An employment tribunal is currently hearing a claim for £40m brought by a lady named Mihaela Popa against PriceWaterhouseCooper. Mihaela Popa, who worked as a forensic accountant in the London office of PriceWaterhouseCooper, alleges that colleagues told her “Eastern Europeans are whores” and asked when she was returning to Romania. Some of her workmates apparently even believed she was a Communist spy for the Romanian secret police. Miss Popa joined PwC’s London office in September 2004, having spent [...]

Guardian – 14/09/2009 The Guardian’s annual survey of boardroom pay has revealed a 10% rise in executive salaries. Full- and part-time directors of the FTSE 100 shared between them more than £1bn. Although bonus payouts were down, basic salary hikes were more than three times the 3.1% average pay rise for ordinary workers in the private sector. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, said “The Guardian’s analysis shows the breathtaking cynicism involved in a [...]

The idea is that an LLP should provide many of the benefits of limited liability, as for a company, but allow its members the flexibility of organising their internal structure as a traditional partnership. The LLP is a legal entity separate from its members, but, unlike an incorporated company, does not have shares or shareholders and is not subject to the same provisions as an incorporated company concerning the relationship between it, its shareholders and [...]

guardian.co.uk – 15/09/2009 The Prime Minister’s speech at the TUC congress on 15th September 2009, verbatim. Here are a few snippets: “This is not the moment to cut apprenticeships this is the time for government to support them.  So I can tell you that we will provide 21,000 additional apprenticeships in the public sector this year.“ “I want a new industrial policy to signal the creation of 1.5 million new jobs for the future — [...]

Prison Officer Amitjo Kajla, from HM Prison Brinsford, Wolverhampton, took the Prison Service to an employment tribunal, claiming constructive dismissal – and age and sex discrimination. She alleged she was bullied by colleagues, essentially due to her pleasing appearance. Giving evidence earlier in the tribunal, former colleague, Philippa Maddox, said that Ms Kajla did not follow advice regarding hair and make-up and claimed the uniform she wore was “snugly fitted.” Apparently she would also “go [...]

The government is proposing to change the law so that employed mothers will be able to transfer all or part of the last 26 weeks of their maternity leave to the father.  To the extent that this “additional paternity leave” is taken during the mother’s 39 week maternity pay period, it would be paid at the same rate as Statutory Maternity Pay (currently £123.06). Existing rights will not be affected (employed fathers are currently entitled to two [...]

The recent upsurge of media interest in personal identity theft has provided a reminder that company identity theft is still a major problem for UK incorporated businesses who are being encouraged to “take ownership of their own public record” to combat company filing fraud in a new white paper by accountancy software developer, Digita. There are over two million company records held by Companies House which currently reports that of the 500,000 documents filed each [...]

The everywoman conference – a dedicated event for female entrepreneurs – takes place in November, at the Hotel Russell in London. The National everywoman Conference provides a day of learning and networking, and the opportunity for women to learn about all aspects of growing a business, in a fun and friendly environment. Allegra McEvedy,and other successful, high profile entrepreneurs will share their journeys to business success and offer inspirational tips on how to generate fresh [...]

EHRC – 07/09/2009 The Equality and Human Rights Commission has now completed its inquiry into sex discrimination in the financial services sector in Great Britain. The main terms of reference were: To inquire into the gender pay gap and pay trends across the financial services sector To inquire into the extent and nature of sex discrimination in relation to recruitment, terms and conditions, promotion, career paths, retention and workplace culture across the financial services sector To [...]

The campaign centres around a ‘ladder exchange’ which gives everyone the opportunity to get rid of old, damaged and broken ladders and trade them for new ones. Over 5000 ladders have been exchanged under this scheme since it first launched in 2007. Big Brother star Craig Phillips (construction entrepreneur and winner of the first series of the reality show), currently staring on ITV1’s 60 Minute Makeover is well aware health and safety at every level [...]