business i - Business Link in the South West

Migrant workers bring new benefits and new responsibilities

A recent report by Ernst & Young, which uses the Treasury’s own data for its calculations, suggests that immigration has resulted in a younger, more flexible and economical workforce, and has helped keep UK interest rates half a percent lower than they would have otherwise been.

According to the report, immigrant workers have served to ‘plug the gaps in a variety of industries’, and contrary to previous waves of immigration into Britain, the current wave has been more widely geographically spread into rural areas.

Such findings offer compelling reasons to embrace the introduction of immigrant workers into the UK, but these new opportunities bring with them additional responsibilities for UK firms.

Andy Reeve, a Business Link adviser, said: “There is a greater onus on managers to check an applicant’s right to work, with penalties of up to £5,000 per illegal employee.”

A range of issues may need to be addressed in order to comply with the regulations. Restrictions on employment may exist for nationals of the EU and commonwealth countries, and nationals of EU countries must be registered with the Border and Immigration Agency within one month of starting work. For workers coming from outside of the European Economic Area, a permit must be issued before employment starts. Employers also need to make sure they follow the code of practice on racial equality in employment, and it is essential that all employees of UK based businesses are paid at least the National Minimum Wage.

If you employ migrant workers - or plan to do so - you should check the Business Link Migrant Workers guide for an in-depth overview of your requirements as an employer.

How to manage National Insurance

National Insurance must be managed correctly for two good reasons. First, an individual’s right to claim benefits can be affected by non-payment or late payment of National Insurance contributions (NICs). Second, as an employer, you are legally required to account for your employees’ NICs.  There are also two good ways to calculate NICs. The HM National Insurance tables, contained in the employer’s pack available at the HM Revenue and Customs website, offers an easy to use method for calculating NICs for employees in a variety of situations. The ‘exact percentage method’ is a second option for calculating NICs which can be used voluntarily, or in circumstances where the National Insurance tables do not apply.

Problems calculating, paying, and accounting for NICs can be costly to your business, and may adversely affect your employees if not dealt with promptly. So it’s important to understand the common mistakes made by businesses, which range from errors such as using the National Insurance tables incorrectly, to failing to keep proper National Insurance records.

Read the Business Link Guide How to Manage National Insurance for further insight into these issues, and more information on National Insurance.

Data Protection Act 1998 - End of Transitional Arrangements, October 2007

A number of transitional relief arrangements were included in the 1998 regulations, the last of which will expire during October. This means that from 24 October 2007, the Data Protection Act will be fully enacted.

This comes alongside new research from the Information Commissioner’s Office that small businesses have a much lower awareness of the principles of the Data Protection Act than larger organisations. According to the research, just over half of small businesses understand the importance of keeping personal data secure, but only 22% were aware that they were required to keep customer information accurate and up to date.

Any business that is not completely confident that they comply with the law must act now, by reviewing the eight core data protection principles, making changes to their data handling processes where necessary.

Find out more about the eight data protection principles in the Business Link Guide to Data Protection