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Establishing a successful recruitment process and clear written employment contracts for new employees can have a major impact on your business.

Every business needs to be aware of its obligations under minimum wage and equal pay laws, as well as recent pensions auto-enrolment changes.

You must comply with legal restrictions on employees' working hours and time off, or risk claims, enforcement action and even prosecution.

The right employment policies are an essential part of effective staff management. Make sure any policy is clear and well communicated to employees.

While sick employees need to be treated fairly, you need to ensure that 'sickness' is not being used as cover for unauthorised absence.

Most pregnant employees are entitled to maternity leave and maternity pay, while new fathers are entitled to paternity leave and paternity pay.

As well as undermining morale, illegal discrimination can lead to workplace grievances. Employee discrimination is covered by the Equality Act 2010.

Home, remote and lone workers are becoming increasingly commonplace. Key issues include communication and how to manage and motivate people remotely.

The right approach to consulting with and providing information to your employees can improve employee motivation and performance.

Disciplinary and grievance issues can be a major burden to employers. Putting in place and following the right procedures is essential.

Following the right dismissal and redundancy procedures helps protect your business and minimise the risk of a legal dispute at tribunal.

Employment tribunal claims are a worrying prospect for any employer. A tribunal case is a no-win situation – even if the claim is unjustified.

Starling Bank and Monzo come top in business banking poll

16 August 2022

A government survey of individuals and small businesses has found that Starling and Monzo are the most popular banks - both for business and for consumer banking.

Long-established high street banks are trailing behind newer online banks such as Starling and Monzo when it comes to customer service, according to a government survey.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has made it compulsory for all relevant banks to take part in these surveys and banks must display their ranking prominently both in branch and on their websites and apps.

Personal and small business current account holders were asked how likely they would be to recommend their provider to a friend, relative or other business. The survey also covered the quality of online and mobile provision, branch and overdraft services and, for small businesses, the quality of the relationship management they receive.

The results show that the top-performing banks in Great Britain are excelling both in business and personal banking. The top performers in business banking are:

  1. Starling Bank
  2. Monzo
  3. Handelsbanken
  4. Tide
  5. Metro Bank
  6. Santander
  7. Lloyds Bank
  8. NatWest
  9. Barclays
  10. Bank of Scotland

The bottom-ranking business account providers are: the Co-operative Bank (in 15th place), HSBC and Virgin Money (joint 13th).

The best bank account for your business will depend on what you want from your bank, as the Donut team found out when we reviewed business bank accounts.

Meanwhile, the top performers in personal banking are: Starling Bank and Monzo (equal first), First Direct, Metro Bank, Nationwide, Halifax, Barclays, Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland and Santander. The bottom-ranked personal current account providers are: Royal Bank of Scotland (16th), Virgin Money (15th) and TSB (14th).

Adam Land, senior director at the CMA, said: "As the rising cost of living bites, it's important that people and businesses have the information they need to manage their money and make savings. These results show how banks are treating their customers at a time when many are feeling the pinch.

"When times are tough you find out who's fighting your corner and if your bank doesn't match up to the competition - you can vote with your feet and make a switch."

The Current Account Switch Service helps to make the process of changing banks much simpler; this free service is available to anyone with a personal or business current account in the UK.

The survey was established as part of the Retail Banking Order - a set of reforms established by the CMA following its retail banking market investigation in 2016. The CMA enforces the Retail Banking Order; if you think your bank has breached the Retail Banking Order, send an email to: [email protected].

Written by Rachel Miller.

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