What is an ex-gratia payment? An ex gratia payment is a payment made by an employer where there is no contractual obligation to do so. Ex gratia translates to 'by favour' and literally means a voluntary payment or a gift. What that means is it's a sum of money paid to an employee by an employer in a situation where the employer is not obligated to do so. Ex gratia payments are gestures of goodwill on behalf of the employer. Such a payment is also referred to as a golden handshake.  These payments are commonly made in a retirement, redundancy and dismissal scenario.  The key feature of an ex gratia payment is that there is no contractual obligation placed on the employer to make it to the employee. Moreover, unlike with statutory redundancy pay, there is no limit on how much an ex gratia payment can be. "Ex gratia translates to 'by favour' and literally means a voluntary payment or a gift." Some examples of ex-gratia payments: British Airways frequently pa...

If you are a business owner, it's important that you are paying your staff correctly. It is a legal requirement after all and you could face hefty fines if you don't comply. Likewise, if you are an employee, it is your absolute right to be paid fairly, so it is something you should be aware of too. "no matter how small your business is, it is a legal requirement to pay your employees correctly" What's the difference between the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the National Living Wage (NLW)? The NMW is the minimum pay per hour that almost all workers are entitled to. It varies depending on the employees age group and whether they're an apprentice. There are a few exceptions such as: Company directors Volunteers Self-employed people running their own business For the full list of exemptions please see the gov.uk website. The NLW is higher than the NMW and workers over 25 years old are entitled to it (changing to 23 years old in April 2021). Understanding the d...

Just a quick one today, but an important one nevertheless. It’s very important to have clear payment terms in your plumbing and heating business. We are in uncertain economic times, therefore I would always recommend that you get paid up front, prior to doing any work for your customers.  "Sending an invoice after the work is done and hoping to be paid isn’t a very successful way to run a business." With the likes of Xero and the CRM’s (customer relationship management) available on the market it’s very easy to produce an invoice on the job or before the job. This really is the only way you can guarantee that you will be paid. Sending an invoice after the work is done and hoping to be paid isn’t a very successful way to run a business. If you feel you may lose a job asking for full payment upfront, then you could present it so they can either pay 50% upfront and the balance at the end OR pay in full up front for a 5% discount. You will find that most people would rather have ...

I think all plumbing and heating businesses should have a marketing strategy. A marketing strategy is everything you need to do in order to get a customer to get in touch. To email you, give you a call, book in a visit. That’s what marketing is. Getting your name out there so potential customers to get in touch. Once a potential customer has got in touch with you, we then move onto the sales side of the business. Everything form that point up to the acceptance of a quote is the sales. For this blog, we’re just going to concentrate on a marketing strategy. Everything you do as a business to get a potential customer to make and enquiry. Firstly, in regards to a strategy we need to start off with, who is your ideal client? An ideal client is defined as the following: ‘Someone who finds the perfect solution to their problems or needs in the services or products that your company provides. The ideal client is loyal to your company, frequently uses or buys your products or services and is li...