Five banks are taking back traders’ bonuses because of the Forex rigging scandal November 15, 2014 Five of Britain's biggest banks are preparing to take back millions of dollars worth of traders' bonuses, in an attempt to make reparations for their involvement in the Forex rigging scandal. According to the FT, the banks going ahead with the clawbacks are UBS, RBS, Citigroup, HSBC and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Earlier [...]
Virgin Money IPO: Jayne-Anne Gadhia to get £1m bonus, but misses a bigger payout on low valuation November 13, 2014 Virgin Money’s chief executive yesterday received a bonus of almost £1m for successfully floating the business at a valuation of £1.25bn. Jayne-Anne Gadhia was given around one-third of a million shares, amounting to 0.086 per cent of the bank’s stock and valued at just under £1m. But she missed out on a bigger [...]
As the Bank of England predicts low inflation for longer, is real wage growth here to stay? November 12, 2014 Rob Wood is chief UK economist at Berenberg Bank, says Yes. Real wage growth is here to stay, but it’s important to keep some perspective. We are finally seeing wages rise above inflation, partly because petrol and food price falls have dragged the latter down. Money wage growth remains weak, if better than a few [...]
UK unemployment sticks at 6 per cent – as wage growth finally rises above inflation November 12, 2014 UK unemployment remained flat at six per cent in the three months to September, slightly missing analyst expectations, official statistics published this morning showed. In total there were 30.79m people in work, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This was 112,000 more than for April to June 2014 and 694,000 more than for a year [...]
Honey, I‘ve shrunk your bonus November 10, 2014 Bonuses on Wall Street could be down as much as 10 per cent for some professionals this year, according to a closely watched survey by consulting firm Johnson Associates. Overall, the firm expects 2014 bonuses to be flat compared with last year. However, the size of bonuses varies significantly across the industry. Stock and bond [...]
Wage growth could be sluggish due to increasing labour supply November 10, 2014 Employment intentions remain high but wages may not pick up due to an increasing supply of labour, an industry body has said. Near-term employment expectations are at a seven-year high, according to survey results published yesterday by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), a human resources industry body. This is reflected in the [...]
Archbishop of York urges UK businesses to adopt living wage to tackle income inequality November 10, 2014 It is time for UK businesses to start supporting the living wage, the Archbishop of York argued to Britain’s business leaders today. Archbishop John Sentamu delivered a stern and simple message to the Confederation of British Industry annual conference: “Work must pay.” The living wage, which is set at £9.15 per hour in [...]
Asda is discovering the perils of Britain’s incoherent employment regulations October 29, 2014 DESPITE a remarkable reduction in Employment Tribunal claims, the system continues to throw up major problems for employers, with potentially disastrous consequences for business. First, the government is worried about two recent claims concerning holiday pay. For many years, this entitlement has been calculated by reference to basic pay. But the claims, backed by trade [...]
UK business is booming – but are workers being forced into self-employment? October 29, 2014 The number of businesses in the UK grew by 4.4 per cent between March 2013 and March 2014 as the recovery gathered pace, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures published this morning. The total number of VAT and/or PAYE businesses rose by 96,000 during the period. The report also showed the continued [...]
Still lovin’ it? McDonald’s shows why a minimum wage hike is no free lunch October 27, 2014 McDonald's has been a major target for US protestors advocating a significant minimum wage hike. A multi-billion dollar company with a recognisable global brand, it has faced a high-profile campaign from those frustrated with low wage rates. Mandating higher wages for McDonald’s workers would not lead to job losses or cuts to hours, protestors argued. [...]