data first became available in 1984. The equivalent figure for women was 61.9. Similar data compiled by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Pensions Commission suggests that whilst average retirement ages had been on a downward trend between the 1950s and mid-1990s, people have now started retiring later.

Apart from those who may be hit by more redundancies-------

The CIPD/KPMG Labour Market Outlook 'Redundancy Special' reveals that more than a quarter of employers (26%) have contingency plans to make new or further redundancies in the next twelve months in addition to those already planned. Organisations who have already made or planned to make redundancies in the next three months are more likely to be considering further job cuts in the next twelve months. We will all be aware from the daily news headlines that redundancy activity has increased sharply in recent months.

The majority of redundancies in both the private and voluntary/not for profit sectors are compulsory (81%) in contrast to the public sector where 62% are voluntary.

Half (50%) of the organisations surveyed offer redundancy pay above the statutory minimum. The average cost of making an employee redundant varies greatly across sectors: the average payment in the public sector is £17,926, compared with £8,981 and £7,629 in the private and voluntary sectors respectively. The average payment across all sectors is £10,575.

If you are facing redundancies, please note that in addition to our usual advice and services, we have been running one day career transition workshops for clients to help employees work through the issues of redundancy or job loss. We cover all aspects of the changed job market, including flexible smarter working, where to look for new work/direction including recruitment agencies, search, adverts, networking, how to apply, preparing CVs, interviewing techniques etc. We also take a look at self-development, personal coaching and finding new directions in life. For further details please contact us.

Unemployment on the up....

The European Commission’s latest economic forecast predicts that UK unemployment is expected to rise by about 1.5% in 2009, half a percentage point more than the predicted EU average. The supply of labour is also projected to increase at a slower pace, reflecting reduced immigration.

UK unemployment is now at an 11 year high and is expected to rise to at least above 2.25 million by next spring at the latest. The CIPD expects the jobless total to eventually peak just below the near 3 million mark reached in the 1990s recession.

Average advertised salaries are down

Jobs search engine AllTheTopBananas.com has analysed 875,560 jobs published between May and October 2008 and found that the average advertised salary offered has fallen by nearly £9,500. The average advertised UK salary (including London) is now £31,969, down from £41,397 pounds. The current UK average advertised salary excluding London figures is £27,969, down £3,371

But inflation will go down

However, inflation in the EU is expected to fall rapidly below 2.5 per cent in 2009 and 2.25 per cent in 2010.

Savings on benefits and expenses

A survey by the Institute of Directors found that around one-quarter of employers are making cuts in staff entertainment, including Christmas parties. In addition, it has been reported that some employers are tightening up on their policies and checking for misuse of their expenses policy, in particular taxi use and mileage distances. Since research by GlobalExpense found 20% of staff admit to having exaggerated expense claims, while one in 10 said it was likely they would do it again due to economic difficulties during the festive season, this may be a prudent move! The average amount added to an expense claim was around £14.

But more spend on maternity pay

However, given that many seem opposed to the recent and proposed increases to maternity pay and leave, we were surprised to read that research by Incomes Data Services found that three-quarters of the 115 companies they surveyed provided more than the statutory maternity pay.