The Labour government is set to introduce the Employment Rights Bill tomorrow, which will include a new universal sick pay policy.

This means that many more employees will be entitled to claim sick pay from the first day of their employment. But while this may sound beneficial, it could potentially prevent increases in salaries, particularly for lower-income employees.

What is the new sick pay policy?

Under the proposals of the new Employment Rights Bill, employees will no longer have to wait until the fourth day of illness to get statutory sick pay (SSP).

The current rules state that workers are entitled to £116.75 SSP for up to 28 weeks, but that they “must have done some work for your employer”, and this can depend on their probationary period. However, the Labour government announced it would be scrapping these rules for fairer policies for employees.

“Nobody should be plunged into hardship when they become sick. But millions face a financial cliff edge if they get ill,” Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), told Yahoo News UK.

“Labour’s New Deal for Working People will fix this problem,” he added. “With sick day support from the first day of sickness, you will know that your family is protected. And you can take the time you need to recover.”

Additional measures in the bill include maternity leave rights, in which pregnant employees will have the right to give notice about maternity leave without the risk of dismissal. Certain zero-hour contracts and fire and re-hire policies are also set to be scrapped. 

Will the policy encourage businesses to prioritise healthcare?

With these new measures in place, businesses may have the opportunity to introduce preventative healthcare initiatives that could lessen ill health in the first place.

Sammy Rubin, CEO and founder of insurance company YuLife, commented: “Alongside the benefits for individuals, the proposed changes provide an ideal opportunity for businesses to redefine their approach to employee wellbeing. 

“Rather than being mostly reactive (i.e. considering how to respond should an employee fall ill for an extended period of time), businesses can be proactive and focus more on prevention by taking steps to bolster employees’ health and wellbeing in the first place, thereby mitigating the risk of many of the common causes of ill-health.”

Citing research statistics from Zurich, Rubin added that mental health is the primary cause of long term sick leave, being responsible for 44% of absences. He also added that as the UK economy lost £100 billion last year due to employee sickness, it is in a company’s “own interest” to invest in employee wellbeing.

“Technology can be a game-changer in this regard, as services like gamified apps now make the experience of everyday wellbeing activities fun, engaging, and competitive for employees,” he said. “Even micro-actions as small as a 10-minutes of meditation performed consistently over time can have a profound effect on employees’ stress and anxiety levels when encouraged by employers. At YuLife, we have seen that some 87% of our users have reported an improved level of wellbeing as a result of access to gamified wellbeing tools.”

Could the new bill affect your salary?

These new measures mean that employees on SSP could earn up to £33.36 extra from sick days, as they’ll be paid from the first day. 

However, businesses are concerned with the amount they’ll have to fork out for SSP, which potentially poses the risk of salaries not being raised in the future to compensate for it. 

Tina McKenzie, policy chair at the Federation of Small Businesses, commented: “Done wrongly, this bill could damage growth, wages and jobs. We need balanced regulations that protect workers without overwhelming the small businesses that drive job opportunities and are at the heart of local economies and communities in every part of the UK.”

Meanwhile, Jane Gratton, deputy director of public policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said that employers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will “need reassurance that these proposals will be affordable and proportionate”.

“They are nervous about additional costs and restrictions, including how these new laws will impact their business operations,” she added. “Many businesses have limited access to HR resources and want to know what support the government will put in place to help them prepare and adjust to the changes.”

As the new bill rolls out, it remains to be seen how companies will balance the cost of the new SSP reforms. Ultimately, its success will depend on how well it is implemented and whether small businesses receive the necessary support to adapt to these new regulations without affecting salaries.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife have had anything but a cruel summer – having reportedly accepted free Taylor Swift concert tickets worth hundreds of pounds.

This latest controversy, known as “freebiegate”, left many to criticise Starmer for accepting such lavish handouts, especially during a time of economic difficulty for so many Brits. 

While Starmer has repaid more than £6,000 of those gifts – including four tickets to the races and a clothing rental agreement with a high-end designer – it certainly raises questions about workplace ethics and what is and isn’t acceptable (and legal) when it comes to receiving “free stuff”.

What’s the difference between a freebie and a bribe?

It’s important to know that while Starmer’s taking freebies could be perceived as questionable, technically, it doesn’t count as bribery.

What is a freebie?

In a workplace context, a freebie from a supplier or stakeholder is a complimentary item or service provided to employees or decision-makers at a company as a gesture of goodwill or relationship-building. Examples can include promotional items (like branded pens, calendars or tote bags), as well as more financially valuable perks like event tickets, dinners or gifts.

However, while some free items may be uncontentious and within ethical boundaries, there is a fine line between appropriate and excessive, when they risk potentially influencing business processes, decisions or outcomes. For this reason, many companies set guidelines to ensure that accepting such gifts doesn’t compromise professional integrity or create conflicts of interest.

What is bribery?

Put simply, bribery is when someone gives or receives a bribe to gain a business advantage for either themselves or their organisation. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) reported a “record number” of bribery-related trials in 2022-2023 – with bribery settlements hitting £764 million.

Bribes can take many forms, including money, gift cards, luxury vacations, concert or theatre tickets and personal favours. Under the Bribery Act 2010, it is a criminal offence for employees to accept a gift for carrying out a function improperly.

For example, a procurement officer might be offered a luxury watch if they approve a supplier’s tender, leading the officer to overlook better offers from other suppliers or ignore quality and pricing considerations. Or a government official might receive tickets to an exclusive sporting event from a construction company bidding for a lucrative contract.

What are the rules around workplace gifts?

As it isn’t illegal to give and receive workplace gifts, it’s ultimately up to individual companies to decide on a workplace gifting policy.  This policy should outline what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable gifts, including specific monetary limits and circumstances under which gifts may be accepted. It’s equally important to provide regular training sessions that educate employees about the policy’s significance, real-life scenarios and potential risks that could create conflicts of interest.

For example, the UK government has its own gifts and hospitality policy for its employees to follow. This includes:

• A gift shouldn’t be accepted if the cumulative value exceeds £200 in any 12-month period, or £50 for any one gift. 
• The gift must be given for an appropriate reason and must only be for a “one-off” occasion. 
• The gift shouldn’t be given in certain circumstances, for example, before the award of a contract.

Employers should set up clear guidelines for accepting gifts from suppliers or any other external stakeholders. This will help employees understand what constitutes an appropriate gift and what might be considered excessive, inappropriate or potentially contentious. It’ll also protect the company from legal and reputational risks and ensure that business decisions are made objectively and in the organisation’s best interests.

Additionally, employers should implement a straightforward reporting process for situations where an employee feels unsure about a gift or encounters something that raises concerns. 

What makes an appropriate workplace gift?

It’s important to know what warrants an appropriate gift from external stakeholders.

Typically, appropriate gifts should be small tokens of appreciation that don’t create a sense of obligation or influence business decisions, such as awarding lucrative contracts or continuing to expand business with a particular vendor.

Accepting workplace gifts is simply about using sound judgement. 

You don’t need to contact the authorities if your boss gives you a bottle of champagne to celebrate your hard work, but if a potential supplier presents you with a  £2,000 Gucci gift card with “no strings attached” just before you decide whether to work with them, you’d be advised to remember the old adage –  “there’s no such thing a free lunch”.

eBay giveth, eBay taketh away. Just a week after the global auction site announced it would scrap seller fees, eBay has confirmed it will introduce an additional buyer fee to cover the lost revenue, in an announcement nestled in the fine print.

In an internal memo, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone wrote: “We are also planning to introduce a buyer-facing fee in the UK in early 2025 alongside a set of buyer enhancements that provide additional value.”

The move mirrors strategies employed by other digital retailers such as Depop and Vinted. It has given private eBay sellers whiplash. After celebrating last week’s news, some sellers are now expressing concern that the move will deter customers from shopping on the site.

How much will eBay’s buyer fee be?

The news that eBay was scrapping fees for private sellers, except for those trading old cars, motorcycles and other vehicles, was welcomed by those who run an eBay shop last week. Many of us use the marketplace to trade in old clothes, gadgets, or books for a quick buck.

eBay used to take up to 15.5% of the final selling price in fees, representing a significant chunk of profits for listers. After the news that a buyer fee is on the way, though, it seems that penalty has simply been passed over to the buyer’s side.

eBay has yet confirmed the cost of its buyer fee, only promising that it will be “small”. But there is speculation that the 00s favourite originally scrapped its seller fees to compete with resale apps such as Depop and Vinted. The final tally will likely emulate rival charges.

Vinted offers free listing and selling but imposes a buyer protection fee ranging between 3% and 8%, plus a fixed amount of 30p to 80p. Depop similarly replaced its 10% marketplace fee with a 5% charge, plus a fixed charge of up to £1.

What are buyer fees?

Online marketplaces charge fees to cover operating costs, such as payment processing and paying admin staff salaries. These can be paid by either the seller or the buyer.

Buyer fees can take many different forms. Vinted, for example, charges a buyer protection fee that doubles as insurance. If an item doesn’t arrive, is damaged, or isn’t as described, the buyer can dispute the transaction and potentially receive a refund.

By not charging sellers, resale apps will be hoping they can make their sites more attractive for people to sell their items. This will lead to a larger selection of products for buyers, increasing the platform’s appeal for buyers. Or so the theory goes.

Some private eBay sellers report being caught off guard by the new rates. They say the charges will make it harder to shift listings as eBay’s 132 million users will be put off.

Bad for business

eBay has removed fees for private sellers, but business sellers (those who buy or make items specifically to resell) must still pay a charge to list their items on the platform.

Combined with the new buyer fee, this will result in many professional sellers having to significantly raise their prices to cover their total bill. For example, the cost of a £100 vintage handbag could shoot up to £108 if an 8% buyer fee is applied next year.

In a post shared on an eBay forum, one business seller complained that the new rate is “fine for private sellers who have no fees to compensate, but insane for business sellers with hefty final value fee and shop fees already”.

The hurdle follows the implementation of the Side Hustle Tax last year. The law change meant that some of those with a side gig, such as those who sell over 30 items a year or make over £1,000 a year, now need to register for self-assessment.

Concerned that buyer fees could affect your business? Find out how to design a cash flow forecast to calculate the impact on your bottom line.

We’d all like to make a bit of extra cash at Christmas. December is an expensive month of presents, food, and nights out, which is why it’s also when many of us start a side hustle. One survey suggests that 41% of Brits launched a side gig last holiday season.

Retail could be the best route this year. Marks & Spencer has announced it will be recruiting over 11,000 new members of staff to work in its stores over the Christmas period. Vacancies are available at every store across the UK, and recruitment begins this Wednesday.

Many of the roles will also include flexible working, and can fit around another full-time or part-time job. Successful applicants should line up their stockings for a November start date.

In this guide, we’ll explain what Christmas jobs are available at M&S this year and how much you can expect to earn, so you can start stockpiling mince pies for the big day.

What jobs are available?

M&S has not yet released a list of open job roles on its website. But it has said it will be recruiting shop floor assistants to work the tills, stock shelves, and advise customers.

Each customer assistant position comes with flexible working opportunities, with staff able to choose to work part-time, a 4-day compressed week, or as a job share.

Monetising an existing skill, such as customer service or retail experience, is a good place to start when searching for a side gig. Similarly, for those with a driving licence who are searching for a job role this December, Marks and Spencer is also hiring delivery drivers.

Like Uber driving, the UK’s most popular side hustle last year, applicants with a driving licence can apply to work as a courier for M&S’ Christmas Food to Order service.

Interested hustlers are encouraged to sign up to a ‘seasonal role’ online, and you will be contacted by M&S to discuss which area of the business you’d like to work in.

How much will I earn?

58% of aspiring side hustlers last year told GoDaddy they expect to generate up to £500 with their Christmas venture. Half a grand is a nice present to put under the tree, and part-time workers will be able to make a similar amount of money at Marks and Spencer.

The retailer announced a major £89m investment in staff wages at the beginning of last month, bringing its pay in line with the Real Living Wage.

That means staff will earn a minimum wage of £12 per hour, and could make around £480 by working just five hours a week at M&S between November and December. In London, where customer assistants earn £13.05 an hour, they would make roughly £522.

Plus, M&S’ employee benefits package means you’ll also get 20% off in-store by working at the shop, earning you a sizable chunk off your Christmas shopping this year.

Why a job can be just for Christmas

UK retailers are gearing up for the busiest shopping season of the year, and with it comes a surge in temporary job opportunities. Many high-street stores, including major chains like Marks & Spencer, are seeking additional staff to cope with the increased demand.

For those looking for flexible work, the festive period offers an ideal opportunity. Retail roles often come with adaptable schedules, making them suitable for full-time workers.

But retail isn’t your only route to some quick cash this Christmas. For the crafty, Christmas markets provide a platform to showcase handmade goods. For those who prefer a more cash-in-hand approach, pet sitting and house sitting, can be surprisingly lucrative options.

December also presents a unique chance for aspiring entrepreneurs to test their ideas. The lull before and after Christmas is a great opportunity to finally wrap up your business plan.

Read our guide to the best cheap business ideas, for over 100 lucrative business ventures that you can use to sleigh your side hustle this December.

Rumours are abound as to what will be discussed in this month’s Autumn statement. But the general consensus is that it will promise plenty for UK workers. Reforms of sick pay and maternity leave are due to be announced to give employees greater rights while at work.

The package of reforms has been dubbed the Employment Rights Bill. It will be formally announced on Thursday. But as this is an official announcement from the UK government, virtually all details of the plans have been reported by The Times over the weekend.

Unions have welcomed the Bill, arguing it will help to deliver better quality jobs for the UK workforce. However some Conservative MPs, such as Kemi Badenoch, have separately expressed concerns that business regulation, such as maternity leave, has “gone too far”.

Seven million people are reportedly poised to benefit from the changes, representing around  a fifth of the current working population in the UK. Below, we break down everything you need to know about the bill, including how it could impact your job.

What will be in the Employment Rights Bill?

Keir Starmer’s government will unveil the new Bill and its full contents on Thursday. However, The Times story, published on Saturday, provides a convincing overview of what we can expect to see in the upcoming legislation.

Alongside high-profile reforms to maternity pay, the Bill will mean that all workers will be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from the first day of absence. Sickness absence is rising in the UK, and many blame low sick pay for what’s been dubbed our ‘sick note culture’.

Here’s a list of the current laws, and how they are expected to change after Thursday’s Bill:

Sick pay for all

SSP is currently £116.75 a week for all employees who earn over £123 a week. Staff are entitled to be paid SSP after the third day of being ill from work. Yet around one million workers currently don’t earn enough to claim this amount.

The government plans to introduce legislation that will entitle all workers to sick pay from their first day of illness. However, the rate of sick pay for those who earn below the current threshold is likely to be lower than the standard rate of £116.75 per week.

Maternity pay from day one

All new mothers, including those who are adopting, are entitled to 52 weeks of leave. But they must have been employed for 26 weeks and earn over £123 a week to qualify for maternity pay (currently 90% of their salary for six weeks, then £184 a week for 33).

The new laws will reportedly mean all women employees will be able to give notice for maternity leave on the first day of the job, without risk of dismissal. But zero hours or agency workers who earn under £123 per week, on average, may still not qualify for SSP.

Parental leave

Parents who have worked at a company for at least one year have the right to unpaid time off work when they need to look after their children, known as parental leave. They can take up to 18 weeks in total (up to four weeks per year) until the child turns 18.

In July the King’s Speech, which covered the Employment Rights Bill, declared this would become a day one right. We will have to wait until Thursday for this to be confirmed.

Some-hours contracts

Last month, the government dropped its proposed Predictable Working Bill. The Act, which was due to become law this autumn, awarded those on “exploitative” zero-hours or temporary contracts the right to request more predictable working hours.

Rather than ditching the legislation altogether, the government appears to have folded it into the Employment Rights Bill, with a model that will reportedly promise workers the right to a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work.

Six month probation cap

Today, bosses can legally keep staff members on probation for up to two years. Being on probation means they can be sacked at any point without businesses facing unfair dismissal.

It is expected that the bill will make it illegal to place someone on probation for more than six months. Bosses will also have to arrange a formal meeting to end a person’s probation, rather than just ending their contract without proper reasoning.

What WON’T be in the Employment Rights Bill?

According to The Times, one surprising area that will be missing from the upcoming legislation is the right to switch off while not on the clock.

There are currently no rules on contacting staff out of hours (for example on evenings on weekends). Around 54% of employees expect to work while on annual leave thanks to team members sending work-related texts and emails to their sunbeds.

Before Labour won the election, it had teased that it may codify the right to disconnect into law. The proposed legislation would ban workers from being contacted on their time off, similar to countries like Australia and France.

However, critics warned that firms with atypical operating hours may choose to hire overseas workers or even move abroad if the law came into force, risking UK jobs. Perhaps spooked by these concerns, the government has pressed pause on the plans — for now.

When will the Employment Rights Bill be introduced?

During its election campaign, Labour declared it would introduce the “once-in-a-generation” Employment Rights Bill in its first 100 days of office.

That said, the proposals will only be published in draft form. The process of a bill actually becoming law in the UK involves several stages and can be a lengthy process, meaning it could be years before the above reforms are seen in the workplace.

Elements of the Bill will likely cause concern among businesses and debate among MPs, prolonging their application. Others could be passed later through secondary legislation (where the government makes a small change without having to propose a new Bill).

Rome wasn’t built in a day. While the Employment Rights Bill will be welcomed by workers, there are still questions as to how it will impact employers. As one business leader told The Financial Times on Saturday, “I don’t think [we’ll be] seeing a lot of this before 2026”.

Picture this.

You’re lying in bed, with a terrible case of the flu, when the doorbell rings. When you answer the door, fully clad in your dressing gown, your boss is at your doorstep. The reason? They want to check whether you’re actually sick or not.

It might sound crazy, but it does happen.

Automotive giant Tesla hit the headlines in Germany when two of the company’s top executives turned up at the home of sick employees. According to German newspaper Handelsblatt, the two executives – André Thierig and Erik Demmler – claimed that sick leave levels at the company’s Berlin factory had hit 17% in August and 11% in September.

A little closer to home, the number of employees taking time off work due to sickness is growing by 300,000 a year in the UK, according to research by The Health Foundation. It also found that there are 3.9 million people with work-limiting conditions – an increase of 1.5 million since 2013.

Home visits from your boss might sound like borderline stalking, but are they breaking the law by doing this?

Is it legal for your boss to come to your home when you’re sick?

The short answer is yes. There are no laws in place that prevent employers from visiting an employee’s home when they’ve called in sick.

However, according to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), employers and employees should agree on how to stay in touch, how often the contact should be and who the employee should be in contact with.

Moreover, the University and College Union reported that if home visits are part of a company’s policy, the employee is likely to have consented to them when accepting their contractual agreements. 

Why would your boss contact you?

Work is the last thing you want to think about when you’re off with an illness or injury. However, in some instances, it may be necessary for your employer to contact you while you’re absent from work. These include:

• Determining how long you’re likely to be off work
• Updating you on any important changes at work
• Discussing matters related to your absence, such as sick pay or fit notes
• Discussing any adjustments to be made for your return to work, if needed

Why are more people on long term sick leave?

Sick leave rates in the UK have increased by 55% since 2019 and 6% since 2022, according to research by People HR. But why are more people calling in sick?

Work-related stress is a significant contributor, as 79% of UK workers have reported feeling stressed because of work, with high pressure and demanding workloads contributing to sickness absence. 

Mental health problems in the workplace are also on the rise, with around 1 in 6 people (14.7%) experiencing issues in the workplace, and 28% saying that they were “miserable” in the workplace. The NHS also reported that anxiety, stress and depression were the most reported reasons for sickness – making up 24.3% of all sickness absences in January 2024. 

People HR’s Sick Leave Report 2024 also revealed that the number of days taken as holiday dropped by 7.6% from 2022-2023, meaning it was likely that more sick leave was taken due to higher amounts of burnout and stress. 

Should businesses do home visits?

While it may not be illegal, we wouldn’t recommend knocking on employees’ doors and taking their temperature. That being said, we understand that sickness absences can affect business, so here are a few ways to approach it appropriately:

• Don’t excessively contact employees: The frequency of contact depends on the type of leave they’re on, but employers should make sure not to be excessive, as this can come across as harassment. A good practice would be to pre-arrange contact times with the employee to make them feel at ease.
• Choose the best method of contact: Employers should think about the best approach for both you and your employees. This includes discussing what method of contact would work best for them – whether it’s via phone or email – and planning contact from there.
• Decide who should contact them: Having too many people contact the employee at once can become overwhelming, and increases the likelihood of miscommunication. That, and the employee won’t know who to contact if needed. Therefore, employers should assign one consistent contact for the employee. That way, they’ll know who’s responsible for maintaining contact and keeping the business updated.

The return to office debate is becoming a battle of wills between employer and employee. In the red corner, brands such as Tesco, Dell, and Amazon are ordering remote or hybrid staff to clock in. And in the blue corner, workers are fighting back.

Their main weapon is anti-work trends. Staff are endangering their career progression in the hope that they can hold onto the positive work-life balance that home working provides. Yesterday, Office for National Statistics (ONS) employees even voted to go on strike following a year-long dispute with bosses over how often they come into the office.

Below, we’ll explore the various ways that staff are ignoring, avoiding, or even outright protesting return to office (RTO) policies.

1. By going on strike

ONS staff have this week voted to take the most extreme response to RTO mandates yet. 92% of members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) have agreed to strike after they refused to increase their office attendance to two days a week in May.

The dispute is not just about office hours, however. PCS members are also reportedly refusing to work overtime and out of grade (a kind of salary band for the public sector).

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote has called on the ONS to start discussions. “We said our members can work at home just as well, if not better, than being in the office,” he said. “That can change now we have authority to call a full strike any time in the next six months.”

2. By working from home (in secret)

Because the most publicised RTO mandates are those being implemented in large corporations, most of these initiatives have been brought in from the top-down.

This has resulted in many workers at middle management level “covering” for their reports by secretly allowing team members to WFH, in spite of the official return to office request.

According to research by Owl Labs, 70% of UK managers have admitted to allowing staff to defy RTO rules, in a workplace trend that is being referred to as ‘hushed hybrid’.

Take Dell Technologies. In March, Dell threatened to punish staff if they did not work in-office full-time. Three months later, Business Insider reported that one third of the tech firm’s global workforce remained at home. In the US, 50% of staff continued to work remotely.

3. By giving up promotions

Dell took things further than most with its RTO mandate. The tech firm told remote staff they were unlikely to be considered for promotions or pay rises if they worked from home, all but insinuating they would be cold shouldered by managers.

Given that a large chunk of the workforce has not changed their working pattern as a result of the ultimatum, it seems that Dell team members were unphased.

It’s not just the case for Dell. In a survey of 1,000 UK workers, 6% said they would pick having flexible working arrangements over a bonus. 7% would choose it over paid overtime, suggesting that employees now care more about home working policies than pay.

4. By rage applying

Amazon hasn’t had a great relationship with its employees this year. In September it confirmed it would raise staff pay for warehouse staff after months of pressure and strike action from GMB, the union that represents Amazon workers.

Unfortunately, its RTO mandate appears to have soured relations further. Admin roles have been told they must work in-office for five days a week at the start of next year.

Employees have responded by ‘rage applying’, a HR buzzword that describes a staff member sending out mass job applications due to feeling dissatisfied with their current role.

However, high turnover is actually an Amazon value. CEO Jeff Bezos says it helps to keep the business’ culture from feeling stale, and some experts have suggested that the ecommerce company’s RTO mandate is actually a smokescreen to axe jobs.

In a recent survey, one quarter of executives, and a fifth of HR professionals, admitted their RTO mandates had been rolled out in the hope it would result in staff leaving.

5. By career cushioning

Perhaps in light of the rumours that RTO mandates are about slashing the workforce, not supporting them, many employees have responded to policies by setting up a Plan B job, also known as career cushioning.

Rumours are abound that thousands of workers at Amazon and Boots (which told staff to return to the workplace for five days a week from September) have switched on ‘Open to Work’ on their LinkedIn profiles following their boss’ respective RTO announcements.

Given that many organisations have told staff to ‘work in-office or quit’, such as Manchester United FC, the move is a smart way to safeguard against any type of career catastrophe.

6. By showing up and giving nothing

Some workers and business leaders argue that RTO mandates are not necessary. They say they are more about “bums on seats” and do not encourage staff to do their best work.

Employees are fighting back against this trend by engaging in ‘presenteeism’. They will turn up to the office and ‘coast’ through the day by looking busy, but do the bare minimum. It’s also known as quiet quitting or coffee badging, for staff who turn up, drink coffee, and leave.

The trend gives employers what they want (improved office attendance) but ultimately results in a detached workforce. It’s become such an issue for businesses that the prime minister himself, Sir Keir Starmer, has reportedly made fixing it a key priority.

In August, Starmer condemned presenteeism, saying firms must find a “balance of making the most of the flexible working practices [to] ensure that people can stay productive.”

7. By suing the boss

After the Flexible Working Bill came into force this July, employees have greater protections regarding their right to flexible work. And many are exercising their newfound freedom.

Under the new legislation, staff can request flexible arrangements from their very first day on the job. Businesses that deny a request have to explain why; and many remote workers who feel dissatisfied with the answer are taking their case to an employment tribunal.

Emma (not her real name) told the Guardian this month she had opened an unfair dismissal case after she was told to report to the office more for “vague reasons”. Emma is based in the Midlands. She had been working remotely to care for her husband, who has a disability.

“I said I couldn’t do it as care costs £35 an hour here, it was just unaffordable. They weren’t going to budge, so I had to resign,” she said. Now she is hoping that she can win her dismissal case and be compensated for being all-but ousted from her role.

Dangers of an RTO push

Small businesses often look to larger corporations with established HR teams for guidance on how to treat their employees. When it comes to RTO mandates, the above case studies should provide a cautionary tale that aiming for more “bums on seats” can easily backfire.

Large organisations such as Amazon and Dell can afford to make the mistake of poorly rolled out RTO mandates. Many have flip-flopped between being for and against remote work. They can change their policy next year without wrecking their recruitment drive.

SMEs must tread more carefully. Personalised employee benefits are often one of the biggest incentives to working at a small company. If firms jeopardise this USP, the impact on a small or medium-sized workforce could prove disastrous.

Just look at the CEO of Nothing, a UK smartphone startup, who told staff to return to the office or quit. The online backlash sent the company viral (for all the wrong reasons).

Let these blossoming worker revolts be a lesson. RTO rules will likely have a negative effect on employer-employee relationships. Whether staff will eventually come around is unclear. But some empty desks is a small price to pay for an engaged, happy workforce.

Supermarket giants Tesco and Sainsbury’s have been criticised for allegedly misleading customers about their front-of-store recycling schemes.

The Everyday Plastic campaign group and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) investigation revealed that soft waste dropped off at collection points had been sent overseas and burnt for energy.

This comes as both companies claimed to be close to hitting their voluntary packaging recyclability targets. 

70% of soft waste was burned for energy

According to campaigners, Apple tracking devices were placed on 40 bundles of soft waste – such as single-use bags, films and wrappers – and dropped off at collection points in July 2023. 

These devices were found to have travelled over 25,000km across the UK and overseas. Seven were turned into fuel pellets, five were burned for energy and four were downcycled into lower-value plastic products in Turkey.

Meanwhile, just one bundle was downcycled in the UK, while 70% were burned for energy.

Alison Colclough, Research Director at Everyday Plastic, stated: “The take-back schemes are being presented as a solution, which is diverting attention from the main issue that can’t be overlooked; far too much unnecessary plastic packaging is being produced.”

However, Tesco claimed that the materials sent to Turkey were due to a supplier error.

“We have a clear plan to remove packaging wherever possible and reducing, reusing and recycling it where we can’t,” the spokesperson stated. “Where it is not possible to recycle the collected plastic, we put it to alternative uses to avoid these materials going to landfill, for example using it for energy recovery.”

A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said that while the company is “always seeking ways to positively manage the end of life of our packing”, soiled or damaged material may need to be converted to energy.

Tesco and Sainsbury’s core values: expectation vs reality

Both supermarkets have listed sustainability as a core value.

On the Tesco website, its “planet” value reads: “Our commitment to sustainability is core to our business. It drives our work across our own operations and our supply chain to reduce our environmental impact and support a healthier way of living.”

According to its climate change page, the company reported that it had achieved a 61% reduction of emissions from its operations, exceeding its 2025 target of 60%. Data reported by Retail Week also revealed that 10% of shoppers believed Tesco to be the most sustainable retailer – ranking it second on the list behind Marks & Spencer at 13%.

However, Tesco was forced to change its food waste reduction figures in January 2024, when it was discovered that tens of thousands of waste tonnes were sent to anaerobic digestion – a series of processes that breaks down biodegradable materials – rather than animal feed. As a result, it dropped its food waste reduction figures significantly – reducing it from 45% between 2016-2017 and 2022-2023 to just 18%. 

Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s has listed “respect for our environment” as a core principle. It also secured a place on the CDP’s “A-List” on its 2023 Climate Change questionnaire. Further data from the company reported that it had used 100% renewable energy since January 2022 and had reduced greenhouse gas emissions within operations since 2018-2019.

Lack of recycling could become a legal problem

While Tesco & Sainsbury’s appear to have favourable statistics for their sustainability practices, their latest recycling issues could become a legal issue if not resolved quickly.

The Simpler Recycling legislation is set to become law from 31 March 2025 as part of the UK government’s Resources and Waste Strategy. 

This means that all businesses across England will have to comply with stricter recycling practices. For example, separating dry recyclables and food waste from general waste for collection and cleaning recyclable materials before disposing of them.

While an amount hasn’t been confirmed yet, businesses are likely to be penalised financially if they don’t adhere to these regulations. This means that Tesco, Sainsbury’s and other supermarkets alike could see hefty fines if unfavourable recycling practices continue.

Did you hear the one about the Microsoft employee who works 15 hours a week for an annual salary of £225k?

Stories of low-effort, high-paid jobs are racking up thousands of likes and comments on social media sites like TikTok and X. Usually coming from people who claim to work in the tech sector, they are the modern equivalent of El Dorado for stressed out employees.

Whispers of a six-figure salary for a 10 hour workweek even appear to be making some online users consider a career switch to a ‘dream job’ with good work-life balance.

But such Old Worker’s Tales stand in stark contrast to the reality of today’s jobs market. While staff describe easy workdays, Silicon Valley’s finest are laying off workers in droves. And this battle of narratives is causing a disconnect between employees and bosses.

Microsoft myths

The X post that went viral earlier this month claimed that a Microsoft employee works only 15-20 hours per week while earning a salary of $300,000 (around £225,000).

“Talking to my friend who works at Microsoft & apparently he works 15-20 hr weeks & plays [the video game League of Legends] the rest of the time & gets paid $300k for it”, reads the post, which quickly amassed over two million views.

This anecdote is one of many viral internet folk tales that describe dream employment scenarios. Last month, an Amazon manager on the careers forum, Blind made headlines after he revealed he earned $370,000 a year for working eight hours a week.

Each is usually accompanied by comments eager to hear how they can join this supposedly all play, no work career. “What are the reqs for this job and any open positions?” reads one.

Behind the screens

Unfortunately, because the employees these posts describe are anonymous, there is no way to verify if they really do spend hours of the workday slumped over a video game console. It’s worth showing scepticism, however, given the state of the tech industry today.

Microsoft laid off over 10,000 employees last January, and redundancies have snowballed since then. These are not just support roles. In June, 1,000 engineers lost their jobs. In fact, globally, over 100,000 IT jobs have been let go in the second half of this year alone.

That makes the promise of an easy tech role look much less believable. With companies loudly slashing the workforce to save cash, the idea that firms such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are shelling out millions on unproductive team members seems laughable.

Research suggests that the average tech worker is very different from their lazy viral personas. In August, a Workday survey into staff burnout found that 23% of tech firms are now high-burnout-risk organisations. That’s an 8% increase on the previous year’s analysis.

TikTok vs. Reality

Often, ‘dream job’ rumours start on social media. Many originate from #CareerTok, a HR subsect of TikTok. This online community can be positive, producing content that teaches younger users how to stand up for themselves at work or communicate better.

But some self-proclaimed HR experts on TikTok are cavalier about advising viewers to engage in anti-work practices such as quiet quitting (phoning it in by doing the bare minimum at work) or presenteeism. These may be fun trends to follow outside of work. Offline, though, they are more likely to hurt career prospects and cause conflict with managers.

They can also have a mental impact. The creator of the quiet quitting trend now admits he regrets starting the trend after he found it left him demotivated and isolated in the office.

Plus, these posts can inadvertently contribute to the return to work debate. Bosses are trying to force staff into the office amid concerns they are slacking off at home. And who can blame them, when staff are bragging (without evidence) that they work just 10 hours a week?

Let’s be reel

While social media feeds are filled with stories of employees seemingly coasting through their workdays, the reality is far more complex.

Tech giants are increasingly resorting to layoffs, and the pressure on employees to perform is mounting. The gap between these online fantasies and the harsh realities of the job market can lead to frustration, disappointment, and even greater detachment from work.

To address the disconnect, bosses should encourage open communication between workers and management. This will help to build a company culture where staff feel comfortable discussing their concerns and expectations, and can flag if the workload feels unachievable.

And, if you suspect an employee is bunking off at 3pm, take a step back before you begin a performance review. Even bosses can fall victim to the filter effect. If the tasks are being done well, and staff are happy, then managers must trust in the workforce.

Brixton Village, the famed street market that is home to over 100 independent traders, has been put up for sale for an estimated £80m, according to The Standard newspaper.

The covered part of the market is already owned by private investors, but the news of the listing has proved controversial. Home to famous eateries such as Club Mexicana, Okan and Fish, Wings, and Tings, the market is beloved by both tourists and locals.

Many Brixtonians have taken to social media to lament the sale, which will be overseen by Savills and Bryce Gillingham Pollard, as a sign of gentrification. In a post on X that received 365k views, one wrote, “This is really sad man, such an important cultural hub in Brixton”.

Why is Brixton Market up for sale?

Previously owned by a property management company, Brixton Village was purchased by Texan millionaire Taylor McWilliams in 2018 in a joint venture between his company, Hondo Enterprises, and the US investor TPG Angelo Gordon.

The owners have already attempted to make changes to the indoor market, located on Market Row and Granville Arcade. In 2021, Hondo Enterprises submitted plans for a 20-storey tower block to be built directly above the market street.

However, these efforts were successfully quashed after a three-year effort by campaign group Fight The Tower, who said it was an attempt at “ethnic cleansing”.

Brixton Village provides retail space for hundreds of sellers representing 50 nationalities. The area is also home to a community of Caribbean residents from the Windrush generation.

Now, there are fears that whoever buys the market will also submit plans to develop the area in Lambeth borough, arguing it would push Brixtonians out.

Writing on X, another user pleaded, “Please don’t knock Brixton market flat & build high end flats. The market is vibrant, full of independent shops & cafes.”

Oliver Bamber, a director at real estate firm Savills, said the market is “an irreplaceable property that enables a buyer to expand upon Brixton’s local significance and legacy.”

What does this mean for Brixton Village traders?

Brixton has undergone rapid development in the last decade. While the space has been used for market trading since the 1870s, Brixton Village itself has only been around since 2009, when it was rebranded after significant redevelopment and investment.

At the time, the market offered three months free rent to local businesses, which resulted in around 170 independent shops, cafes, and restaurants piling in, after years of empty units.

However, while the change has won the village new customers, it has also resulted in rent fees becoming gradually more expensive. In February, trader Suleiman Oloko was handed an eviction notice after he said he had struggled to afford Hondo’s service charges.

Nearby, the future of the famous Brixton Dogstar pub is also in doubt after its owner, the Antic hospitality group, entered into administration earlier this year.

Hondo has repeatedly clashed with the nearby community over its plans for the area. If the sale goes through, local shops and customers will be hoping that the new owner proves supportive of the current business population, and does not push rent costs up higher still.

Bamber appeared to acknowledge the balancing act required between preserving local charm and fostering growth, addeding: “Brixton Market is strategically positioned for future growth, all while staying true to its tradition of supporting the local community.”

This week, a law change has come into effect that should be positive news for workers. Whether a cash tip or a service charge by card, service staff will now receive all tips from customers under a new Act that bans firms from withholding the payments.

The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 has been hailed by many as long overdue. To patrons, the idea that bosses would take their employees’ tips may have been shocking.

Yet the practice was actually commonplace. Before yesterday’s law change, just one third of hospitality organisations were estimated to give 100% of service fees to the server. The majority instead put the funds towards ailing balance sheets or topping up low staff wages.

Some were simply bad actors. Others were cash-strapped companies struggling to stay afloat. Experts are now warning that firms have already responded to the Act with policies that might undermine the employee protections, or hit customer wallets.

Bryan Simpson, lead organiser for hospitality workers at the Unite union, described the law change as “welcome”. However, he added, “there are national employers out there who have already brought in policies that will see workers lose out of tips.”

They might introduce new charges

Businesses that had taken a portion of service charges will likely have relied heavily on the funds. Customers typically pay 10% on top of their bill, which represents a considerable portion of revenue and a big loss for employers post-Act.

Some have decided to insure themselves against the loss. Before the law came in, many bars and pubs said they would push up service fees to build up their cash reserves. Others have introduced new charges that they will not be legally obligated to pay to staff.

For example, Ping Pong, a restaurant in London, banned service fees in April and swapped them for a 15% discretionary ‘brand charge‘, three months before the law came into effect.

Customers have complained about the fee. But the company says staff have received a pay rise to match what “they would have received with service charge distribution”.

Speaking to the Guardian at the time, Simpson was scathing about the new charge: “No matter what senior management calls it, customers will assume that this 15% is a tip that should go to workers, but it won’t,” Simpson said. “That is completely disingenuous.”

They could pit staff against each other

A murky area in the Act is whether or not bosses should give service fees to kitchen staff. The law says an employer must ensure that tips are allocated fairly between workers.

Some might assume this means an equal split between staff members. But the new Code of Practice states that “fairness” does not necessarily refer to how the funds are portioned out. 

Instead, it instructs companies to ensure that all individuals working at the place of business are aware of and have clear access to an organisation’s tipping policy.

Ministers say the Act ensures that those who do the work earn the reward. That leaves questions about how this will impact back of house (BOH) staff. Could kitchen workers see their tips reduced if a firm decides that front of house (FOH) staff are more deserving?

Last year, it emerged that steakhouse Miller & Carter was asking wait staff to pay up to two per cent of the sales they serve out of their tips to give to the kitchen, bar and management. The decision meant that some workers ended up owing money at the end of their shift.

That is an extreme case of how a business decision can impact employees’ earnings. But depending on how a firm defines “fairer” tipping, BOH or FOH staff could end up losing out.

They could collect tips themselves

The new Act defines service fees as anyone who provides a service to customers. As a result, it could end up being the boss who lucks out from the legislation.

Managers or pub landlords can be required to step in and wait on tables or serve drinks on busy shifts. Under the new law, this makes them legally entitled to dive into the tip jar.

Pizza Express uses a tronc scheme to share tips between staff members. As reported by The Guardian, waiters at the chain will now have to share their cut of the service charge with higher-paid shift managers for precisely this reason.

They’re likely to raise prices

We’ve seen how companies might adapt their tipping policies to respond the new laws. But another (and arguably most ethical) response from businesses could be to raise prices.

Without service fees to subsidise overheads, menus charges could be bumped up by a few quid to protect profitability for bars, restaurants, and other establishments.

Research by software brand three rocks®, found that 52% of hospitality firms planned to raise drinks prices by 10% this year to make up for the lost revenue stream.

Conor Sheridan is CEO of restaurant management software, Nory. Sheridan describes a “growing concern” that the Act may lead to higher menu prices.

“Margins are already razor-thin, and with this new law in place, businesses can no longer rely on tips to plug the gaps”, he says. “The restaurant industry needs to evolve to a place where operators feel confident in charging enough to cover all their costs.”

Fairer future

Admittedly, this has been a cynical look at how large service chains have responded to the Tipping Act. It is worth acknowledging that small firms crippled by high overheads or even facing closure, might need to make tough decisions that could hurt employees.

Teething issues will emerge in the coming months, but in the long-term, the hope is that the new Act will lead to fairer pay practices in the restaurant industry.

“For too long, there has been ambiguity around how tips and service charges are managed,” says Sheridan. “[The Act] marks a significant step toward ensuring greater transparency in hospitality, not only for consumers but also for the frontline workers.”

As of today, restaurant workers will now keep 100% of all earned tips, following new tipping laws in the UK.

The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 requires employers to pass all tips, gratuities and service charges to employees without any reductions. If this is breached, workers will be able to make a claim through an employment tribunal.

However, businesses could potentially make matters murkier by replacing regular service charges with “brand charges”, but is this a legal practice?

What is a brand charge?

A brand charge is a fee that was made infamous by London-based Chinese Dim Sum restaurant Ping Pong to cover “additional costs related to operating a franchised brand”. 

The business scrapped its regular service charge and banned card tips in April 2024, replacing them with a 15% brand charge. The business argued this was an effort to increase staff wages.

“The benefit to our employees will be stability of wages throughout the year, reducing the impact of seasonality and the higher wages will also mean improved access to financial products such as loans and mortgages,” Ping Pong said in a statement. 

“With a fairer wage structure in place, our customers should not pay any extra service charge or tips. To achieve this change, we need to increase revenue by 15%.”

Ping Pong’s CEO, Art Sagiryan, also criticised the government’s new tipping laws, saying that it had “completely ignored the huge costs that are related to operating the new system”.

“Everyone in the industry is waiting to see who does what,” Sagiryan told The Times. “There will be people introducing cover charges, there will be people introducing higher bills or menu prices, and we in the interim are trying to decide where we will go.”

Are brand charges legal?

As the Allocation of Tips Act is new, it isn’t yet certain whether a brand charge will be compliant with the new regulations.

But while Ping Pong claims the additional charge will benefit its staff, others have been quick to criticise its decision.

Unite the Union organiser Bryan Simpson said: “Ping Pong’s decision to effectively deny workers tips by cynically changing the service charge to a ‘brand charge’ in order to circumvent the new fair tips legislation is one of the most blatant examples of tips theft that we’ve come across as the union for restaurant and bar workers.

“No matter what senior management calls it, customers will assume that this 15% is a tip that should go to workers, but it won’t. That is completely disingenuous.”

Similarly, Martin Kuczmarski, founder of Italian restaurant The Dover, doesn’t believe that exchanging tips for a higher wage will be beneficial for workers.

“On service charge, there’s no National Insurance. Say I am a waiter on £16, £17 an hour, including the service charge,” he told The Standard. “If you pay me exactly the same amount per hour but with less coming from the service charge, I am worse off in my pocket, and this is what I care about as an employee.”

Will brand charges appear on your bill?

So far, Ping Pong has been the only UK restaurant to officially introduce a brand charge. However, as the new law comes into effect, more restaurants could enforce similar fees to compensate for giving all tips to staff.

James Lewis, Marketing Director at Gauthier, said: “I do think we are going to see different businesses being creative as they try to steady their ships in any way they can.”

Moreover, the number of cost increases currently faced by the UK’s hospitality sector could be a likely reason for these additional charges. 

A survey by UK Hospitality revealed that many businesses saw sharp increases in wages (95%), food (89%), insurance (84%) and energy (57%). The need to fill staff shortages – reported to be 48% higher compared to pre-pandemic levels – will also likely mean new charges will be needed to pay new employees, especially considering the industry’s current shortage in meeting pay expectations.

Additionally, with customers becoming more budget-conscious due to the cost-of-living crisis, more restaurants are facing challenges in cost control, profitability and generating revenue. Therefore, with all tips going towards staff, they will likely need to find a way to make ends meet and make up for those profit gaps.

Bosses are currently tearing their hair out about how to encourage employees back to the office. Many have made headlines with their bizarre attempts at blackmail and benefits. As it turns out, the answer is simple: give us a free cup of tea.

Office design firm, Peldon Rose surveyed 1,000 UK adults to ask them what would make their office space more appealing. Almost two in five workers said that free snacks such as a coffee machine, soft drinks, or even a chocolate biscuit were most likely to win them over.

With HR leaders warning that Return to Office (RTO) mandates can destroy office relationships, and workers even quitting over the loss of flexible working hours, the survey is a reminder that, sometimes, a cup of tea is the best peace offering for Brits.

Plants, not pay rises

According to the Peldon Rose research, the number one desired workplace feature for UK employees is refreshments. 37% say it would boost productivity, coming joint top with a free car parking space as the most attractive office perk.

This was followed by meeting rooms (31%) and plants (29%). For the former, hybrid working has resulted in many businesses downsizing in order to save money on office space.

Consequently, staff who turn up to work often find they have limited meeting rooms or desk space available (which would also explain why 27% of employees cited that specifically allocated desks would be most likely to get them into the office).

Bottom of the list of most desired perks is access to a gym. However, gym programs, such as a GymPass (now WellHub) membership, can be fairly cheap for employers. And 25% of employees still said this would entice them to come into the office.

Office living beyond your means

Overall, the Peldon Rose data found that 56% of UK workers think their current office does not meet their needs, and 61% wish for a better atmosphere.

For cash-strapped firms, the idea of upgrading to a flashy new space might sound daunting. But the poll suggests that a revamp doesn’t have to cost the Earth.

In fact, a few potted plants and metal lockers would be considerably more cost-efficient and employee-friendly than many of the policies that companies have already implemented as part of an RTO mandate.

That includes Manchester United FC, which threatened to make staff redundant if they did not start clocking in at HQ. Or Dell, which said it would punish remote workers by withholding promotions or positive performance reviews from them.

Other, less ethically dubious policies include the companies that have offered a £17,000 pay rise to in-office workers. Or those who have offered to fund their employees’ commutes.

In comparison to these million-pound spending sprees, a packet of Penguin bars and some tea bags looks like a bargain (even if a box of Tetley is getting more expensive).

Ask, don’t tell

The Peldon Rose data should be taken with a pinch of salt. Workers have quickly grown attached to the improved work-life balance that flexible working brings them, and it will take more than a cappuccino to get remote radicals back to the office.

That said, the survey does provide valuable lessons for those seeking to implement an RTO. If office attendance is falling, it’s important not to jump straight to disciplinary action.

Steps as simple as restocking the snack jar could prove more effective than a flashy refurbishment or a wacky employee perk that no-one actually requested.

Leeson Medhurst, Head of Strategy at Peldon Rose, has some simple advice for bosses who want to find out what staff want from an office. Ask them.

“The best way to understand what will motivate employees to come into the office is to ask them directly,” he advises. “Gathering feedback through surveys or conversations can create a space where employees genuinely want to spend their time.”

Find out about 50+ employee benefits (big and small) that you can roll out at your office to improve attendance and boost productivity.

Executives of online fashion giant Boohoo are considering breaking up the business due to pressure from shareholders to improve its profits.

It was reported that shareholders urged the board to spin off or sell its top-performing brands – including PrettyLittleThing, Debenhams and Karen Millen – as the company tries to boost its share price, following its losses of more than £160 million and over 1,000 jobs cut this year.

Boohoo’s situation is a far cry from its online boom during the COVID-19 lockdown period. But why is the company falling into a fashion fiasco? 

Gen Z buyers are flocking to Shein

It may be controversial for its environmental impact and questionable labour practices, but Shein has risen as a major player in the online fashion industry and a significant rival for Boohoo and other brands.

“Shein has been a clear threat, capturing market share from Boohoo,” Yanmei Tang, Analyst at Third Bridge explains. “Our experts note that Shein’s affordability and successful TikTok campaigns make them more appealing to young customers.”

Gen Z buyers are considered a significant driver of Shein’s success, with 73% being aware of the brand and 34% making purchases within the year. It was also reported that nearly half of Gen Z customers (44%) make at least one purchase on Shein monthly, followed closely by Temu at 41%.

Boohoo’s return charge

Boohoo’s latest return charge also hasn’t been a hot look for the company. Introduced in July 2022, customers are now charged £1.99 when they make a return, which is deducted from the refund amount.

Unsurprisingly, Boohoo customers were dissatisfied with this announcement. The company cited shipping costs as the reason for this charge, though experts told MailOnline that retailers are battling with “spiralling costs” and struggling to stand out from an increasingly competitive market.

Retail expert John De Mello commented: “Given low margins online and the cost of processing returns, it’s no surprise that – given rising cost of sales – even online pure plays have started to charge for returns.”

Similarly, fellow fashion retailer ASOS also introduced a £3.95 fee to customers who frequently return large amounts of items, unless they keep up to £40 worth of their order.

Gen Z may be going back to the high street

While many see the high street as being in shambles, studies have suggested that young buyers are leaning towards shopping in-store. 

According to statistics, just over one-third of Gen Z consumers in the UK chose the high street as their first choice when needing to buy something. It was also reported that 44% of Gen Z shoppers said that they liked to go to physical stores for inspiration. 

Greggs and M&S have been particularly successful in attracting young buyers to their stores. For example, M&S’s fashion line – which was once seen as dumpy and outdated – was able to turn itself around by investing in social media such as TikTok and Instagram, improving its clothing range and offering more affordable prices. 

According to the M&S website, this led to an increased market share to 10.0% in the 52 weeks ending March 2024. It also hit a “record 38% market share” in May for its lingerie range, with 30% of those customers now aged under 30.

Boohoo’s past backlash

Boohoo’s past controversies have also left a permanent stain on its reputation.

PrettyLitteThing deactivating customer accounts

Earlier this year, customers of the Boohoo-owned PrettyLittleThing brand hit out at the company for deactivating their accounts due to “unusual high returns activity”. The reason for these bans was to reduce the high amount of “bracketing”, where customers would buy an excessive amount of clothes from the website, only to return them shortly after.

However, customers argued that the brand should expect a high number of returns due to its fast production cycle. Anecdotally, others also claimed that they rarely returned items, with one customer reporting that their account had been deactivated, despite their last return being three months ago.

Unfashionable labour practices

An investigation by BBC Panorama revealed that Boohoo had failed to uphold its promise to make its products ethically.

The company was previously under fire when it was reported that workers at its Leicester factory were paid less than the minimum wage and weren’t supplied with masks to protect themselves from COVID-19 at the time. 

Following this investigation, executives and co-founder Mahmud Kamani, claimed they were “fixing” these issues, with Kamani stating: “I want to make Leicester right, I promise you.”

However, the BBC’s 2023 investigation – where a reporter worked undercover as an admin assistant – discovered that those promises were consistently undermined. With relentless demands for suppliers to reduce prices, unrealistic timescales to create garments and mandatory overtime imposed on workers, the reality of the retailer’s Leceister warehouse far from matches the promises made by its executives.

But this is just a loose thread in the unravelling of Boohoo’s business plan, as major competitor Shein has also garnered an unfavourable reputation for its supply chain practices, including allegations of child labour and inhumane working conditions.

While breaking up hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, the future of Boohoo and its brands remains uncertain. With young shoppers leaning towards cheaper alternatives like Shein or heading back to the high street, the relationship remains rocky, and Gen Z could well be falling out of love with Boohoo.

Selling online is a popular (and cheap) business idea for side hustlers. But while Vinted and Depop are Gen Z favourites, many of us still remember the good old fashioned days of the eBay auction. And now might be the perfect time to rediscover your old account.

From today, eBay will no longer charge transaction fees for private sellers, except for those trading old cars, motorcycles and other vehicles. The 90s marketplace used to take up to 15.55% of the final selling price in fees.

Depop removed its selling fee this year, while Vinted also does not charge sellers. Instead, the onus is on purchasers to pay a buyer protection fee of between 3% and 8% per sale.

As flogging unwanted items becomes cheaper, and ecommerce sites race to attract new users, now is the ideal time for Brits to empty out their wardrobes and set up an eBay shop.

Back to the 00s

eBay first sprung up on the internet’s high street in 1995. Originally named AuctionWeb it was an instant hit, becoming one of the first global ecommerce marketplaces in the early 00s heyday of online shopping.

However, eBay’s dominance in the sector has declined thanks to the arrival of rivals such as Amazon and Etsy. Social shopping apps like Vinted and Depop have also stolen a sizable share of the website’s customer base, particularly among younger audiences, who are perhaps put off by eBay’s dinosaur reputation in the industry.

In an image shake-up, eBay removed seller fees for fashion items last year. It says this led to a double-digit increase in listings for popular items such as jeans, shirts, and dresses.

“Removing selling fees across categories is designed to give buyers access to greater breadth and depth of inventory, while creating a simplified and streamlined experience for sellers”, said Kirsty Keoghan, GM of eBay UK.

Why sell on eBay?

In a survey by eBay, the website found that half of all households in the UK value their unused items at between £50 and £300, while 24% were sitting on items worth more than £500. Most commonly, these were old items of clothing, DVDs, CDs and gadgets.

By removing seller fees, eBay could jump up the relevance rankings to become one of the most popular online marketplaces for those selling these pieces as a side hustle.

Depop removed its 10% seller fee back in March, replacing it with a new “marketplace fee” for UK buyers worth up to 5% of the purchase price, plus a fixed charge of up to £1. However, Depop sellers still have to pay a payment processing charge.

Vinted has also received some criticism for its “buyer protection fee”. This can cost between 3% and 8% of an item price, plus a fixed charge, making the app less attractive for users.

It is not clear if eBay will introduce a buyer fee. However, its huge audience means that a buyer boycott would be unlikely to make a dent in the platform’s customer engagement. Last year, eBay had 132 million active buyers across the globe.

Enticing new sellers could help to add this impressive customer base. When eBay Germany cut seller fees last year, 250,000 Germans who had flocked to the site to sell ended up buying twice as much as typical users.

Beware the Side Hustle ‘tax’

Those who do choose to list old childhood toys, teenage gadgets and outgrown outfits online will need to be careful. As the popularity of these apps grows, HMRC has cracked down on professional sellers who are using the site to profit by introducing a Side Hustle ‘Tax’.

Those selling some hand-me-downs for a few quid likely won’t end up paying tax. But the law change means some of those with a side gig will need to register for self-assessment. For example, if you make more than £1,000 a year or sell over 30 items.

The ‘tax’ label sounds scary, but it should not put people off selling online; particularly as platforms clamour for new salespeople to sign up. Oasis is back, and with the scrapping of its seller fees, a similar 00s revival could be on the cards for eBay.

Will your waiter actually receive their staff tip, or will your money just go to a giant, faceless restaurant group? It’s a question that has flummoxed Brits for years, resulting in satisfied customers being left unsure about how to show their appreciation for top quality service.

From tomorrow, the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 will come into force which will attempt to make things clearer for those dining out. But, while the changes will chiefly disrupt restaurants, they will also affect taxis, cafes, hairdressers, and delivery drivers.

The new regulations state that all tips and service charges must be given to the staff who served the tipper (or made the food) rather than the employer being in control of allocation.

How will this impact the customer? Here’s everything you need to know about the new law.

What are the new tipping laws?

At the end of a meal or a round of drinks, it’s now customary for hospitality firms to add on 10% to the bill. Officially called a service charge, but colloquially called the tip, this is now acceptable practice to most patrons (even those who grumble about UK tipping culture).

The new legislation, launching this Tuesday, prevents companies from holding onto service charges. Instead, they need to be fairly distributed among all workers, including agency staff.

Of course, this is a practice that many customers might have thought was already in place. It’s exactly that lack of clarity this legislation is set to address.

Under the law change, companies will be required to publish clear rules on how tips will be allocated for front of house and back of house roles, and keep records of tips for three years.

The money will also need to be doled out to workers quickly, within one calendar month. Government estimates have said that around two million hospitality workers are expected to receive a total of £200m as a result of law change.

Why have the new rules been introduced?

The hospitality sector is between a rock and a hard place. It is short-staffed, so employers need to offer attractive wages. But customer footfall is also dropping, meaning fewer profits to draw pay increases from – despite the minimum wage rising every year.

In the background of this growing pay crisis, service charges had started to become handy cover for businesses to cover rising operational costs (cash tips, paid voluntarily by customers, have generally always been passed onto the server).

Some firms had even begun using the fee money to make up for lost sales, resulting in controversies for big-name brands such as Miller and Carter.

In fact, just one third of hospitality firms reported giving 100% of service charge money to their workforce, which has resulted in a very low pay rate for workers.

The law change aims to tip the scale back in favour of employees, and make the rules clearer on what constitutes fair tipping and tip pooling policies.

“On the one hand, [the Allocation of Tips Act] puts additional pressure on businesses in an industry that is already facing high costs and low bookings,” says Rufus Hood, Country Manager UK at Coople. “However, [the Act] will be very welcome news for staff.”

How have businesses responded?

Lots of hospitality companies already have service charge systems in place, such as a tronc scheme, that are designed to protect staff tips and boost restaurant wages.

However, not being able to keep service charge money means that many businesses will lose a key part of their revenue. As a result, the push-pull nature of employer-employee relationships means that this pay boost for hospitality workers will likely impact the customer.

Firms could be forced to shrink portion sizes, limit service options, or cut back on amenities. Some may lower headcount, leading to longer wait times or a decline in service quality.

Many businesses have already begun to make changes to absorb the law change. Research by three rocks® found that, on average, firms would raise their prices by 10%, pushing up the median cost of a pint to £5.22 in order to maintain profitability.

Others have begun trialling additional charges or scrapping service charges altogether in order to mitigate the impact; a move that has caused some backlash among consumers.

Tipping point

There are ways around the new legislation. But in the majority of hospitality businesses, it should result in a pay boost for workers and a standardised approach to the thorny subject of tipping (how much, when, and to whom?) that has stirred many debates at the dinner table.

Indeed, Tuesday’s law change will force customers to cement their opinions on tipping, as Brits become aware of how their spending power impacts employees’ earnings.

The three rocks® survey found 73% of drinkers said they would be happy to pay extra to tip staff when buying drinks. Hospitality business owners will be hoping that this goodwill continues if they are forced to raise prices to accommodate the new act.

Tory leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch has described maternity pay in the UK as “excessive” and argued that the policy has “gone too far” for business regulation.

Speaking to Times Radio, Badenoch said, “the exact amount of maternity pay in my view is neither here nor there”, adding: “We need to have more personal responsibility – there was a time when there wasn’t any maternity pay and people were having more babies.”

Fellow Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick has already distanced himself from these views, and Badenoch claims she was commenting on business regulation more broadly (that awkward moment when you slip, fall, and say “maternity pay” twice on live radio).

Here in the UK, statutory maternity pay starts at 90% of earnings for six weeks; falling to a maximum of £184.03 per week for the remaining seven months. You’d earn the same working a 16-hour week on the Living Wage.

Presumably, Badenoch has since been informed that the UK’s freeloading new mums are actually miles behind in maternity benefits compared to leading nations. Below, we list six countries that are doing maternity leave better than the UK.

1. Norway

Unsurprisingly, the Scandis are leaps and bounds ahead of the UK when it comes to maternity pay. Norwegian mothers can choose between either 49 weeks of maternity leave on full pay, or 59 weeks of leave receiving 80% of their salary.

Dads can also benefit from this generosity thanks to Norway’s shared parental leave policy. While mum goes back to work, dads can spend 16 or 26 weeks (depending on the total time taken) bonding with their new baby.

2. Bulgaria

Bulgaria is best-known for its gorgeous coastline and rose oil production. But it is also earning a reputation as a progressive leader when it comes to supporting women at work, thanks to its extremely generous statutory maternity leave. All 410 days of allotted leave are funded by the government at 90% of the mother’s wage, starting 45 days before the birth.

That said, Bulgaria is lacking when it comes to shared leave. When the baby is six months old, mothers can transfer their remaining maternity leave to the father, but this time is usually paid at minimum wage, generally resulting in a slower return to work for new mums.

3. Sweden

Swedish mothers aren’t paid at 100% of their salary while on maternity leave, so they do slip behind Norway in our ranking. But a generous leave allowance makes up for this. 480 days of leave are up for grabs, all offered at 80% pay, up to a maximum of around £450 per week.

Unlike in the UK, where just 63.7% of fathers use their two weeks of paid paternity leave, Swedish dads are legally obliged to take at least 90 days of paternity leave to look after their new child. 150 days can also be transferred between parents.

4. Finland

Finland is just behind its neighbour Sweden when it comes to maternity leave. Mums and dads both get 160 days of leave, of which 69 days can be transferred to the other parent.

On top of this, mums must start their leave at least 30 days before birth, in addition to the 160 days they receive after the baby is born. Single parents can use both parents’ entitlements, giving them 328 days of parental leave in total.

The first 56 days of leave is paid at 90% of the employee’s salary. This amount then drops to 70% for those earning up to €38,636 a year, and 40% for salaries up to €59,444.

5. Croatia

Kemi Badenoch might argue that Croatians really need to reign in their maternity leave benefits. Working mothers are obligated to take at least 98 days of leave, with the option to extend this up to six months, or return to work and transfer the remaining leave to the father.

Throughout this entire period, any parent on leave is entitled to 100% of their salary. Rather than the employer, this generous package is paid for by the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO), a state-owned, universal health care system (sobs in NHS).

6. New Zealand

Jacinda Arden made headlines when she became the first world leader to attend the United Nations general assembly meeting with her three-month-old baby in tow. The move set a new precedent for helping women to balance work and care duties; a legacy that has since influenced New Zealand’s generous approach to maternity.

Like Croatia, new mums can get up to six months’ maternity leave on 100% pay, as part of a package paid for by the government. The allowance is the same for shared parental leave. Unrelated, but workers also get 32 days’ holiday allowance.

Why everyone and their mum is beating us for work-life balance

In its recent report into work-life balance, The Access Group ranked the UK 34th in a list of the top 40 countries, largely due to its poor maternity and paternity leave allowance.

According to the same report, Google searches in the UK for ‘work abroad visa’ have spiked by 27% in the last year, which could reflect the country’s position in the index as people look to explore opportunities in other countries, such as those offering Digital Nomad visas.

Despite Badenoch’s comments, working mothers mustn’t feel too dismayed. Thankfully, most businesses recognise that the legal minimum for maternity leave is not a bar to aim for, but one to beat. There are many firms with enhanced maternity leave in the UK.

Otherwise, with working mothers only able to earn as much as a part-time minimum wage job in the UK, we are hardly going “too far” with our benefits.

In fact, with the motherhood penalty resulting in a persistent gender pay gap for female employees, there is no doubt that the UK could go much further.

The CEO of Innovate UK, Indro Mukerjee has finally spoken out, weeks after the organisation made a controversial decision to fund only half the projects in a female founder competition. Not that he had much to say about what happened.

In a veiled post shared on LinkedIn, Mukerjee – who will step down as CEO next Tuesday – wrote about the importance of inclusivity in UK innovation, saying that “more must be done” to improve the system and “increase visibility of women innovators”.

Earlier this month, the public body caused outcry when it emerged that it had only awarded 25 from a total of 50 promised grants for women-led businesses. Following the backlash, Innovate UK confirmed it would pay the remaining 25 grants, worth around £2m.

“We don’t always get it right”

Innovate UK had pledged to award the 50 funding grants as part of its Women in Innovation awards. According to the Women in Innovation website, the awards “support women at a critical stage with their business [and] enable them to take an important step forward.”

However, disheartened entrepreneurs began calling for urgent reform of Women in Innovation and Innovate UK at the start of this month, after it emerged that the 50 grants had not been paid out.

Over three days subsequent to this news, women entrepreneurs took to LinkedIn to vent their frustrations and call for more support to be given to female founders. Mukerjee’s post echoes their sentiments, appearing to admit that the awards had fallen short of their mission statement.

“Since starting this role 3.5 years ago, we’ve worked hard as a team to encourage and support greater inclusion across the UK’s innovation system; across business, academia, government and our broader society”, Mukerjee’s post reads.

“As a large organisation and system, we inevitably face challenges when working to be inclusive across such a broad system of communities, partners, people and businesses and we don’t always get it right.

“There’s a long way still to go and we owe it to our economy and society to continue to work for a better future.”

Three weeks too late?

Coming almost a month after campaigners first drew attention to the Women in Innovation awards chaos on LinkedIn, Mukerjee’s comments seem strangely timed.

On September 2nd, the organisation shared another LinkedIn post that confirmed it would pay out all 50 of the promised Women in Innovation awards. The move came shortly after the campaign group Let’s Fund More Women put pressure on Innovate UK to speak out.

However, apart from this letter, which apologised for “the concern and frustration that we have caused”, Innovate UK has largely stayed mum.

Mukerjee appears keen to sweep the issue under the rug. In his statement, published at Friday lunchtime (generally acknowledged as the graveyard slot for posting on LinkedIn) referring only to challenges “we’ve recently experienced”.

The post will likely disappoint founders who have been writing to the organisation on LinkedIn asking for an explanation of how the chaos occurred. “Who was it that made those prioritisation choices?” one posted earlier this month. “Innovate UK needs to reflect.”

A time for Peace

The female founder controversy has marred Mukerjee’s legacy at Innovate UK. At the start of this year, he confirmed he would step down as CEO after three years at the organisation.

Mukerjee’s successor will be Dr Stella Peace. She is currently Innovate UK’s executive director for healthy living and agriculture, and will take on the CEO title in an interim role from October.

Mukerjee confirmed that Peace will prioritise improving inclusivity in his LinkedIn post. “Over the next few months, we will be working with communities to co-design our Women in Innovation programme for 2025, using the feedback and experiences of past applicants and working in partnership to increase visibility of women innovators,” he pledged.

“There are many areas where we can create impact in building a strong, innovation led economy through increased inclusivity and better representation. Let’s acknowledge how far we’ve come on this journey, but also recognise how far we still have to go.”

Whether you love it or hate it, you’ll know about TikTok.

But aside from its entertaining videos, viral trends and popular influencers, the social media giant now offers a dedicated platform for selling products online – TikTok Shop.

People have been quick to jump on the bandwagon, with 2.8 million UK customers making a purchase on the platform in 2023. Major retailers such as ASOS, Zara and LookFantastic have taken notice too, recognising its potential to drive sales and reach a younger audience.

But with more reliance on the platform, an ASOS Director has speculated that it could potentially cut out regular online stores.

#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt – TikTok Shop’s surge in popularity

With over 1.582 billion monthly active users worldwide, it isn’t surprising that businesses are flocking to the platform to attract new customers.

TikTok Shop launched in the UK in 2023, having seen previous success in South Asian markets. This would continue onto the UK market, with the platform accounting for 68.1% of social shopping gross merchandise value (GMV) in February 2024. 

Moreover, 81.3% of TikTok Shop sales came from existing customers within the same period, with Gen Z adults between 18 and 24 being 3.2 times more likely to purchase on the platform.

As of November 2023, TikTok Shop reported a business user base of nearly 1.5 million, with 38% of SMEs having ethnic minority ownership. Meanwhile, the #TikTokMadeMeByIt hashtag is reported to have 4.1 billion views, with 67% of shoppers saying that the platform had introduced them to new products. 

ASOS says TikTok Shop could cut out online retail

Fashion retailer ASOS hasn’t shied away from selling on the social media giant. With an aim to reconnect with its customers, the company launched its brand on TikTok Shop in March 2024. This new move not only boosted sales but also gained 57% of new customers, exceeding its target of 30%.

However, ASOS Director Elton Ollerhead recently commented that while selling on TikTok Shop has worked well for the brand, it could also be “dangerous” – removing the need for online retailers as shoppers turn to buy products directly from social media platforms like TikTok Shop, Instagram Shops and Facebook Marketplace.

Given the company’s success in launching on TikTok Shop, the platform could continue to see growth in its sales and new customer acquisition. But becoming too dependent on TikTok Shop for sales could potentially reduce traffic to its own website and app, in turn diminishing its control over the customer experience, as TikTok manages both transactions and customer data.

After all, social commerce is already a major part of the UK’s ecommerce market, and its revenue is expected to grow from $6.2 billion in 2018 to over $44 billion in 2027. Additionally, its compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is expected to grow by 21.2%, hitting £15.7 billion in 2028.

The pros & cons of TikTok Shop for online retailers

Selling on TikTok Shop has quickly become a popular way for brands to reach and engage with younger audiences. With TikTok’s massive user base and powerful algorithm, businesses can showcase products directly within the app.

But while the platform offers opportunities for growth and visibility, there are also challenges to consider when relying on TikTok Shop as a primary sales channel.

Pros:

• Increased brand awareness: With TikTok’s huge user base, your brand can attract potential customers, particularly those in the younger demographic. Whether through user-generated content or influencer marketing, it can be a great way to engage with consumers in a more direct and personal way.
• Low commission fees: TikTok Shop is also a favourite among sellers for its low selling fees. According to Statuo, sellers only have to pay a fee of 1.8% for the first 90 days. While this goes up to 5% afterwards, it’s still cheaper than most platforms, such as Amazon, which has selling fees of around 8-15%.
• Seamless checkout: TikTok’s in-app purchases and shoppable posts make it easier for customers to make purchases without leaving the platform. This can reduce abandoned carts or any friction in the buying process, leading to higher conversion rates. A review by The Argus praised the platform for its ease of use, making purchases through social media much easier than its competitors.

Cons:

• Product restrictions: While TikTok sellers can sell a wide variety of products, there are limitations. For example, digital products like eBooks, music and software cannot be purchased on the platform.
• Not suitable for all audiences: Selling on TikTok Shop can be a great way to attract a younger audience (Millennials and GenZ). However, it might not be the best option if your business is more targeted towards an older audience, as just 24% of Gen Xers and 5% of Baby Boomers use the platform daily.
• Loss of brand control: TikTok allows virtually anyone to become a seller, which can be risky for your brand as it could potentially result in unauthorised resales of your products. There’s also a reputational risk as brands have little control over how sellers market their products, or which video creators are being used to endorse them.

While social commerce is growing, it’s unlikely that ASOS and other big online retailers need to panic just yet.

Still, with platforms like TikTok Shop continuing to change the way online customers interact with brands, online retailers will need to navigate between gaining an audience and losing brand control.