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Overweight workers face work discrimination

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It seems that weight issues are now a source for discrimination in the workplace as overweight workers are finding it harder to get jobs compared to their slimmer counterparts.

According to a magazine survey of 2000 personnel officers, it was discovered that most of them preferred to offer jobs to workers who have a normal weight.

The survey done by Personnel Today revealed that 50 per cent of the polled individuals thought that obesity affected productivity. A similar number also believed that overweight people lacked self-discipline.

The survey also found out that one in ten personnel officers would not want an overweight employee to meet up with a client. More alarmingly, the same percentage of personnel officers said that they believed that they could sack a worker for being obese.

The magazine said that it suggested hidden discrimination and overweight people were missing out because up to now obesity has not yet been given the same recognition as age, sex, disabilities and race discrimination.

But the magazine said that their survey shows that overweight workers are indeed being marginalised and given fewer opportunities than their slim counterparts. They said that a clearer definition of obesity is needed to help business owners understand how the condition truly affects workplace performance.

Company formation and business solutions professionals are suggesting that a paradigm shift is needed in order for business owners and personnel officers to realise that job performance is based on skills and relevant work experience and not on excess body weight.

BPG gives advisory on cheque issuance

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For start-up entrepreneurs who have recently formed their companies and are busy operating the financial aspect of their businesses , among others, some important financial factors can inadvertently be forgotten.

More than half of the UK’s small businesses have gone through the trouble of a bounced cheque in the last twelve months, and this has prompted the Better Payment Practice Group (BPG) to issue a new advisory for the said businesses.

Even though cheque payments as a general business practice has been decreasing among UK traders and consumers, they still remain the preferred payment method among some micro-businesses and online freelance professionals.

The advisory from the BPG is aimed at informing entrepreneurs about the three-day clearing system that does not include Saturdays, Sundays, and Bank Holidays. Online traders are also advised that they should not accept cheques or banker’s drafts unless they know and trust the issuer of the cheque.

These and other information has been posted in the BPG’s section on how to avoid cheque fraud. The section also has advise on issuing cheques and receiving them.

One example of the group’s reminders is the fact that cheques can be returned to an entrepreneur after five days if it is discovered to be fraudulent, with the expectation that the business would fit the bill for the lost funds.

Also, a section on Cheque Guarantee Services clarifies that entrepreneurs who have received a returned cheque after it has been approved by a collection and cheque guarantee services company will be reimbursed by the said company.

Insolvency data rises for Q3 2005

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For entrepreneurs, forming a company is one form of expressing optimism that their business idea is something that will be supported by the market place. So it is a sobering thought to hear that a lot of businesses have been folding up this year.

According to a new report released recently, the number of companies that have closed shop rose during the third quarter of this year.

Based on the latest insolvency data released by global information solutions company Experian, it showed that business failures rose by 21 per cent compared to the same period (July to September) in 2004. The posted figure was nearly double that of the rate that was recorded in the first three months of this year.

About 4,787 businesses shut down in the third quarter, 833 more than the figures posted in the third quarter of 2004. In total, about13,599 companies have permanently closed shop in 2005.

Experian has advised business owners and entrepreneurs that a good way to minimise the risk of business failure is to do business information checks on customers (both new and existing) and suppliers so that they can reduce their exposure to bad debts that are considered to be the most frequently cited reason for business failures.

Business solutions experts agree with the advice given by Experian. According to them making the necessary checks on suppliers, customers and business prospects, will forewarn business owners if some of them are faced with cash flow problems and are on the verge of failure.

Most business owners are getting stressed with work

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Trend Micro, a web security and antivirus company, recently released the results of a survey it conducted which showed that a vast majority of small and medium-sized-business owners and managers are worried and stressed about their work.

Trend Micro, along with YouGov, surveyed surveyed a group of 519 small-business people and discovered that 80% of them worry or stress about work.

Technology that’s based around the office was developed to make business operations a little easier but, according to the survey, it is in fact contributing to stress at the workplace. Twenty-two per cent of respondents said they swear at technology when it does not work while seven per cent have even admitted to kicking their machines. Employees do no better with 65 per cent saying that their staff complain about them when something does not work. Thirty percent of staff will attempt to fix the problem and 11 per cent of staff members actually do nothing and just learn to live with the problem.

Also a major concern for small business owners is the lack of available resources that they can tap, with 57 per cent saying this is a major worry.

But despite these work related anxieties these small business owners are not turning to professionals for help and solutions but instead to their spouses. About 48 per cent of respondents said they rely on the advice of their husband, wife or partner. About two per cent said they turn to higher-ups in the company, another two per cent ask their accountant for advice and 15 per cent actually keep their worries bottled up. Not a single respondent said that they had confided to a bank manager.

Company formation and business solutions experts are suggesting that one way to combat these work-related anxieties is to put in place technology that actually works. Another suggestion is to contact professionals who can do the job of maintenance for the company.

UK road congestion hurting business

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According to a new report, the excessive traffic in Britain’s road network is actually harming business.

The Road Users’ Alliance (RUA) claimed in its latest annual report that increasing journey times on the country’s major routes is actually costing the industry up to £20 billion each year.

The UK’s motorways are very important for business because of its role in the efficient distribution of goods and materials, but the government is not investing enough funds into these infrastructure, the RUA claimed.

The report pointed out that even though the government claimed £43.5 billion in taxes from road users last year, the government has only re-invested £6.58 billion into the country’ road system.

According to the RUA, despite the fact that UK residents pay the highest fuel taxes in Europe, the country has one of the worst road networks in the region. These road networks are very vital in driving the economy, yet these are the same roads on which traffic regularly screeches to a halt.

The RUA also added that taxpayers’ fund have subsidized less than a one per cent increase in motorway capacity over the last 10 years and yet it has experienced a significant 37 per cent increase in motorway traffic.
But more significantly, the UK levies the highest fuel taxes in Europe which has mad additional difficulties for manufacturers and suppliers in delivering their goods and materials.

Company formation and business solutions experts have expressed their worries over the situation and hopes that the government will do its best to address the worries over traffic and the country’s motorways.