News
Barclays decides to only engage contractors via PAYE
You may have already heard about Barclays decision to only engage contractors if they agree to be paid by PAYE before the end of February 2020. Barclays have confirmed that they will no longer engage contractors that provide their services via limited company or other intermediary and have instructed their MSPs and agencies accordingly. There are plenty of rumours about other engagers that will follow suit. It is clearly a disappointing stance to take, although perhaps not entirely unexpected as businesses face pressure to be prepared (and minimise their risk) ahead of the change in April 2020. Time will tell as to the cost of their decision and how the business will be affected if their contractor population seek engagements elsewhere.
Chancellor pledges National Living Wage to rise to £10.50
Chancellor Sajid Javid has pledged to raise the National Living Wage to £10.50 within the next five years. He will also lower the age threshold for those who qualify from 25 to 21. Javid said cutting the threshold to 21 would "reward the hard work of all millennials" - but it will come in two stages, with 23-year-olds qualifying for the rise in 2021 and 21-year-olds by 2024.
Graduates want to work in the civil service
The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2019-20 was published last week and shows that the number of new graduates wanting to work in the public sector is at its highest level for almost a decade. The civil service topped the list, demoting PwC from the number 1 position for the first time in 15 years. There are 11 public sector employers in the rankings, including the NHS at number five, its highest position since the list began in 1999. The rankings are compiled from research with 19,700 graduates who left university this summer.
The largest recruiters of graduates in 2020 will be Teach First (1,750 vacancies), PWC (1,350), the professional services network KPMG (1,200), the civil service fast stream (1,200), Deloitte (1,000), HSBC (1,000) and Enterprise Rent-a-Car (900). In the top 100, the median graduate starting salary on offer is £30,000, with the highest at the leading investment banks (£50,000), senior law firms (£45,000), and consulting companies (£45,000). A record proportion of graduates leaving university in the summer of 2019 said “giving something back to society” was a priority for their first job, rather than the best starting salary.
Facial analysis AI technology is being used in job interviews
Facial analysis technology is being used in job interviews to help identify the best candidates. Consumer goods company Unilever is the first to pioneer the technology which analyses candidates when they are asked a set of identical interview questions, which the firm film on their mobile phone or laptop. The algorithm is trained to identify the language, tone and facial expressions to select the best applicants by assessing their performances in the videos.
Facial expressions assessed by the algorithms include brow furrowing, brow raising, eye widening or closing, lip tightening, chin raising and smiling, which are important in sales or other public-facing jobs. It is trained by deep learning against about 25,000 pieces of facial and linguistic information compiled from previous interviews of those who have gone on to prove to be good at the job. US company Hirevue, which developed the interview technology, claims that the technology enables more candidates to be interviewed initially rather than simply relying on CVs, and that it provides a more reliable indicator of future performance free of human bias.
Allegations against FCSA
We are aware that some serious allegations have been made against FCSA by some NHS agency workers who disagree with frameworks and agencies operating a preferred supplier list of umbrella employers. These individuals have set up a targeted campaign against FCSA. This is despite previous assurances that their campaign was not against FCSA.
We take this opportunity to assure you that there is no truth in these allegations. We have instructed solicitors and are in the process of taking firm legal action against these individuals in order to protect the reputation of FCSA and its members.
Should you have any queries or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us directly.