Business Update December 2006

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Planning your personal pension According to the Office of National Statistics, less than half the self-employed people in the UK pay into a pension. "Many self-employed people who are earning a lot of money assume they will ...Writing a winning sales proposal When looking for new suppliers, most organisations will ask for a written proposal following a meeting or a tender notice. What you include in your proposal and how it is presented will be a key ...Q&A: Modern apprenticeships Tom Whitney talks to Scottish Enterprise's director of skills programmes, Dougie Somner (DS), about how Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) can help your business.What are Modern Apprenticeships?DS: They ...Creating a healthy workplace All businesses are legally obliged to carry out a health and safety risk assessment of their premises once a year. But in addition to this check of the basic safety essentials of your premises, ...Avoiding Christmas party mishaps By law, businesses can be held responsible for their employees' behaviour - even at a work event outside normal working hours. For example, if an employee behaves badly towards another worker ...10 ways to... assess if 2006 was a good year for your business With the year drawing to a close, now is a good time to look back and reflect on what your business has achieved over the past 12 months. Use these indicators to find out how 2006 was for you You ...The Companies Act 2006: radical company law changes on the horizon The Companies Act 2006: radical company law changes on the horizon The Companies Act 2006 has been passed and contains sweeping changes to how companies are run that will particularly affect ...Age-discrimination pension rules now in force Employers need to be aware of the new age-discrimination legislation applicable to pension schemes, in force from 1 December. As previously reported in Legal Alert 34 and 35, the use of ...Disability discrimination provisions now in force The final provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 are in force from 4 December, and impose further obligations on employers. The new rules confirm that employers have a duty not to ...Updated guides to new maternity rules available Following the new maternity leave regulations introduced in October under the Work and Families Act 2006, new guidance is available for employers with employees expecting a baby on or after 1 April ...DTI guide on individual employment rights available A useful guide on the individual rights and responsibilities of employees has been published by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The new 96-page guide outlines employees' and workers' ...New resources to help your business comply on equality and diversity Reliable information on compliance with anti-discrimination obligations is essential for businesses, and two authoritative sources have been recently updated. The Acas website has now added audit ...Changes to Highly Skilled Migrant Programme rules Revised assessment criteria for the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) are effective from 5 December, which may have implications for employers. HSMP is currently the only points-based ...Case law: minimal requirements for step 1 statutory grievance procedure letter Employers should be aware that the statutory grievance procedure may be validly invoked even where the employee has not formally notified his grievance, according to a recent ruling. In the case ...Case law: clarifying the criteria for patentability of inventions Businesses will welcome a recent decision of the Court of Appeal, which gives a clear indication of the principles on which patent disputes will be resolved. The Court of Appeal decision related ...Definition of 'carer' under Work and Families Act announced Under provisions of the Work and Families Act 2006 that come into force next April, employers will be required to accommodate requests for flexible working from employees who are ...I'm feeling completely stressed... If you're constantly feeling tired, irritable and anxious, you could be suffering from work-related stress. The long-term effects can include depression, high blood pressure and heart disease, so it ...Case study: How refurbishing our workplace has benefited my business THE ISSUE: To increase productivity and generate new business by improving the workplaceTHE SOLUTION: "Our business designs and builds office interiors, but it was a couple of years before I ...