Vodafone’s chief executive has said there will be no forced redundancies for retail staff following the £16.5bn merger with Three. “Our presence in the high street is really key to our business model,” said Margherita Della Valle. The merger is expected to result in £700m in cost savings or extra sales, with integration progressing ahead…

A Times investigation has found that despite a high-profile Home Office crackdown on abuse of the skilled worker visa system, a number of firms stripped of their sponsor licences have since been reapproved or continue sponsoring migrants through companies run by the same directors. Analysis shows that of 566 care providers sanctioned between 2022 and…

Dozens of eCourier drivers are pursuing legal action against the Royal Mail-owned service, claiming they are misclassified as self-employed. The 46 drivers argue that their work conditions indicate they should be classified as workers, which would grant them rights such as minimum wage and holiday pay. Mandy Bhattal, an employment partner at law firm Leigh…

BAE Systems workers have announced a further three-week strike in a dispute over pay. More than 1,000 union members at the aerospace company’s sites in Warton and Samlesbury in Lancashire and over 200 design team members will strike until at least 20 February. The Unite Union said it was because BAE’s “negotiations over pay and…

A new report from Payscale suggests that employers are increasingly considering “peanut butter raises” – an approach which involves uniform pay increases spread evenly across the firm rather than performance-based pay hikes. The report indicates that over 40% of organisations are adopting this method, rising to 56% among firms which expect to exceed their revenue…

Judges have ruled that severe hair loss in women constitutes a disability that impacts daily activities. The landmark decision arose from a £277,000 VAT dispute involving Mark Glenn Ltd, which sells wigs for women with hair loss. The Upper Tribunal judges, Swami Raghavan and Kevin Poole, said: “Severe hair loss in women constitutes an impairment…