The new National Living Wage came into effect in April 2016, replacing the National Minimum Wage for all employees over the age of 25.

Around six million people in the UK now receive new National Living Wage, but how do you find out whether it can benefit you and what do you have to do to make sure you get it?

Our Q&A with Priority Appointments' Business Director Tracy Welch tells you all you need to know:

Q: How do you apply for the National Living Wage?

A: You don’t have to apply for it. Your employer, or your agency if you work as a temp through Priority Appointments, will automatically check if you are eligible for the National Living Wage.

Q: I work part-time – will I still get it?

A: If you pay National Insurance, have a contract of employment or you are a contractor paid via an agency like Priority Appointments. you should be eligible. If your work is completely flexible, you may not be, as you will be considered to be self-employed. You can check if you will be eligible using this calculator.

Q: I am not yet 25, so what do I get?

A: You continue to receive the Minimum Wage until you are 25. There are different rates for over-21s; 18 – 20 year olds; under 18s and apprentices. You can check the current rates on the UK government website.

Q: Is this the same as the Real Living Wage?

A: The 'Real Living Wage' is a voluntary pay structure promoted by the Living Wage Foundation. This is not run by the Government and is not mandatory for employers. However, more and more companies are signing up to the scheme all the time, so it would be worth asking your employer if they are a member.

For information on local jobs at excellent rates of pay, please contact Tracy Welch.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has published a useful infographic which clearly explains the rights of Agency Workers.

An ‘agency worker’ is defined as someone who is engaged by an agency and supplied to work under the supervision and direction of another business, so temps and contract workers will all come under this heading

You can download a copy of the infographic here.

The way you write your CV can have a huge impact on whether it is read, let alone whether it gets you that all-important interview.

So here are some tried and tested do’s and don’ts to bear in mind when you’re writing your CV:

DO… Write your CV with your potential employer in mind. Look at the advert or specification and think about what the job involves and what the employer needs. Find out about the main services the employer provides.

DON’T… Hand-write your CV. This looks unprofessional and old fashioned.

DO… Tailor your CV to the job you are applying for. Your CV shouldn’t detail your life story but it should be adjusted to suit the job you’re applying for, focusing on the skills you have that are important for that particular job.

DON’T… Include negative information.  Failed exams, divorces, unsuccessful business ventures, driving bans etc don’t need to be mentioned. Don’t lie, but don’t give the interviewer any reason to discard you at this stage either.

DO… Make sure your CV is clear, neat and tidy. Ask someone to check your spelling and grammar (remember your CV is selling YOU, so don’t affect your chances by making careless mistakes). It should be easy to read with space between each section. Don’t include too much information – keep it short and use left-justified text as it’s easiest to read.

DON’T… Make your CV any longer than two pages – you can leave out information that is less important. You don’t need to include referees – just state they are available if required. Don’t go into detail about all of the jobs you have had since school, just the relevant ones. Add information about your most recent qualifications, but summarise the rest.

DO… Place the important information (personal statement and work history) at the beginning and include experience and educational achievements in reverse order. Talk about experiences and interests that might be of use to the employer: IT skills, voluntary work, foreign language competency, driving skills, hobbies and interests that show you’re a team player and have organisation/leadership skills.

DON’T… Don’t bother with the list of schools you went to with results unless you are new to the job market.  Also, don’t include a long list of hobbies, or an overly-detailed work history. Think about demonstrating what you have achieved by applying the skills you have worked at, and explain the benefits your clients have enjoyed as a result of your work.

DO… Use positive and friendly language.  Describe your work achievements use words such as ‘launched’, ‘managed’, ‘co-ordinated’, ‘motivated’, ‘supervised’ and ‘achieved’. Include specific outcomes to prove your claims. For example, ‘This reduced the development time from 7 to 3 days’ or ‘This improved the company’s internal structure, and enabled us to reduce overheads from £35,000 to £23,000 per year’.

DON’T… Use jargon, acronyms, technical terms and internal phrases unless essential. And of course, be truthful – employers have ways of checking what you claim is accurate.

DO … Ensure that the relevant information on your CV matches your LinkedIn profile as many employers will check this.

Once you’re happy with it, send it over to us to have a look at – we may have the perfect job for you!  Click here to send us your CV.

As a leading recruitment consultancy in Basingstoke, Priority Appointments is proud to meet and exceed the Recruitment and Employers Confederation (REC) Code of Professional Practice and comply with all employment regulations.

There is a lot of talk in the media about the ‘gig economy’. It was originally hailed as a model of work that could deliver flexibility and freedom from red tape for both employers and those seeking employment alike.

Gig Economy Issues and Risks

The Office for National Statistics estimates that 15% of the British labour market is now self-employed, with almost 5 million people classified as ‘gig workers’ (2017).

Despite the numbers using online work platforms, there are negative aspects to this unregulated sector of the employment market. There have been high-profile court cases in the media about problems in the taxi, courier and delivery markets in particular which have taken much of the shine off this form of resourcing.

What It Means for Employers

‘Gig economy’ platforms are completely unregulated, with individuals inhabiting a grey area of the market outside conventional employment legislation. For sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, driving or healthcare, where safety is a key concern, using staff via unregulated ‘gig’ platforms poses a serious risk.

By contrast, employing temps through a professional recruitment consultancy offers both employers and workers a regulated framework. This market is overseen by the Director of Labour Market Enforcement and regulated by the Employment Agency Standards (EAS) Inspectorate.

Under the terms of the regulations, consultants must:

• Provide written contracts for agency workers
• Not charge a fee to those seeking employment
• Not withhold any wages or monies due or make unlawful deductions
• Not stop a worker from seeking work elsewhere

Choosing a Regulated Recruitment Partner

Recruitment consultants like Priority Appointments, which are members of the Recruitment and Employers Confederation (REC), also have to comply with its guidance and can be investigated by the body and disciplinary action taken if they are found to be in breach.

For employers, the risk of using gig economy platforms is great. In addition to potentially breaching the Employment Standards Agency Inspectorate regulations, it is easy for employers to fall foul of anti-slavery regulations enforced by the Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority. You can read more about this important set of regulations and find out how to write a Modern Slavery Policy for your business in our Employer Advice article on Modern Slavery.

Making a Wise Choice

So whilst the status of workers in the gig economy remains unclear, it is a wise choice for employers to choose a recruitment partner which knows their market sector and local business area, and which can demonstrate compliance with all regulations.

Priority Appointments is a member of REC and adheres to all employment regulations, as well as following the REC Code of Professional Conduct.

If you are looking to fill jobs in Basingstoke and the surrounding areas of Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire, please get in touch to find out more about our services.

The National Living Wage is frequently in the news, with even large and reputable companies under the spotlight for not having kept up with regulations and incurring fines for underpaying some staff.

This has highlighted how important it is for companies of every size to understand their obligations and comply with the regulations.

The UK has two compulsory minimum pay scales in place, governed by two different sets of regulation:

• National Living Wage (NLW) regulations came into effect in 2016 with the goal of ensuring that all over-25s will be paid at least £9 per hour by 2020.

• National Minimum Wage (NMW) has been in force since 1999 and applies to employees under 25.

Rates for both the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage are reviewed annually by the Low Pay Commission.

In April 2018, the National Living Wage increased to £8.05 per hour and will rise to £8.50 per hour by 2019.

Penalties for employers who flout the regulations are punitive. If an employee can prove that they have not been paid correctly, HMRC can issue a fine and insist that employers pay any arrears. If these monies are still unpaid, the employment tribunal could impose fines of up to £20,000. 

Voluntary ‘Real Living Wage’ Scheme

To complicate matters further, there is also a voluntary scheme known as the 'Real Living Wage', run by the charity the Living Wage Foundation, which aims to set a recommended minimum pay-scale based on the cost of living. This is independently calculated each year and applies to all employees over 18.

There are currently around 4,500 accredited employers who support this scheme from very large employers, such as Google or Burberry, through to small, independent businesses. The charity says that by choosing to opt in to the voluntary Living Wage, organisations are more likely to attract the best staff.

As a reputable consultancy with some 20 years experience, we understand the nature of the local job market, which means we can offer you guidance on the optimum hourly pay rates and salaries to attract the best candidates.

For more information about setting appropriate pay rates, contact Tracy Welch at Priority Appointments on 01256 334575 or email us.

Tracy Welch shares her top three tips to help businesses which offer jobs in Basingstoke, Alton, Camberley, Andover, Winchester and the surrounding areas to build the right team for long-term success

Our home town of Basingstoke is a pretty buzzing place to live and work right now. Given our location just between the M4 and M3 and the easy access the area offers from Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire, it is no wonder that so many local businesses are seeing many of the benefits of the overall improvements in the UK economy.

Basingstoke is one of the country’s Business Improvement Districts (BID) under the brand ‘Basingstoke Together’. The BID is designed to encourage local businesses to work together to improve the town’s economy by leveraging their joint buying power and attracting more commercial spend in the area. Investment continues to grow, with several new business ventures in the area.

Our neighbouring town of Hartley Wintney is also getting in on the act, and had its moment of fame with starring role in one of the episodes of the BBC series, ‘Best Bakes Ever’!

However, the potential downside of this prodigious growth is that businesses are finding it hard to source the people they need to help their companies to capitalise on the opportunities that a buoyant market offers.

So how can you ensure that your business will be one of those which benefits from all the inward investment and media attention in and around the Basingstoke area?

Well, as the hundreds of local people who take part in the annual Basingstoke Half Marathon in October will tell you, the secret to success over the mid to long term is to have a strategy that will enable you to stay the distance, as well as dealing with challenges in the short term. Here are our top three tips to help you get the right teams in place so you can stay the distance in the race for growth and success:

1.  You need the right team in place to support long-term success, not just for a short sprint.  As an employer, you need to plan your recruitment strategy months – or even a full year ahead if you want to secure the best candidates. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation regularly publishes reports on the availability of key staff and over the past couple of years this has consistently shown that businesses around the UK are worried about the anticipated shortage of permanent and temporary staff with many firms reporting difficulties in finding people with the right skills in the technical, logistics and professional/managerial sectors in particular.

2.  You need the right resources for every step of the race. Whilst a long-term strategy is key, every business needs to also ensure that it has the right staff to deal with seasonal fluctuations, short-term rushes or to meet tactical business needs. A good plan is to work with a trusted recruitment partner who can help you find agency workers to deliver short-term access to the key skills your business needs, whilst also supporting your long-term goals.

3.  You need advice and support from experienced professionals you trust to help you achieve your goals. By working with a local recruitment partner who knows the area; understands your business and has access to people with the right skills, you can maximise your chances of securing the right people for your business for both permanent and temporary posts much more quickly. If you choose a recruitment consultancy that has a strong local reputation, you will also have a much better chance of getting the sort of candidates who are interested in staying for the longer term, helping to save you time and money compared with appointing short-term staff.  In a climate where finding candidates for permanent roles continues to be a challenge, it is more vital than ever to work with a recruitment partner who can help you find and attract the right people.

At Priority Appointments, we know about staying the distance: we have been finding great jobs for people in Basingstoke, Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire for almost 20 years and our knowledgeable team has over 60 years’ combined experience.

Our specialist Office and Industrial recruitment consultants take the time to find out what you need, talking to every candidate and visiting every business we work with, so we can accurately match people to the local permanent, temporary or contract vacancies that are right for them.

For a no-strings chat about how we can help you fill your Basingstoke-based jobs, do contact us on 01256 334575.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development conducted a comprehensive survey of the UK workforce recently which provides helpful insight into how workers are feeling about their jobs.

They found that:

• 45% thought that their pay is ‘appropriate’ for what they do, but 36% did not.
• Almost half of all jobs failed to provide decent career development.
• 30% of workers said they have workloads that are to some extent unmanageable.
• 80% of employees rated their relationship with their managers positively.
• 55% felt under excessive pressure, exhausted or regularly miserable
• 30% said they are often or always ‘full of energy’ at work.
• 63% said they would like to reduce their hours.

They conclude that “Work is a significant component of our lives, and meaningful, satisfying work through quality employment will reap benefits for individuals, organisations and society as a whole” and encourage policymakers, employers and workers to work together to:

• Create clearer paths to career progression.
• Give access to flexible working.
• Improve line management and HR capability.
• Review job design and organisational culture to reduce excessive workload and stress.
• Champion mental health and overall wellbeing.”

Using this research as a guide, what steps could you take to make sure the jobs and packages you offer staff will help them rate your business as a great company to work for?

According to the Recruitment and Employers’ Confederation (REC) the pressure to find the best people is likely to increase even further next year:

• For permanent staff, the report says that 97% of employers are planning to either increase or maintain existing levels of permanent staff in the short-term, compared with 93% last year.

• In the temporary and contract sector, 62% of businesses said that temps were key to enable them to respond to fast-changing organisational requirements – a significant rise from 51% last year.

So plan ahead to ensure that you have the best employment package ready to attract the right temporary or contract staff and so you are prepared for the turnover of permanent staff in the New Year.

Don’t get left behind!

We’re working throughout the Christmas period, so if you want to secure the best staff in 2019 ask for our help now, just call 01256 334575.