http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/firm/partners Donec porttitor elit quis neque. Quisque tellus tellus, pellentesque eu, semper eget, gravida ut, urna. Morbi sed diam vitae ipsum varius tempus. Maecenas neque lectus, dapibus quis, rhoncus quis, hendrerit id, ipsum. en costaspavlou@mercerhole.co.uk Copyright 2008 2008-07-09T14:42:00+00:00 http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/firm/partnersmercer_hole_company_brochure_2007/ http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/firm/partnersmercer_hole_company_brochure_2007/ 2007-08-14T11:36:01+00:00 http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/firm/partnersnightingale_associates_financial_services_newsletter/ http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/firm/partnersnightingale_associates_financial_services_newsletter/ 2008-07-09T14:42:00+00:00 http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/news/people-entry/equalities_bill/ http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/news/people-entry/equalities_bill/ In June, the government announced an Equalities Bill which is expected to be introduced in to the next Parliamentary session, starting in November. It is designed to “declutter” our discrimination laws which have built up over the last 40 years. They point out that there are currently nine major pieces of discrimination legislation, around 100 statutory instruments and more than 2,500 pages of guidance and statutory codes of practice. These cover discrimination on grounds of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation and religion or belief. The aim is to clarify legislation and guidance, to help those who benefit from the law and those who need to comply with it. The aims are to • Introduce a new Equality Duty on the public sector. • End age discrimination • Require transparency • Extend the scope of positive action • Strengthen enforcement This is a step closer towards positive discrimination, enabling employers to favour female or ethnic minority candidates if they are under represented in the workplace and are equally qualified for the job, compared with non disadvantaged applicants. It will also encourage employers to disclose information about workers salaries, and prevent secrecy clauses within employment contracts which stop employees discussing their salaries with each other. A comprehensive paper on the content of the Equality Bill will be published soon which will include the Government’s response to the consultation “Discrimination Law Review; A Framework for Fairness: Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain” which was carried out last year. HR's World 2008-07-03T12:18:01+00:00 http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/news/people-entry/challenge_to_compulsory_retirement_age/ http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/news/people-entry/challenge_to_compulsory_retirement_age/ The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 permit employers to dismiss on the grounds of retirement those employees who are aged 65 or over without this being regarded as age discrimination, unless a normal retirement age in excess of 65 applies to that employment. An employer wishing to retire an employee compulsorily at any age is required to follow a procedure, giving them between six months and 12 months notice, and informing them of a right to request not to retire. The charity Heyday, part of Age Concern, has disputed the legal retirement age of 65, and there will be a hearing at the European Court of Justice. According to Personnel Today this will now take place on 2 July, which is months earlier than the 2009 date previously expected. Heyday claims that the UK government is in breach of the EU’s Equal Treatment Directive by imposing a mandatory retirement age. If the challenge is successful, employees who were made to retire at 65 could claim age discrimination – some have already puts claims on record in case the UK government loses. Currently employers have a choice of continuing to retire employees and face potential liability if Heyday is successful, or remodelling their retirement policy to remove a mandatory retirement age. Hopefully the situation will become less confusing after 2 July. HR's World 2008-06-10T09:46:00+00:00 http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/firm/partnersaudit_and_other_assurance_services_leaflet/ http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/firm/partnersaudit_and_other_assurance_services_leaflet/ 2008-06-05T11:05:00+00:00 http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/firm/partnerstransaction_services_leaflet/ http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/firm/partnerstransaction_services_leaflet/ 2008-06-05T10:54:00+00:00 http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/news/news-entry/capital_gains_tax_a_new_era_begins2/ http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/news/news-entry/capital_gains_tax_a_new_era_begins2/ In association with the Northamptonshire Chamber, Mercer & Hole Chartered Accountants will be hosting a business seminar on Wednesday 18 June 2008. The seminar ‘Capital Gains Tax (CGT) – A New Era Begins’ will be presented by Robert Jamieson a partner at Mercer & Hole and past president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and will take place at The Heroes Suite, Northampton Saints, Franklin's Gardens, Weedon Road, Northampton NN5 5BG at 17.15. BOOKING INFORMATION – CAPITAL GAINS TAX A NEW ERA BEGINS: Wednesday, 18 June 2008 @ 17:15 - 19:30 (followed by drinks and light snacks) The Heroes Suite, Northampton Saints, Franklin's Gardens, Weedon Road, Northampton NN5 5BG If you would like to book your free space, please send an e-mail including your name, company name and contact details to Palak Patel at marketing@mercerhole.co.uk. Latest News 2008-05-22T12:56:00+00:00 http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/firm/partnersbulletin_april_2008/ http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/firm/partnersbulletin_april_2008/ 2008-05-13T14:58:00+00:00 http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/news/people-entry/tupe_service_provision_change/ http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/news/people-entry/tupe_service_provision_change/ Thomas-James and others v Cornwall County Council and others, has been one of the first cases to examine the application of the service change provision regarding transactions on or after 6 April 2006. These provisions were designed to cover contracting in, contracting out and re-tendering exercises. There are still difficulties with the “amended” TUPE, however, which this case illustrates, when the identification of a transferee for the transferring activities cannot be traced between the outgoing contractor and the new contractor. Cornwall County Council were one of seventeen service providers contracted by the Legal Services Commission to provide a free legal helpline service. Under this scheme, callers would be routed to the next available adviser from any one of those seventeen with the required category of legal specialism. The LSE put the contracts out for re-tender in 2006 and Cornwall County Council decided not to bid. The Council’s contract and the claimants’ employment contracts with the Council terminated in 2007. The contractors operating the new contract numbered nine rather than seventeen and consisted of some of the past contractors plus a number of new contractors. The claimants and the Council claimed that the contracts of employment had passed to the new service providers, which they denied. The Employment Tribunal accepted that the claimants had been part of an organised grouping of employees whose purpose would be to carry out activities on behalf of the Legal Services Commission. It could not, however, ascertain which new service provider had taken over the activities previously undertaken by the outgoing contractor – the council. As it was not possible to identify to which of the nine new service providers the council’s former activities had transferred, the claimants were not protected by TUPE as there could be no service provision change. This is a first instance decision and the case may go to appeal, but it does illustrate the continuing difficulties presented within TUPE. HR's World 2008-05-06T14:44:00+00:00 http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/news/news-entry/mercer_hole_and_the_mk_chamber_host_a_business_seminar/ http://www.mercerhole.co.uk/news/news-entry/mercer_hole_and_the_mk_chamber_host_a_business_seminar/ In conjunction with the MK Chamber, Mercer & Hole Chartered Accountants hosted a business seminar for their professional contacts and MK Chamber members last Monday evening (07/04/08). The seminar ‘Capital Gains Tax (CGT) – A New Era Begins’ was presented by Robert Jamieson a Partner at Mercer & Hole and past president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and took place at the De Vere Venues, Harben House, Milton Keynes. Robert’s presentation touched upon the key issues relating to CGT, which were amplified by the Chancellor’s announcement in October's pre-Budget report where he abolished taper relief and indexation for capital gains tax purposes and brought in a flat rate of 18%. After much lobbying he subsequently acceded to demands for a relief to ameliorate some of the worst effects by announcing the introduction of the new "Entrepreneurs' Relief". These changes have necessitated a radical re-think of tax planning strategies for the disposal of family and owner-managed businesses in particular. Robert’s presentation explained the ramifications of the proposals introduced by the Finance Bill 2008 and provided a number of tips and techniques to mitigate the impact of the new regime. 2008-04-14T12:04:00+00:00