Member News

The planned changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme have been confirmed by the Chancellor and set out in a factsheet. Further guidance on flexible furloughing and how employers should calculate claims is expected from HMRC on 12 June.

Flexible furloughing   Employers will be given the flexibility to bring furloughed employees back part time from 1 July 2020, but will be responsible for paying the employees’ wages for the hours/days worked. Employers will be able to continue to claim under the scheme for the balance of an employee’s normal hours and will be required to confirm the usual hours an employee would be expected to work in a claim period and the actual hours worked.   Scheme closes to new employees from end of June   From July onwards, claims can only be made by employers already using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme in respect of previously furloughed employees.   The scheme will close to new entrants on 30 June, which means that the final date by which an employer can furlough an employee for the first time will be 10 June, in order to have met the three week minimum period of furlough. However, employers will have until 31 July to make any claims in respect of wages for June.   Employer contributions   The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is to be slowly tapered from August 2020, resulting in employers being required to gradually increase their contributions towards furlough pay.   The tapering will take effect as follows:   June and July:   The Government will pay 80% of wages, up to a cap of £2,500, plus employer National Insurance and pension contributions. Employers are not required to pay anything.   August:   The Government will pay 80% of wages, up to a cap of £2,500. Employers will pay employer National Insurance and pension contributions.   September:   The Government will pay 70% of wages, up to a cap of £2,187.50. Employers will pay 10% of wages to make up 80% total, up to a cap of £2,500, plus employer National Insurance and pension contributions.   October:   The Government will pay 60% of wages up to a cap of £1,875. Employers will pay 20% of wages to make up 80% total, up to a cap of £2,500, employer National Insurance and pension contributions.   We await the further details from HMRC on 12 June.   Speak to the specialist Employment Law team at Hatch Brenner Solicitors for Employment law advice via 01603 660 811, or find out more in our Employment Law for Employees and Employment Law for Employers web pages.

We take a look at one of the many ways you can assist the implementation of social distancing measures in an office environment, by using zonal flooring.

Open plan offices may struggle to find adequate ways to keep employees distanced when returning to work, following the adjustments to current coronavirus rules. Zonal flooring is one effective way to keep continuity with a new spatial design, and clearly divide large open plan spaces into concise, targeted areas.

Have read HERE

On 12 May, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention, or “furlough” Scheme was to be extended, providing additional support for wages until October.

In that announcement, he said that the scheme under current rules would be extended until the end of July, but thereafter there would be a winding down of the scheme, with employers required to contribute and part-time working being a possibility.

On 29 May the Chancellor added a little more meat to the bones of this announcement, and also changed it slightly in response to pressure from business groups.

The headline points are as follows:

• the last day for employers to put staff onto the furlough scheme is 10 June 2020 if they haven’t furloughed that particular staff member for at least three weeks previously – please be mindful of this if you are rotating staff or still unclear of whether you will need staff moving forwards. This is because the scheme is closed to new entrants from 30 June, and the individual will need to have been furloughed for at least three weeks prior to this at some stage
• the flexibility to the furlough scheme has been brought forward, to commence from 1 July 2020 – from this point staff will be able to work part-time and be furloughed part-time, and businesses will decide how to effect this in practice. This is likely to be of real benefit to businesses who are trying to operate again but either don’t have a need for a full cohort of staff or cannot have everyone in for safety reasons
• the furlough scheme will close on 31 October 2020.

From 1 August 2020, the furlough scheme’s support begins to be wound down:

• in August, businesses will take over the responsibility of paying employer’s national insurance contributions and pension contributions and will no longer be able to reclaim them through the scheme
• in September, the reimbursement will drop to 70% of salary (to a cap of £2,190 per month). In order to be eligible for the grant, businesses must top up to at least 80% of salary
• in October, the reimbursement will drop to 60% of salary (to a cap of £1,875 per month). In order to be eligible for the grant, businesses must top up to at least 80% of salary.

We are still awaiting the updates to the Treasury Direction and the Employer’s Guidance which are expected by 12 June.

Further advice and free webinar

For an in-depth look at the extension to the scheme, the rules that will apply and how things have changed following the release of that guidance, please JOIN US for a FREE webinar on Monday 15 June at 2pm where we will be considering the changes to the scheme. For further information and to book your place, please click here.

For specific advice for your business, please get in touch with our specialist Employment Law team through this website or by calling 0330 404 0778.

For all of our COVID-19 (Coronavirus) advice, please visit https://www.ashtonslegal.co.uk/coronavirus/

Our partners at Ashtons HR Consulting are also on hand to assist you.

This information is correct at 11.00am on 1 June 2020.

The Norfolk Mead have refreshed their popular takeaway Afternoon Tea menu for June.

The summer-inspired menu now includes a strawberry and ruby chocolate pot, lemon drizzle cake with lemon curd, alongside owner Anna’s famous chocolate brownie with salted caramel banoffee topping. The full cream team also includes fresh sandwiches which have been refreshed to include smoked ham with Dijon mayonnaise, mature cheddar and chutney, and egg mayonnaise with mustard cress. For savoury fans, there is a sausage and apple roll, and of course, the amazing plain and fruit scones with clotted cream and fruit jam.    James Holliday, Owner of the Norfolk Mead commented: “It has been really fun working through ideas to refresh our Afternoon Tea menu for June – inspired by summer flavours of strawberry and lemon, we are so pleased with the new menu. A cream tea is a real treat – very celebratory, and our customers are enjoying laying everything out at home to enjoy in the garden whilst the weather has been so gorgeous.    “Now the lockdown measures have been eased to allow larger groups to meet, we’ve heard from customers who are planning to meet friends and family outside who they haven’t seen for several months, with the cream tea something everyone can enjoy to make the occasion really special and memorable. As we offer cream tea delivery, it’s also a great option for people who can’t get out and about yet so we’ve had orders from people who want to treat their neighbours or elderly relatives. We’re so grateful to the local community for supporting our business during this time, and have heard of lots of people trying us for the first time which is fantastic.”    Priced at £15 per head, delivery is £3 within 18 miles of Coltishall (NR12 7DN), and the team will consider further deliveries – although this may be subject to an additional delivery charge. Afternoon tea can also be collected directly from the Hotel in line with the most recent social distancing and Covid-secure guidelines.    The Takeaway Afternoon Tea Delivery and collection is available every weekend throughout June. Order Norfolk cream tea delivery here, or email info@norfolkmead.co.uk

Green Duck on Western Way in Bury St Edmunds has taken cyber security company Labsec under their wing, expanding their IT offering for businesses into the realm of network, application and data security.

With UK small businesses targeted with 65,000 attempted cyber attacks each day and the average cost of a data breach clear up standing at £25,700, according to insurance firm Hiscox[1], it has never been more essential to have robust security measures in place especially as workforces enter into a more remote way of working.

The incorporation of Labsec into Green Duck’s operations enables the IT collective to provide invaluable cyber security consultancy including strategy and planning to protect against and identify risks of data breach, incident response planning for effective action, and cyber security awareness training for employees.

The acquisition of Labsec comes just over two years after Green Duck joined forces with website and app development company Source Code Studio, seeing the Bury St Edmunds based business continue to expand and grow.

A relaunch of the newly branded Source Code Studio and introduction of expanded website design and app development services is also coming imminenly. 

“We never want to stand still,” explained Green Duck CEO Rod Jackson. “We’re ambitious. This means we strive to continually learn, develop and innovate in order to offer exceptional products and services to our customers.

“By joining forces with Labsec and Source Code Studio, Green Duck can operate as an IT collective, which means clients benefit from a single point of contact for all their IT infrastructure, support, software and security needs. Gone are the days of a business owner or IT manager acting as a go-between for multiple providers – now you have access to experts all in one place.”

To discover more about Green Duck and new additions Labsec and Source Code Studio, visit greenduck.co.uk or call 01284 700015.

[1] https://www.hiscoxgroup.com/news/press-releases/2018/18-10-18

Sign up for our free “Let’s Talk” newsletter including recruitment information and advice, legislation updates and much more! 

HR support and advice is more critical than ever before, Hales Group want to help our clients navigate any prevalent staff issues and provide answers on some of the most commonly asked questions during this time.

Please find a link below to the third edition of Let’s Talk.

https://online.flippingbook.com/view/396759/

Let’s Talk will be issued every fortnight, if there are any topics you would like to see covered or have any specific questions you would like us to answer please contact us.  

Business Advisory experts Mark Curtis and James Lay, partners at MHA Larking Gowen, have been speaking about their understanding and explanations of the guidance being offered from the Government. Their podcast series explains guidance in more detail and also offers sound business advice to help you through these uncertain times. 

Click here to listen to the first 3 episodes – To Furlough and Beyond, Pricing in a Pandemic, and The Office is Dead, Long Live the Office! 

Nine pupils from Norwich School, have been helping to fund raise for the last month.  They have sold 400 races and raised just over £3000 for the Priscilla Bacon Hospice.  They  need to sell another 60 races by Friday to reach £3500!

Are you missing your local Park Run? Or want to test your 5K time and receive a medal? Members of Norwich School company ‘Velocitas’, one of the school’s Young Chamber groups, have been working in collaboration with local Running Club, Norwich Road Runners and the Priscilla Bacon Hospice charity to create a virtual road race, all for a brilliant cause.

Race from your place virtual 5k race asks people to donate £10 so they can individually take part in a 5K run from their home between 13th and 31st May, with all proceeds going to the hospice appeal. All runners will receive a medal, certificate and the chance to top the leader board!

Pupils will be managing all aspects of the race including marketing (Olivia White U5 produced this flier), validating and producing results (including an in-house school version) and sending out the race medals and certificates.   

Before the start date of the race, pupils will email a race number to entrants, which can be printed and worn on your individual race day.  Why not wear your school /house colours then send us a picture of you starting or finishing your race?

To find out more, full details can be found on the flyer below or via the Race booking site; https://totalracetiming.co.uk/race/221

The Sainsbury Centre is delighted to announce the acquisition of a significant group of works by Elizabeth Frink made possible in accordance with the wishes of the artist’s late son, Lin Jammet. This acquisition follows the highly celebrated exhibition, Elisabeth Frink: Humans and Other Animals, held at the Centre in 2018. The works consist of 29 sculptures and drawings, by one of the most important British sculptors of the twentieth century. They will be displayed at the Sainsbury Centre art museum and its Sculpture Park at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK. This acquisition was initiated in collaboration with the artist’s son, Lin Jammet, who sadly died in 2017. However, it was his wish that a group of his mother’s works should remain after the exhibition and become part of the permanent holdings in the region of the Suffolk-born artist’s birth. The acquisition includes powerful examples of work from all periods of Frink’s artistic practice. Frink was known for depicting the relationship between humans and animals and this was a theme she returned to throughout her life. Whilst offering exciting contemporary possibilities both metaphorically and directly, she was conscious of the fact that animals appear in art from the very earliest times and that their relationship with humans is interdependent. Frink rose to prominence while still a student at Chelsea College of Art in 1952, when she had her first major gallery exhibition and won a prize in an international competition for the Monument to the Unknown Political Prisoner. She created a series of expressionist bird sculptures which, for her, evoked ‘strong feelings of panic, tension, aggression and predatoriness’. Frink was associated with the Geometry of Fear group of British sculptors and created one of the most succinct responses to the Second World War and to the climate of fear generated by the encroaching Cold War. In the 1950s, her falling and spinning men, and associated drawings, echo images of early cosmonauts such as Yuri Gagarin, the first human in outer space.  Frink’s most famous and unique theme is a series of heads, the Goggle Heads (1967-69) and Tribute Heads (1970s-80s), which explore the contradictory forces of masculinity and vulnerability. The acquisition includes examples of both series. Like other great twentieth century artists including Bacon and Picasso, Frink explores the binary attributes of human behaviour, representing man as both aggressor and brutalised victim.  This theme is also illustrated in the representation of the warrior figure (Soldier 1963). The Mirage Birds, (Mirage I and Mirage II, 1969) illustrate her work in large scale bronze and take up residency in the Sainsbury Centre’s 350-acre Sculpture Park at the University of East Anglia. They represent a more playful and abstracted form of depiction set against the watery backdrop of a Norfolk Broad.     Frink was one of the twentieth century’s great draughtsmen with the ability to convey sculptural form on paper. The acquisition of 9 drawings and 4 prints includes her Green Man series, which was made when Frink knew that she was likely to die whilst only in her 60s. Frink found solace in the popular medieval symbol of rebirth and new life, resulting in works as fresh and invigorating as anything she had ever produced.  Sainsbury Centre Head of Collections and curator of Elizabeth Frink: Humans and Other Animals, Calvin Winner says:   “We are delighted that a significant body of work is held in a public collection in the region of Frink’s birth. The Sainsbury Centre is perhaps best known for its holdings of sculpture from ancient times to the present day. Frink’s work will now be seen alongside some of the greatest sculpture ever made. This a is fitting tribute to one of the most important British sculptors of the twentieth century.”

Norfolk and Waveney cancer charity, Big C, has announced the launch of virtual support group meetings for men, women and young people, to further bolster the package of support on offer to those affected by cancer in our community during the pandemic.

The Men’s Support Group, which usually meets at Big C Norwich Centre, met virtually for the first-time recently. The meeting was facilitated by Big C Cancer Information Clinical Nurse, Julian Pollard. He said “Everyone was very positive towards the experience. Many of the men in the group have been in isolation and shielding for several weeks, so being able to see people, especially those from their peer support group was really beneficial for them.”

Tim O’Shanohun, a service user who regularly attends the group, said: “By having this, it goes to show you that support is there for those who need it. Having this group meeting and the support packs that have been sent to me has been a bit of a lifeline at the moment.”

The Women’s Support Group, who also usually meet at the Norwich Big C Centre, hosted their first virtual meeting on the 15th May, organised by Cancer Information Clinical Nurse Specialist, Jenny Daly and Support and Information Nurse, Julie Taafe.

Jenny said: “The ladies who joined myself and Julie enjoyed having the catch up with everyone and sharing how they have been coping with the lockdown. The ladies were really pleased to be able to have the opportunity to use Zoom to stay in contact.”

Ladies group member, Yvonne, said,  “As I have very much missed my regular visits to the Big C centre for support, relaxation and the ladies group, I found the session yesterday very helpful as it was really good to actually see people for a discussion rather than by telephone and to know the support is there too. With my only outings where I have conversations face to face with people (other than my husband) confined to visits to the supermarket, Zoom is an excellent way of keeping in touch, like having friends round which is as close as we can at the moment.”

The Free2Be support group for young people aged 13 to 25, who have or have had a cancer diagnosis, also held a virtual support group this week.

Big C area manager, Tonia King, said: “The young people that attended really enjoyed reconnecting again and have developed great supportive friendships. We had one member join us from their hospital bed, with the group offering a much-needed distraction for the long days with no visitors. During the meeting we had some members donning fancy dress and wigs to much amusement, plus some showing off how they have been keeping active at home. My personal favourite highlight was the group singalong and dancing to Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5.”

Bianca Rudd who attends the Free2Be group said “Being at the Free2Be meeting is like been with my second family however, they aren’t family; they are people which have been through a similar situation as you have, with professionals who are there listen to you, help you if you need it and they are there to support you, not judge you and without them I wouldn’t be where I am now.”

Another group member added: “The meeting was just what I needed. To see my cancer family was a perfect way to put a smile on my face in a troubling time. It was great to see how much Big C are still there for the people that need them.”

Big C Director of Operations, Dr Melanie Pascale said, “The Big C support team has done a tremendous job to set up the virtual group meetings which, from the feedback we have already received, we know are of great value and comfort to those affected by cancer in our community. The circumstances are currently very tough for those with cancer, but with the right support and friendship people are often able to find enormous strength and resilience.”

For more information about Big C Support Groups, please call 0800 092 7640 (free to call, Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm).

To learn more about the work Big C does to improve the lives of those affected by cancer in Norfolk and Waveney, please visit www.big-c.co.uk

In response the current pandemic and the recent easing of restrictions, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has produced a set of guides to help businesses get back up and running and workplaces operating as safely as possible. The Coronavirus Bulletins are specific guides providing clear guidance for travel and tour operators, food businesses and the housing and home improvement sector. Guides are updated regularly and can be downloaded free from the Business Companion website using the following link:

https://www.businesscompanion.info/focus/coronavirus-covid-19#utm_source=TSO&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Covid-19%20buisness%20guidance

With over a quarter of the British workforce being furloughed, and more people than ever working from home, many people are wondering what life will look like when millions of people return to work.

In this article, we look at advice from the government, the health and safety executive and other trusted sources to answer six big questions on how the next few months will look, and what businesses can do right now to prepare.

Read the full article here