by Clair Mooney | 11 Mar, 2025 | Employment
Major changes to UK Employment Law are on the horizon, and businesses need to take action. The Employment Rights Bill, published on 10 October, introduces significant reforms that will affect employment rights, working conditions, and employer responsibilities.
Our Associate Service Provider Member Citation’s free expert-written guide helps businesses understand:
- New day-one rights
- Updated standards for workers
- Changes to trade unions
- Practical steps to prepare and stay compliant
FIS members can download their free copy here: https://tinyurl.com/sz7fhd54
If you’d like to chat about how Citation can help with the HR and Health & Safety side of your business, just give them a call on 0345 844 1111, or fill in their call-back form, and they’ll get right back to you. Remember to quote ‘The Finishes and Interiors Sector’ when enquiring to access preferential rates.
by Clair Mooney | 18 Feb, 2025 | Employment
Recruitment challenges are at an all-time high, with businesses facing talent shortages, rising competition, and changing workforce expectations. To help employers overcome these obstacles, our Associate Service Provider Member Citation has developed an expert-written Recruitment & Retention Guide packed with practical strategies and legal insights.
This guide includes:
- Where to advertise your vacancy
- Job interview question examples
- How to develop a proper induction process
- Tips to keep your people happy and engaged
Whether you’re hiring now or planning for the future, this resource is essential for staying ahead in today’s job market. Download your free copy here: https://tinyurl.com/4zta5e3v
If you’d like to chat about how Citation can help with the HR and Health & Safety side of your business, just give them a call on 0345 844 1111, or fill in their call-back form, and they’ll get right back to you. Remember to quote ‘The Finishes and Interiors Sector’ when enquiring to access preferential rates.
by Oscar Venus | 14 Feb, 2025 | Contractual and Legal, Employment, Market data
Through construction umbrella body Build UK, FIS, is supporting thecampaign by Family Business UK which is calling on the Chancellor to reconsider the changes to inheritance tax announced in the Autumn Budget, and we would encourage affected members to complete a short survey to help demonstrate the significant impact of the changes on businesses and the wider economy.
With an estimated 4.8 million family‐owned businesses in the UK, the changes to Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief will affect businesses across the country and starve the economy of investment. 81% of construction SMEs are family‐run and by working with Family Business UK we can demonstrate the significant economic contributions that these businesses make and how the changes will not provide the expected tax revenue. The survey should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete, and the deadline for responses is 2 March.
by Clair Mooney | 14 Feb, 2025 | Drylining, Employment, Skills
Construction training provider, The Skills Centre has launched a cutting-edge apprenticeship scheme specialising in drylining.
Designed in collaboration with employers and endorsed by FIS, this specialist training programme will launch in March at The Skills Centre’s new green skills training facility in Edgware, run in partnership with Ballymore, Places for London and Barnet Council. The programme will then expand to The Skills Centre’s Build East facility at The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and into a new custom facility in Essex later this year.
With demand for new housing, the need to upgrade buildings across the UK to help optimise space and deliver net-zero emissions by 2050, demand for interior systems, insulation and retrofit skills is surging. Yet, the industry faces a critical shortage of trained professionals. Our new interior systems and drylining apprenticeship will help bridge this gap by equipping learners with some of the essential skills required to meet these targets. An estimated 3.4 million properties in London alone require retrofitting, and with 78% of construction employers reporting retrofit skills shortages, this training is timely and essential.
The drylining apprenticeship training will cover:
- Partition Walls
- MF Ceilings
- Grid Ceilings
- Shaft Walls
- Metsec Installation
- Rainscreen Cladding
- Passive Fire Protection
Apprentices will gain additional qualifications in:
- NVQ L2 Interior Systems
- PASMA
- CSCS
- SSSTS (if eligible)
This apprenticeship is open to those seeking to build a successful career within the construction sector, providing the skills, knowledge, and behaviours necessary to establish a strong foundation in the industry.
Supporting employer recruitment: To assist employers with recruitment, The Skills Centre offers 8-week interior systems bootcamps for new entrants. These bootcamps provide a mix of classroom and practical training, including CSCS Green Card, and allow employers to meet pre-screened candidates and conduct two-week trial placements before committing to an apprenticeship hire. This provides companies with access to a pipeline of engaged, local candidates equipped with the relevant skills to excel in the apprenticeship programme from day 1.
Jon Howlin, CEO of The Skills Centre, said:
“Recruiting quality candidates has been a significant challenge for many in the construction industry. Our apprenticeship and bootcamp programmes are designed to alleviate this by providing a vital pipeline of skilled, local talent ready to meet the industry’s evolving demands.
“The Skills Centre is committed to collaborating with employers and construction companies to ensure that local people have access to opportunities in the industry and that our partners receive the skilled workforce they need for their projects.”
While the Interior Systems Apprenticeship is a new addition to The Skills Centre’s delivery, they have been providing apprenticeships in Groundwork, Formwork, Steel Fixing and Highways Maintenance for several years, and recently received a Good overall grade from OFSTED with Outstanding marks for Adult Education Provisions.
FIS CEO Iain McIlwee added:
“Employers want people, people want jobs that allow them to earn and develop and government want a productive workforce, yet we seem to make it complicated and consistently fail to meet the expectations of each other.
“It is refreshing to be working so closely with The Skills Centre to rethink the way that we put it all together and deliver a programme that can work for everyone. Flexible, practical and quality provision, tailored to employer need in an environment that supports the individuals is what this is all about. Plugging in the Bootcamps makes sense too, it means employers and individuals can start the process, help people get productive early and ensure that we are investing in the people that want to and will be able to carve a career out in our industry with full knowledge of what that is before the serious investment starts. The next 5 years is going to see major reform of the apprenticeship model and this is a fabulous way to kick that off in the finishes and interiors sector”.
The Skills Centre are working with a number of employers to support both the Bootcamp and the Apprenticeship, including Measom, one of the leading Drywall Contractors in the UK and an integral part of the construction industry.
Rikki Wild, Training Manager at Measom said,
“Creating clear and accessible entry points into the dry lining industry is crucial for its long-term success, and this programme achieves just that. By combining intensive bootcamps with structured apprenticeships, we are offering a comprehensive pathway for new talent to enter the sector, providing them with the essential skills and knowledge from the very start. At Measom, we recognise the great value of practical, employer-led training that ensures apprentices are fully prepared and confident when working on-site. This initiative plays a key role in helping employers like us develop a highly skilled, adaptable, and sustainable workforce, which is vital to meeting the future needs and challenges of the industry.”
To learn more about this apprenticeship opportunity or to apply, visit https://theskillscentre.co.uk/courses-services/interior-systems-installer-dry-lining-apprenticeships.
by Oscar Venus | 30 Jan, 2025 | Employment
Before the summer recess of Parliament, the Home Secretary, the Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP,published a Written Ministerial statement setting out the Government’s ambitions for the legal migration system, including new reforms which will link migration policy and visa controls and labour market policies. These consist of:
- The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), Skills England, the Industrial Strategy Council, and the Labour Market Advisory Board will work together to support a coherent approach to skills, migration and labour market policy, engaging and working closely with the Devolved Governments;
- The Government will commission the MAC to review the reliance on international recruitment in key sectors, commencing with IT and engineering; and
- The Government will provide additional resources to the MAC to enable it to work more strategically to forecast future trends.
The Statement also confirms that the Government will keep some changes made earlier this year by the previous administration, including:
- Restricting most overseas students from bringing family members to the UK;
- Restricting the ability of care workers and senior care workers to bring dependants with them; and requiring all care providers sponsoring migrants in England to register with the Care Quality Commission;
- Increasing the general salary threshold for those arriving on Skilled Worker visas by 48% from £26,200 to £38,700;
- Abolishing the 20% going rate discount so that employers can no longer pay migrants less than UK workers in shortage occupations; and
- Introducing measures announced on 23 May to reduce the potential for abuse on the student and graduate visa routes, working closely with the Department for Education to ensure the measures are effective.
Finally, the statement explains the need to balance respect for family life with the economic wellbeing of the UK. The Government will commission the MAC to review the financial requirements in the Family Immigration Rules, keeping the minimum income requirement in the Spouse/Partner route at £29,000 until the review is complete.
The following may also be of interest:
On 30 July, the Immigration Minister, Seema Malhotra MP published Written Ministerial Statement on Afghan Resettlement:
Written statements – Written questions, answers and statements – UK Parliament.
- This Government is implementing the commitment that families who were separated by the military evacuation from Kabul in August 2021 can be reunited in the UK.
- Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway 1 Stage 2: Separated Families opened on Tuesday 30 July. The window to submit an expression of interest will remain open for 3 months until 30 October 2024.
On 29 July, the Immigration Minister published a Written Ministerial statement on the European Entry/Exit System (EES)
Written statements – Written questions, answers and statements – UK Parliament
- The UK Government is working to maintain border fluidity with the European Union throughout the implementation of the new Entry/Exit System, ensuring UK nationals and residents can continue to access European destinations effectively and efficiently.
- Provides an update on the immediate steps being taken to improve preparations and levels of readiness.
FIS is working with the Construction Leadership Council to ensure that the Government understands the impact of current policy on the construction sector (more here) and has advice on employing migrant workers in our employment hub here.
To help members recruit overseas skilled workers to fill the skills gaps being experienced in the industry which is inhibiting growth, FIS has partnered with specialist immigration lawyers, Migrate UK to help members to explore whether hiring overseas skilled workers is a viable route for them Find out more here
by Clair Mooney | 16 Jan, 2025 | Employment
Members will be aware that from 1 April 2025 the changes to employers National Insurance Contributions will be implemented. Measures include:
- Secondary Threshold, currently set at £9,100 a year, and will be reduced to £5,000 a year
- Increases to the secondary Class 1 NICs rate from 13.8% to 15%
- Increases to the maximum Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500
- The restriction that currently applies to the Employment Allowance where employers who have incurred a secondary Class 1 NICs liability of more than £100,000 in the tax year immediately prior to the year of the claim are unable to claim it — this means all eligible businesses and charities will be able to claim a greater reduction on their secondary Class 1 NICs liability, irrespective of what their secondary Class 1 NICs liabilities were in the tax year prior to the year of the claim.
There is a useful calculator here to help work out the increase: https://zelt.app/blog/how-to-calculate-employers-ni-employer-s-ni-calculator-2024-2025-2026/
Salary Sacrific
A Salary Sacrifice scheme can help reduce NI costs for both employers and employers. If you are not already offering Salary Sacrifice, it is something worth considering – only 41% of small and medium enterprises offer salary sacrifice, compared with 85% of large organisations.
A salary sacrifice arrangement, which is Government backed, is an agreement to reduce an employee’s entitlement to cash pay, usually in return for a non-cash benefit. An employee agrees with their employer to give up part of their salary in exchange for non-cash benefits, the most common of these being pension contributions.
This means that the employee’s gross salary is reduced by the amount they sacrifice. The result is lower National Insurance contributions for both the employee and employer. For example: £5,000 paid through salary sacrifice into a pension would save an employer c.£750 at the April 2025 NI rate and the employee would not paying tax or NI on the amount sacrificed.
As an employer, you can set up a salary sacrifice arrangement by changing the terms of your employee’s employment contract. Your employee needs to agree to this change. If your employee wants to opt in or out of a salary sacrifice arrangement, you must alter their contract with each change. This can be done by way of a Variation to Contract letter. Your employee’s contract must be clear on what their cash and non-cash entitlements are at any given time.
You can find out more information on the government website.
