My son Chris turned 17 last month.

Which is mildly terrifying, not just because it only feels like yesterday, he was starting school, but because it means he’s now the proud owner of a provisional driving licence.

We’re currently in the process of arranging driving lessons, as well as looking for a car for him to practise in, with me peeking through my fingers in the passenger seat.

Luckily (for me), he’s a pretty prudent saver, which means he’s got the money to buy one, so since Easter, he’s been on the hunt for the perfect first car.

His main criteria?  Big screen to “manage” the car and Bluetooth.

Mine?  Good safety rating and reliable.

He’s spent endless hours scrolling on AutoTrader, sometimes coming up with genuine, sensible suggestions, and other times asking about Cadillacs.

In the end though, we settled on a model – the Hyundai i10 – and he found a good value one.

Only snag?  It was in Peterborough.

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We’ve had a rash of settlement agreements to draw up recently.

Usually we’re asked to do these because the business doesn’t want to go through a lengthy redundancy process before possibly parting company.

However, the struggle is usually getting the business to understand that they are not just paying the employee their notice to go.

They have to pay them more than that (sometimes much more) as they’re actually paying them for giving up their right to sue the business.

And you have to pay tax and NI on notice periods, even under a settlement agreement.

So, to work out how much you should be paying, as a minimum, you need to pay them their notice period PLUS what they would have got if they had been made redundant PLUS a sum for giving up their right to sue you.

This only works as a ballpark figure if we are talking about unfair dismissal – if it’s discrimination, then you really need to be willing to offer at least one year’s pay.

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I’m having some work done on my garden.

“Work” doesn’t really do it justice – they’re ripping the whole thing out and starting again – the ramshackle fence overgrown with ivy included.

It might surprise you to learn that I’m no landscape gardener, so I defaulted to the three experts I was paying handsomely for the job.

They asked me about fencing, and I chose close boards, with the smooth side inwards, towards the garden.

All three of the experts queried this – they thought people could use the horizontal struts to climb over the fence – a legitimate concern maybe, but since the garden gate is never locked, not one I was worried about.

Anyway, I came home from work after they’d been working on the fencing and went out to measure the space I’d earmarked for my outdoor fireplace.

It no longer fitted.

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In our local village, there’s a 20mph limit.

In principle, it’s a great idea, with kids, dogs and old people all in plentiful supply.

In practice, it’s completely ignored.

They’ve tried all sorts to enforce it – signs, sleeping policemen, signs, cameras, notes through doors, signs, the list goes on.

Nothing’s worked, until the other day when they inadvertently cracked it.

I was driving through Pangbourne, on the way to the M4, and was taken aback by the snail-like speed of the traffic going so slowly at an off-peak time.

What sorcery was this?  How had they succeeded; had the signs finally done their bit?!

Nope.  As it turned out, the local Lamborghini garage had put eleven of their vehicles out the front – ranging from bright yellow to matte black (what I like to call “stealth colour”).

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Apologies in advance for the bleak subject matter…

Yesterday I was in a discussion with some work colleagues about suicide, and more specifically about the fact that it’s the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK.

The conversation moved on until someone made the statement that Finland has the highest suicide rate in the world.

Everyone swallowed this “fact”, even though it’s quite a long way from the truth.

I had to look this up last year, and in case you’re interested, Finland has the 29th highest (we’re 122nd).

But the room of highly educated, professional people was convinced that it was true. And they didn’t want to hear any other version of “the truth”.

And that got me to thinking about other things that business owners and managers believe to be the ‘truth’ about marketing and business: [Read more…]

If you are one of the successful ones who has hired a Kickstart employee – congratulations!

They will, like every other employee, need a full employment contract on their first day of employment.

But their employment contract will be different to a “normal” or even zero hours employee.

When putting together a contract for a Kickstart scheme employee you need to do the following:

• Fixed term should be no less than 6 months
• Hours should be no less than 25 hours per week
• They should be paid at least the minimum wage for their age
• You should include details of the training you plan to give the individual; this should include the following
  • Support with CV and interview preparation, and how to look for long term work
  • Training to develop their skills, such as teamwork, organisation and communications as part of their role
  • And so on…

Please give us a call  to ask us about your Kickstart contract when you start interviewing candidates, so that we have enough time to sort it out before their first day of employment.