Philip Green: a convenient villain for confusing times
Posted on 11th February 2019
Ink’s HR Director, Ruth Johnson, suggests that the battle for equality won’t be won if our response to workplace wrongdoing is applied only in the interest of our own personal war. Well, here’s a surprise. Philip Green (sorry, ‘Sir’ Philip Green) is crass. Who knew? The Daily Telegraph investigation adds more than a little weight to a generally held suspicion…
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The Myth of the Single-Minded Metaphor
Posted on 28th January 2019
Ruth Johnson argues that sporting metaphors in business fall short when they obsess with single minded goal-setting. Real success is not just about achieving your goals; it’s about taking people with you and enjoying the ride as well. It seems a long time ago now … but, boy, how I loved watching the 2018 World Cup. And who knew? Who…
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How integrated HR administration drives faultless payroll
Posted on 26th November 2018
Without doubt the majority of businesses now widely recognise that their greatest assets are their employees – hoorah! However, many employers are still falling at the most fundamental of hurdles by making costly payroll and payment related administrative errors, causing widespread issues. The fault often lies in employers – quite understandably – not fully understanding the complex, ever-evolving employment…
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Ink launches its inaugural White Paper – Investing in Pensions, Investing in People
Posted on 29th June 2018
The Ink Group are pleased to announce the publication of our inaugural White Paper: ‘Investing in Pensions, Investing in People – The role of Workplace Pensions in boosting employee wellbeing and productivity’. To summarise, our White Paper is written for anyone involved in the running of Workplace Pensions. Our focus is on: Exploring the challenges facing the…
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One-month countdown to GDPR: a unique perspective
Posted on 30th April 2018
At The Ink Group, our day to day activities involve handling large amounts of personal data. As you can imagine, we have been working hard to prepare for GDPR. We see GDPR through a number of different lenses: as an employer an HR adviser a payroll bureau a regulated employee benefits consultancy So, we…
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Upcoming changes to the Childcare Voucher Scheme – so what does this mean for me?
Posted on 22nd February 2018
As any working parent will know, Childcare Vouchers are there to help with the cost of childcare by creating income tax and national insurance savings. Childcare Voucher schemes have existed for over 15 years but are soon to be replaced by the Government’s Tax-Free Childcare scheme. Childcare Vouchers have historically been provided by accredited third party organisations. Employers choose a…
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Welcome! Now show me your ID.
Posted on 3rd February 2017
It’s important that employers are careful about checking the work eligibility of their new recruits. Failure to do so – resulting in the employment of an illegal worker – can lead to an unlimited fine and imprisonment. But don’t over-react to this risk. There are certain sectors where it is high – for example, where casual and/or unskilled work is…
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Why all SMEs should have integrated HR & Payroll services (& software)
Posted on 20th December 2016
OK – let’s get the conflict of interest out of the way, Ink provides HR and Payroll services (and software) to SME businesses across the UK. That said, we still can’t believe how few businesses we talk to integrate their key people management functions and use technology to deliver a great user experience to both administrator and employee. We still meet…
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Family Leave: don’t let a friendly policy backfire
Posted on 17th October 2016
Poor old Network Rail. Once upon a time it championed the cause of the working mother and, to prove it, paid significantly over and above the statutory level for maternity pay. And then came Shared Parental Leave: a vehicle designed in some respects to redress the gender imbalance of child-caring and to enable professional mothers a quicker return to work…
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First Aid – it’s more than a tick in the box
Posted on 9th September 2016
We sent our Account Manager, Agnieszka, on a refresher First Aid course recently and asked her what she thought of the experience. Was it just a process to be got through? Was it just a tick in the box? Not at all! Here’s what she told us when we asked her more about it … Q: What’s the most significant…
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