This week’s news in brief
Too busy for time off
Nearly half of British
workers say they are too busy to take full holiday entitlement, according to
research by holiday agency Travel Choice. Almost one-fifth of employees do not
take all of their holiday and overwork is the reason for the trend. www.travelchoice.com
Family-friendly Army
In a bid to combat
recruitment shortages, the Army is discussing proposals to stop regiments
moving to different army bases so frequently. Defence secretary Geoff Hoon is
considering plans to restrict the movement of soldiers to a minimum of once
every five years, allowing families to establish homes and provide continuity
at school for children. www.mod.uk
Pensions rumpus
Stakeholder pensions
have been branded discriminatory, by the Retirement Income Reform Campaign. It
claims that women could receive almost £1,000 a year less than men because they
live longer. Stakeholder pensions were introduced earlier this month.
Other side of the coin
Financial services
firms have seen the biggest fall in business confidence for more than two
years, despite rising business volumes. Joint research by the CBI and
PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that 35 per cent of respondents claimed they were
less optimistic than three months ago. www.cbi.org.uk
Tribunal changes
Measures to strengthen
the employment tribunal system and reduce the number of spurious claims which
were due to come into force today, 18 April, have been delayed until mid-July.
A spokesman for the DTI said that tribunal users need more time to understand
the changes. www.dti.gov.uk
