Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

http://www7.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2013/08/05/populus-back-to-normal-following-fridays-shock-lab-11pc-lead/

Populous today Labour lead 5

Conservatives 33 + 4
Labour 38 - 2
I be 12 + 1
UKIP 9 - 3

ZERO HOURS CONTRACTS
please can someone tell me the difference between these and being self-employed like (for instance) courier drivers whose "employers" never put them on the books, a practice that would seem to be universal

that's strange - just a few days ago the unmentionable said he was voting labour, having seemingly given up ukip as well

Zero hours contracts - They are very controversial. The contract puts workers on permanent call for an employer but only get payed when the company needs them.
Often weekend work with the worker taking days off in the week. Its for the employed . Pub chains have workers in this scheme and no doubt supermarkets will follow. You could say some work is better than non. So in real terms you are only a part time worker with the benefits that go with part time work. Not a good road to go down in my view.

The above - workers cannot plan living expenses with say 35 hrs one week, five the next and it could be as the contract states zero hrs the next. Employers have staff by the b---s in these times.

If the driver only works for one courier they are not technically self -employed.
When you say the employer does not put them on the books, I take it you mean they are payed cash? Otherwise when the driver puts his year end return into the revenue they will catch up with his employer.

The difference betwee zero hours and self employed is that zero hours are on the books and paid on PAYE and have NI deducted. The zero hours aspect is that the hours to be worked vary and can be as little as zero for the month or whatever the time period is specified in the contract. This is used when the employer does not know the hours to be worked all the time. Catering staff are used that way and the employer will produce a schedule of hours over the coming week or month. This type of employment has existed for years. It is said that this is on the increase.

Shops employing youngsters and in fact adults often divide the hrs between several staff (say under 20hrs) avoiding Ni. So the worker is not building an Ni entitlement.
Big problems for the future in my opinion.

The zero hours system is not ideal. I can see why it is done for two reasons. Firstly legislation has made it very difficult to sack or replace a worker and this is a reaction to that trend. Secondly, it gives the employer increased flexibility to expand and reduce the workforce as circumstances dictate.

6 August

A senior Labour Shadow Minister has admitted the party is ‘anxious’ about its chances of winning the next general election - as a new poll showed its lead has more than halved in just four months.

Ed Miliband’s party is now just five points ahead of the Conservatives, down from 11 points in March, according to an average of last month’s polls.

Labour’s lowest average poll lead in 17 months piles more pressure on Mr Miliband as his Treasury spokesman yesterday admitted there were jitters in the party about their chances of victory in 2015 and it still needs to develop an ‘offer’ to convince voters on the economy.

Another Labour MP last night accused the frontbench of failing to capitalise on the Government’s financial woes.

Geraint Davies, MP for Swansea West, warned the party had to make a ‘compelling case as to why Britain would be better off with Labour’.

He said the party’s failure to rebut the charge they had messed up the economy ‘makes us look like a shamefaced schoolboy admitting responsibility by omission.’

Last week George Mudie, a former minister, launched a personal attack on Mr Miliband as ‘hesitant, confused and still trying to find himself’.

According to the ‘poll of polls’ for The Independent, 38 per cent currently intend to vote Labour and 33 per cent Conservative. Both the Liberal Democrats and the UK Independence Party are on 11 per cent.

Zero-hours contracts cover more than 1m UK workers

Poll of more than 1,000 employers reveals controversial contract used far more widely in the UK than government data suggests


Simon Goodley and Phillip Inman

The Guardian, Monday 5 August 2013


More than 1 million British workers could be employed on zero-hours contracts, new figures released on Monday reveal, suggesting that British business is deploying the controversial employment terms far more widely than previously thought.

The figure – derived from a poll of more than 1,000 employers conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) – prompted renewed calls for the government to launch a full inquiry into the use of the contracts, after a week in which a string of organisations – from retail chains to Buckingham Palace – have faced criticism for hiring staff but offering no guarantee of work and pay each week. Employees on zero-hours contracts often get no holiday or sick pay and have to ask permission before seeking additional work elsewhere.

The CIPD found that 38% of zero-hours contract workers describe themselves as employed full-time, typically working 30 hours or more a week. One third of voluntary sector employers use the contracts, and one in four public sector organisations.

The latest numbers also call into question the accuracy of official data on the topic. Last week, the Office for National Statistics increased its estimate of the number of UK zero-hours workers by 25%, to around 250,000.

Peter Cheese, the chief executive of the CIPD, said: "Our research suggests they [zero-hours contracts] are being used more commonly than the ONS figures would imply.

"There does need to be a closer look at what is meant by a zero-hours contract, the different forms that they take, and clearer guidance on what good and bad practice in their use looks like. And this needs to consider both the advantages and disadvantages in practice for businesses and employees."

Last week, retailer Sports Direct became the focus of controversy on zero-hours when it emerged that the company employs around 20,000 of its 23,000 staff on the contracts. The retailer's use of the contracts was followed by details of a string of other companies using the deals, including cinema chain Cineworld and Buckingham Palace, which uses them for its 350 summer workers. Pub group JD Wetherspoon has 24,000 of its staff – 80% of its workforce – on the terms.


http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/05/zero-hours-contracts-cover-1m-uk-workers

zero hours contracts
from what you guys tells me, the advantage to the peeps who take zero hours contracts is that they get holiday pay an a number of other employee benefits including unemployment benefit should he put out of work ...... on the other hand, the self-employed courier driver gets none of the above

as I see it, the great advantage to the employer is that he has a flexible workforce on tap ...... in all sorts of fields, I can see that this is an overall advantage to all, not least, that it may well allow a business to remain viable

McDonald's ties nine out of 10 workers to zero-hours contracts

Britain's biggest food chain has 83,000 staff on controversial contract as employers body claims economy needs flexibility



Simon Neville

The Guardian, Monday 5 August 2013 21.13 BST


http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/aug/05/mcdonalds-workers-zero-hour-contracts

Bus-Sized 'Fatberg' Threatened London Streets

Repairs have started after Britain's biggest ever "fatberg" - the size of a double-decker bus - was removed from a London sewer.

The 15-tonne mass of festering food fat mixed with wet wipes and sanitary products threatened to send raw sewage spurting onto the leafy streets of Kingston upon Thames.

"We've never seen a single, congealed lump of lard this big clogging our sewers before," said Thames Water waste contracts supervisor Gordon Hailwood.

The true UK debt according to moneyweek.


http://pro.moneyweek.com/myk-eob-tpr123/EMYKP805/?a=5&o=118788&s=123067&u=1056480&l=406715&r=MC&g=0&h=true

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cartoon/2013/aug/06/martin-rowson-zero-hour-contracts-cartoon

MK
ref post 27778
interesting viewing, i watched it all. thought it very good, and a lot of food for thought,
i may or may not agree with all of it but it was interesting, btw do you know who banned it and what date it is ?contrarians may take note, or not.
regards and thanks for posting it.
jkd

The survey of zero hours staff found that only 14% did not like the arrangement. Many cited the ability to work around school hours or their partner's hours. In many cases the staff were able to turn down hours that were offered to them.

Former U.S. president George W. Bush undergoes procedure to fix artery blockage

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/former-u-s-president-george-w-bush-undergoes-procedure-to-fix-artery-blockage-1.1399609#ixzz2bCdFCUSy

Another foot in mouth situation from UKIP

The UK Independence Party has asked one of its senior politicians not to use the phrase "Bongo Bongo Land" again, warning that people abroad might find it "disparaging".

In footage obtained by the Guardian, recorded last month at a meeting in Wordsley, West Midlands, he said: "How we can possibly be giving £1bn a month, when we're in this sort of debt, to Bongo Bongo Land is completely beyond me.