Money Making Schemes

Nagesh answers:

Hi

First you calculate how much you are entitled to recover. You are entitled to recover 100% of Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) if your annual liability for Class 1 NICs is £45,000.00 or less. If this is the case you are also allowed to claim an extra 4.5% of the SMP as compensation for the NICs you pay on the SMP.

You deduct the amount from the payments of tax and NIC that you pay to HMRC for the PAYE scheme.

If you are not making enough payments to HMRC to be able to ‘recover’ the amount of SMP that you are entitled to recover you have two options. You can wait until the end of the tax year, and your P35 Employer’s Annual Return will show that HMRC owe you a repayment. OR you can ask HMRC to give you the money now – it is called an ‘advance’ to pay SMP.

Look at the tax office website, they tell you what to do: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/employers/employee_pregnant.htm#18 you want the section called ‘Recovering SMP/SPP’. You can apply for an advance by email from this page: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/employers/statpayments-recovery.htm
Or if you have any questions, call your HMRC accounts office (about the advance) or the New Employers Helpline (about the calculation) on 0845 60 70 143.

Nagesh answers:

That’s a difficult choice! Why don’t you contact your local HSBC bank manager or whoever the main contact is for the school banking system and explain to them your dilemma – tell them that you are very interested in some work experience with them, but that if you go on their scheme, you’ll miss out on the chance to do your statistics GCSE. Hopefully they’ll offer you some alternative work experience with them, maybe during a school holiday.

I’ve written a guide to making the most of your work experience – it’s at http://www.journalism.co.uk/features/story1460.shtml

Nagesh answers:

Police officer: Salary and conditions

* Range of typical starting salaries: between £21,534 on commencing service and £24,039 on completion of the initial training period (salary data collected March 08).
* Range of typical salaries with experience (e.g. After 10-15 years in the role): £33,810 – £37,071 (sergeant); £42,264 – £45,843 (inspector) (salary data collected March 08).
* London weighting and additional competency-related threshold payments are available for all ranks. An automatic Police Pension Scheme is provided but individuals may choose to make independent pension provision.
* A full-time working week is 37 hours, with an average of two rest days. Police officers provide a 24-hour public service so this is not a ‘nine-to-five’ job. Unsocial hours, shift work, and emergency call-out are required. Overtime is available and is paid at a higher rate.
* The daily working environment is variable. You may be in a patrol car, outside on the beat, at the station or attending court.
* Work conditions may be influenced by regional factors such as local terrain and culture, and size of the force.
* Part-time working, job share and flexible hours are available. Career breaks are possible after the probationary period.
* The police service is keen to reflect the diversity of the communities it serves and welcomes job applications from women, ethnic minority groups and the lesbian and gay community.
* Job opportunities exist throughout the UK.
* A free uniform and equipment are provided. Police officers are expected to adhere to a dress code.
* On appointment, police officers become members of the Police Federation of England & Wales . New police officers are not permitted to join a trade union.
* Police officers and sergeants usually retire after 30 years’ service or on reaching the age of 55; various compulsory retirement ages apply for higher ranks.
* Police officers are governed by a code of conduct both on and off duty.
* Travel away from home is rare but absence from home overnight may be common because of shift work.

I found that on www.prospects.ac.uk
It does not say the London salary though. But I thought it might still be useful to you.

The starting salary of a Police Officer in London was hard to find, as the London Met website was under construction but I found this article to give me the answer. I am not sure how accurate the article it but it is a starting salary of roughly £22,635, increasing to £27,609 after 5 years by the sounds of it:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/pound3300-pay-rise-for-police-in-london-715639.html

Metropolitan police officers currently not receiving a housing allowance are to get a £3,300 pay rise, Home Secretary Jack Straw announced today.

Metropolitan police officers currently not receiving a housing allowance are to get a £3,300 pay rise, Home Secretary Jack Straw announced today.

The £64-per-week increase, which comes into force next week, is intended to ease recruitment problems aggravated by rising house prices.

It follows a warning yesterday by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens that shifts all over the capital would be “stretched to breaking point” unless the issue of pay was sorted out.

He said there Government cuts had caused a recruitment and retention “crisis”.

Mr Straw, opening a Commons debate on policing in London today, said officers recruited since the housing allowance was scrapped in 1994 had been hit by both rising house prices and the loss of the extra money.

MPs cheered as he said: “I am therefore pleased to announce that the pay of all officers in the Met who joined on or after September 1, 1994, and are not in receipt of housing allowance will increase from next week by £3,327 a year.

“This is a very significant increase in their pay. They deserve it.”

It will raise the starting salary of a constable to £22,635 and for one with five years service, £27,609, with scope for overtime averaging between £4,000 and £5,000 a year.

Nagesh answers:

Your deposit should be held by a third party like the government scheme, they also arbitrate if there is a disagreement in the amount of deposit to be returned
If he hasn’t put your deposit in the government scheme this is illegal as of a couple of years ago

Withholding your last rent will land you in trouble 2 wrongs don’t make a right

Nagesh answers:

In my answer I’m assuming that UK law applies and that you are enrolled on an approved apprenticeship scheme.

The short answer is yes you can be made redundant from an apprenticeship but, by making you redundant the employer has breached its contract with you.

As an apprentice your contract should be a fixed term contract for the duration of the apprenticeship. The contract will be subject to you complying with attending college / training courses completing them successfully and adhering to normal company performance criteria, I.e. Time keeping, good disciplinary record etc.

If you have kept your side of the contract and there is no disciplinary reason for the employer to dismiss you then the employer has breached their contract by terminating it before your training is complete.

In the eyes of the law the apprentice agreement is a common law contract. By terminating the contract early your employer is in breach of contract.

This is separate to your employment rights, which mean that you can be terminated at any time with suitable notice defined within your contract of employment. As you have less than 1 years service you cannot claim unfair dismissal and therefore cannot ask to be reinstated.

Your only recourse is in the breach of your apprenticeship contact. There are 2 cases which come to mind where an apprentice has successfully claimed damages from an employer. These damages are:

1) For loss of earnings for the remainder of the contract. So if you worked 6 months of a 2 year contract you could claim the remaining 18 months pay.

2) For loss of future earning capability from failing to gain the qualification at the end of the apprenticeship. E.g. If you started unskilled and the apprenticeship led to and ONC in mechanical engineering and there is no reason to believe you would have failed the course you would be entitled to claim damages for the difference between what you earn as an unskilled worked and what you could have earned had you passed your ONC course.

The two cases I refer to are Flett v Matheson & Wallace v C A Roofing where damages were successfully claimed in a court of law for early termination of an apprenticeship.

If you want to go down the legal route then you need to engage the services of a good solicitor versed in employment law. If you are a member of trade union they may be able to put you in touch with one and pay their fees. Make sure you have copies of all your signed contracts and letters from your employer available and your apprentice portfolio to prove that you have complied with your course requirements.

While suing for compensation seems tempting you also need to consider that to get another apprenticeship, you will need a good reference from your former employer, this may be less forthcoming if you undertake legal proceedings.