New fees for tribunals from 2013

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3 October 2011 Last updated at 14:33 GMT Employees will have to work for longer before being able to go to a tribunal A fee for bringing an employment tribunal will be charged for the first time from April 2013, Chancellor George Osborne has announced.

There will be a refund for any individual who wins their case.

The amount that will be charged and how it should be paid will be subject to consultation starting by the end of November.

There is currently no fee for an applicant who wants to make an employment tribunal claim.

The low-paid, or those without an income, may also have the fee waived or reduced at the start of the process, under the new scheme.

"We are ending the one way bet against small businesses," Mr Osborne told the Conservative conference in Manchester.

Timescale

The chancellor also confirmed that, from April 2011, the qualifying period for a claim for unfair dismissal will be that the individual must have been in the job for at least two years.

At present they only need to have been working for one year.

"We respect the right of those who spent their whole lives building up a business, not to see that achievement destroyed by a vexatious appeal to an employment tribunal. So we are now going to make it much less risky for businesses to hire people," Mr Osborne said.

Last year there were 236,000 employment tribunal claims - of which only some were unfair dismissal claims, with an average award for successful complainants of ￡8,900.

Under Mr Osborne's plan, workers will still be able to take action immediately if they suffer discrimination, but by reducing the risk of tribunals for unfair dismissals the government hopes bosses will feel more confident about hiring people.

The GMB union has criticised the plan.

"The very notion that reducing the rights of workers of between 12 months and two years service to bring unfair dismissal claims will create a single new job is quire frankly absurd. Job creation is not the real reason the Tory party want to take away these rights," said Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the move was a "charter for bad bosses".

Abandoned

However, business lobby the CBI, welcomed it.

"We have been urging the government to do everything it can to make it easier for firms to grow and create jobs, and this will give employers, especially smaller ones, more confidence to hire," said director general John Cridland.

In 2010-11 the cost to the taxpayer of running employment tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal in England, Wales and Scotland was more than ￡84m, according to the Ministry of Justice.

The Treasury said that more than 80% of applications made to an employment tribunal did not result in a full hearing.

Almost 40% of applicants withdrew their cases, but employers still had to pay legal fees in preparing a defence. More than 40% settled out of court and there was no record of how much applicants settled for, it added.

Martin Edwards, employment law expert at law firm Weightmans, said: "The changes may have mixed results. Someone who has not worked long enough to claim unfair dismissal may claim they are a whistleblower or a victim of discriminaiton instead, causing employers even more hassle than before.

"But people who have to pay to bring a claim may regard that as a significant disincentive to litigating a dispute."

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Banks rally on rescue deal hopes

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26 September 2011 Last updated at 20:21 GMT Continue reading the main story Last Updated at 17:44 GMT

Market indexCurrent valueTrendVariation% variationEuropean bank shares have risen as investors react to the latest attempts to stabilise the eurozone debt crisis.

A number of measures are being discussed according to reports from the weekend's international meeting in Washington.

They are expected to involve a 50% write-down of Greece's massive government debt, the BBC's business editor Robert Peston says.

French and German bank shares were up 10% at one stage in Monday trading.

European governments hope to have measures agreed in five to six weeks, in time for a meeting of the leaders of the G20 group in Cannes at the beginning of November.

But EU officials in Brussels stress that they should not be seen as "a single grand plan", the BBC's correspondent Chris Morris says.

The measures being discussed are:

Institutions that have lent money to Athens writing off about 50% of the money they are owedThe size of the eurozone bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), increasing dramatically to 2 trillion euros (￡1.7tn; $2.7tn)Strengthening big European banks that could be hit by any defaults on national debt obligations.

However, on Monday evening AFP reported that German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had told television news channel NTV that there was no plan to boost the size of the EFSF.

"We are giving it the tools so it can work if necessary," Mr Schaeuble was reported as saying.

"Then we will use it effectively but we do not have the intention of boosting its volume."

Pan-Europe gains

Uncertainty over how to tackle Greece's problems has led to some European bank shares losing half their value in recent months due to concerns about their holdings of Greek debt.

But on Monday, French banks, which are particularly exposed to Greece, rallied, with BNP Paribas and Societe Generale up 4% and 5.4% respectively, and Credit Agricole up 3.7%.

Continue reading the main story

Unless the banks are fixed, there will remain too big a risk that a financial crisis could turn the current global economic slowdown into something more akin to depression than recession”

End Quote Robert Peston Business editor, BBC News Germany's big banks were also up sharply. Allianz was up 10%, Deutsche Bank 8% and Commerzbank 7.7%. In the UK, Barclays rose 6.8% and RBS 3.3%.

The Frankfurt was up about 3% at close, and in Paris by about 2%. The UK's main index, the FTSE 100, was virtually unchanged.

US shares closed higher, with the Dow ahead by 2.5%, the S&P 500 by 2.3%, and the Nasdaq by 1.4%.

However, commodity prices were lower on remaining concerns that the eurozone crisis could affect the global economy.

Philip Tyson of brokerage MF Global told the BBC that the proposed bailout fund had to be at least 2tn euros.

He said: "Markets need confidence that the fund has the firepower to deal with the likes of Italy and Spain should contagion risks spread.

"It does need to happen, but there are big question marks about the detail, and exactly how it will happen. Time is running out."

Ben Critchley, a sales trader at spread betting group IG Index, said: "For now at least, it looks as if markets are giving some credence to a firm plan on how to tackle the debt crisis beginning to emerge.

"But if recent experience is anything to go by, this patience is unlikely to last too long if details are not forthcoming."

Key elements

The reports about the rescue proposals emerged from the annual meeting of the IMF in the US capital last week, attended by finance ministers from the G20 group of countries.

The package is expected to involve a quadrupling - from the current projected level of 440bn euros - in the firepower of the eurozone's main bailout fund, the EFSF.

Continue reading the main story

The problem, they said privately, was that ministers couldn't talk openly about a new solution to the crisis when the old one had not even been passed by national parliaments. This was a particular issue, naturally, for Germany.”

End Quote Stephanie Flanders Economics editor, BBC News It is not entirely clear how any expansion of the facility would be managed, but one suggestion is for the EFSF to guarantee the first part of any losses creditors sustain from a government defaulting on its debts, with the European Central Bank (ECB) providing an additional 1.5tn euros of loans.

The EFSF would take on the main risk of lending to governments struggling to borrow from normal commercial sources - governments like Italy.

It is also thought that private investors in Greek debt are likely to have to accept a 50% reduction in what they are owed, our editor says.

Eurozone leaders agreed a plan in July, which has yet to be ratified, that provided for a reduction in Greece's repayments to banks of about 20%.

European officials in Brussels stressed that their current focus was on getting measures, including changes to the EFSF, agreed back in July ratified by 17 national parliaments within the eurozone.

It was proving a difficult task, the BBC's Chris Morris says, to get these less far-reaching changes passed, with Germany one of three assemblies to vote this week.

The third element of the rescue plan envisages a strengthening of big eurozone banks, which are perceived to have too little capital to absorb losses.

'Critical days'

Commodity prices remained under pressure, pulled between relief that a eurozone deal could be nearer and worries that the global economy faces a downturn.

Continue reading the main story Oil prices fell sharply in early trading, but recovered with Brent crude up 60 cents at $104.57 a barrel and US light, sweet crude up 55 cents to $80.40 a barrel.

The stronger dollar, which rose around 0.2% against a basket of currencies, also weighed on oil prices as it makes dollar-denominated assets more expensive.

Gold fell 3.2% to $1,603.95 an ounce, continuing recent declines from record highs. Copper, which has already fallen, was down another 4%.

Senior commodities analysts Edward Meir, at brokers MF Global, said: "These are very critical days and weeks ahead, reminiscent very much of the touch-and-go situation we were in back in 2008.

"The key difference this time around is that it is countries and not companies that are in danger of going bust."

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AUDIO: Germany 'committed to eurozone'

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Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel will today ask her country's politicians to sign off a plan to give more money to Europe's bail out fund.

Peter Altmaier, leader of the parliamentary group for the Christian Democrats, predicts the result and the long term consequences for Angela Merkel.

And Europe editor Gavin Hewitt previews a test of her power and authority.

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Chelsea make stadium shares bid

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Chelsea played their first home game at Stamford Bridge back in 1905 Chelsea are a step closer to building a new stadium after making a bid to buy back parts of Stamford Bridge.

The club is still to decide whether to move, but cannot do so unless it regains ownership of the stadium's pitch and stands.

They are owned by Chelsea Pitch Owners - formed in 1993 to prevent the ground being bought by property developers.

"That threat has now gone under (Roman) Abramovich's ownership," insisted Blues chairman Bruce Buck.

Buck and chief executive Ron Gourlay have appealed to the 12,000 shareholders, who are mostly fans, to sell their 15,000 shares to the club for the price they paid in return for various incentives at any new stadium.

Each share cost ￡100 and Chelsea are hopeful they would not be held to ransom, insisting there was no room for negotiation.

Buck said shareholders were getting back far more than the land was worth when the 199-year lease on Stamford Bridge was taken into account.

He said: "Bear in mind that no-one bought these shares as a financial investment.

"Everyone bought these shares as a way of helping the club and they also bought them as mementoes and souvenirs.

"We think we're paying well over the odds."

The incentives for selling include a guarantee that Chelsea would only relocate within a three-mile radius of Stamford Bridge if the club did decide to move before 2020.

A decision on the bid is expected at a Chelsea Pitch Owners' general meeting on 27 October.

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Can the iPhone still scare rivals?

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 23:33 GMT By Tim Weber Business editor, BBC News website Sony Ericsson hopes that Android will help it regain market share The days when Apple had a free run for our smartphone hearts and minds are over.

It's the first time that Apple's latest offering, the iPhone 4S, encounters a truly competitive field of rivals.

The competition is powered by Apple's former partner Google, whose Android operating system for smartphones is rapidly gaining marketshare.

Mobile phonemakers, long suffering under Apple's smartphone dominance, have embraced Android with gusto and are jostling to add software and hardware touches that trump Apple's offering.

The iPhone rivals

Samsung's Galaxy S II, for example, is already slimmer and lighter than both the old iPhone 4 and the new 4S and arguably has a better screen.

Taiwanese competitor HTC, meanwhile, hopes that a clever user interface dubbed HTC Sense will help it to best Apple.

Instead of the iPhone's static icons, HTC has improved Android to offer a raft of rich, dynamic widgets that bring information and functionality directly to the smartphone screen. HTC's Sensation, for example, is currently hard to best in terms of ease of use, not just when compared to the new iPhone but Android rivals as well.

For its top-end phones HTC also throws in a free service that allows owners to track and remotely manage their phones, probably one of the reasons why Apple recently stopped charging for a similar service.

Android has even allowed Sony Ericsson to get back into the game. For several years the company and its lacklustre range of phones have been losing market share; now the company is back with the Android-based Xperia Arc S - a well-built and user-friendly phone that can compete with most rivals.

Apple also lags in terms of hardware innovation, with several competitors pushing phones that sport 3D cameras and glasses-free 3D screens - like the Sharp 3D Aquos, the HTC Evo 3D and the LG Optimus 3D.

Google is also constantly updating Android, and provides the software free to manufacturers. This is not charitable behaviour, of course. Google search is deeply integrated into Android phones, providing healthy profits from clicks on sponsored search results (although a few network operators have begun to point customers to different search engines).

The rise of Android

The rise and rise of Android is reflected in the market share.

According to research firm Gartner, during the second quarter of 2011 Android captured a massive 43.4% of the global smartphone market - up from 17.2% just a year ago.

In contrast, Apple's iPhone software iOS gained just four percentage points to 18.2% - mainly by entering 15 new countries and signing up 42 new network operators to sell the iPhone.

The big losers are Nokia's Symbian smartphones, Blackberry maker RIM - and Microsoft who is struggling to gain traction for its new mobile operating system Windows Phone 7.

Operating System 2nd quarter 2011 2nd quarter 2010

Research in Motion (Blackberry)

Advantage Apple

Despite Android's advances, Apple still dominates the "mindshare" of the smartphone market.

This is less a function of the many Apple fans amongst tech journalists. It's more a question of first-mover advantage and, most importantly, branding.

Dozens of manufacturers are now selling numerous Android phones, ranging from the cheap and cheerful to the high end of the market. Apple and its network partners can focus all marketing around a single brand and - now - two devices.

No wonder that the iPhone is still seen by many as the benchmark against which other smartphones have to be measured - even though the new iPhone 4S has arguably failed to raise this benchmark in a significant manner. Some of the new features on the 4S have been standard on Android phones for many months.

The lack of a big "and one more thing" unveiling by Apple's new chief executive will have been greeted with loud sighs of relief by rivals.

Still, any move by Apple creates headaches for competitors. Internal documents of a mobile phone maker seen by the BBC last week showed how worried this company was that an iPhone 5 could steal all attention from the forthcoming launch of its top-end Android smartphone.

Microsoft, meanwhile...

Amidst all the Android and iPhone frenzy, spare a thought for Microsoft. A year ago and to considerable acclaim the software giant launched an all-new mobile phone software, Windows Phone 7.

Microsoft is betting on a distinct user interface

The operating system broke new ground in terms of usability, with a fresh look and many clever little features that neither Google's nor Apple's developers had thought of. Considering this was version one of the software, it was surprisingly polished.

So far, Microsoft has had little commercial success in return for its efforts. But Microsoft hopes that it can still challenge both Android and iPhone. After ironing out a few software wrinkles it has just launched Windows Phone 7.5, also known as Mango.

It's a compelling offering. The software delivers a deep integration with social networks like no other phone. Short messages exchanged with a friend - whether on SMS, Facebook or Twitter - will show up in one thread chronicling the conversation, regardless of which service was used.

A contact stored on the phone shows not just address and phone number but the most recent Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn status updates too. And the diary is easier to use than any other.

However, Microsoft's fresh assault on the smartphone market is slow out of the starting blocks.

Mango was presented to the public many months ago. A few handset makers have announced a handful of new Windows phones. The first HTC phones running Mango are only now - slowly - arriving in the shops. Microsoft's new best friend, struggling Finnish phone company Nokia, won't launch its first Windows phone before 26 October, at Nokia World in London.

Apple, in contrast, is set to bring the iPhone 4S to market in less than two weeks.

The ecosystem

As operating systems and mobile phone makers jostle for position (don't forget RIM's Blackberry, about to roll out a range of handsets with a new operating system) it may be neither clever software nor stunning hardware that decides who will win the smartphone war.

The clincher will be the services connected to smartphones. Just as Google uses Android to lure people into their ecosystem, from email to media storage to YouTube videos to documents, Apple tries to lock in its customers into the world of iTunes and iCloud services.

Surprisingly, it is Microsoft that is offering the most open mobile phone ecosystem right now.

Consumers should be able to cherish this fierce competition. They may not get the chance. As iPhones, Androids and other devices rush to market, the patent lawyers of all sides are gearing up for epic court battles over patents and protected designs.

Not all that we'll see presented on stage will reach consumers' hands.

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Zambia president nulls bank sale

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3 October 2011 Last updated at 17:10 GMT President Sata has begun a mass shake-out of political appointees inherited from his predecessor Newly-elected Zambian President Michael Sata has cancelled the controversial sale of one of the country's banks.

The $5.4bn sale of Finance Bank to FirstRand of South Africa was agreed under his predecessor, Rupiah Banda.

The bank had been seized from its shareholders in 2010 by Zambia's central bank, who alleged illegal and unsound practices.

Mr Sata, whose election ended the 20-year rule of the previous regime, has vowed to shake-up the political system.

After only a week in power, the president has already sacked the head of the central bank, as well as a string of other appointees of the previous government, including the head of the anti-corruption authority.

The original decision of the central bank to strip the bank's shareholders has also been overturned.

"There's no document of sale for Finance Bank and I am directing the ministry of finance to take the bank back to its owners immediately," said Mr Sata.

The bank's chairman, Rajan Mahtani, said he was grateful: "I am happy that Zambian investment has been restored to Zambian investors. It was all politically motivated."

FirstRand, a major South African bank, said it had received no formal notification of the decision and would continue to liaise with the Zambian central bank.

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Amazon unveils Kindle Fire tablet

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28 September 2011 Last updated at 16:42 GMT Amazon boss Jeff Bezos unveils the Kindle Fire

Amazon has unveiled a colour tablet computer called the Kindle Fire.

The $199 (￡130) device will run a modified version of Google's Android operating system.

Until now, the company has limited itself to making black and white e-readers, designed for consuming books and magazines.

As well as targeting Apple's iPad, Amazon is likely to have its sights on rival bookseller US Barnes & Noble, which already has a colour tablet.

The Kindle Fire will enter a hugely competitive market, dominated by Apple's iPad.

Amazon will be hoping to leverage both the strength of the Kindle brand, built up over three generations of its popular e-book reader, and its ability to serve up content such as music and video.

In recent years, the company has begun offering downloadable music for sale, and also has a streaming video-on-demand service in the United States. Those, combined with its mobile application store, give it a more sophisticated content "ecosystem" than most of its rivals.

Continue reading the main story 7" IPS (in-plane switching) display1024 x 600 resolutionCustomised Google Android operating system$199 (￡130)Weighs 413 grammesDual core processor8GB internal storage"It's the price and the backup services that make it really exciting," said Will Findlater, editor of Stuff magazine.

"Content is the big differentiator. It's what every other platform has been lacking, except the iPad."

Amazon's decision to opt for a 7" screen, as opposed to the larger 10" displays favoured by many rival manufacturers was a cause for concern for Ovum analyst Adam Leach.

"This screen size has undoubtedly helped them achieve a lower price point for the device but so far this form factor has not been popular with consumers, we shall see if this is related to other aspects of those devices other than its screen size. "

Digital dividend Digital content has already proved itself to be a money-spinner for Amazon.

Although the company has never released official sales figures for the Kindle, it did state - in December 2010 - that it was now selling more electronic copies of books than paper copies.

Its US rival, Barnes & Noble, has also enjoyed success with its Nook devices.

In October 2010, the company unveiled the Nook Color, which also runs a version of Android, albeit with lower hardware specs than many fully featured tablets.

While the Nook Color is largely focused on book and magazine reading, some users have managed to unlock its wider functionality and install third-party apps.

Amazon has dropped the keyboard from some of its Kindles in favour of touch

The Kindle Fire's $199 (￡130) price tag undercuts the Nook Color by $50 (￡30) and is significantly cheaper than more powerful tablets from Apple, Samsung, Motorola and others.

It is due to go on sale on 15 November in the US, although global release dates are currently unavailable.

Price cuts

Alongside the Kindle Fire, Amazon also announced a refresh of its Kindle e-readers.

The entry level device has had its keyboard removed and will now sell for $79, down from $99. Amazon UK announced that the new version would retail at ￡89.

A version with limited touchscreen capability, known as the Kindle Touch, will sell for $99. Only the US pricing has been announced so far.

"These are premium products at non premium prices," said Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos. "We are going to sell millions of these."

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