News

UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers raided a Tesco property and discovered its staff were breaching the terms of their work visas. The UKBA found that foreign nationals were working longer hours than their visas allowed at the South London warehouse, which supplies groceries for online customers. UKBA officers arrested 20 workers who were mostly of Indian and Bangladeshi origin. These people were perfectly legally entitled to work in the UK but could only do so for 20 hours a week. All Tensor time and attendance systems come complete with sophisticated software to help your company meet the requirements of the EU Working Time Directive, plus other employment rules. The EU Working Time Directive provides a complex set of employment rules and regulations that govern the number of hours an employee can work. Tensor provides companies with an accurate method of recording their staff’s hours and breaks for payroll, job costing and legislation purposes. For example, the software ensures minimum rest periods are taken.

A fake security guard got away with £14,000 on Thursday afternoon. The thief, who was wearing a safety helmet and body armour, appeared genuine and walked into the bargain goods shop carrying two cash boxes which were then filled up with money. Staff at the Midlands branch of Poundland were expecting the genuine guard at around the same time so suspected nothing until they saw the real guard sitting in his van. Tensor has the ideal system for maximum security at retail or business premises. Biometric access control is the answer for situations where irrefutable proof of identity is needed. This technology, designed specifically for your Tensor access control system, actually reads below the surface layer of skin down to the live dermal layer where an individual’s true fingerprint resides. Biometric readings are done using electro-magnetic waves. Fingerprint scanning positively identifies an employee, thus employee mimicking can be accurately prevented. If you already have access scanners in place, the biometric scanning unit is simply mounted alongside.

A school has been broken into for the third time in the last 12 months. A man was spotted in the grounds around the time of a metal theft at the Welsh primary, and police think he was with someone else. Supt Simon Clarke, leading the investigation into the incident at Tonypandy School, said: “I’ve said it before, somebody somewhere knows who did it. I urge them to do the right thing and make that call. Enough is enough.” Turn to Tensor for the latest developments in Access Control products, from simple door and registration point control, through to a fully computerised global networked door access system. With a Tensor system, you can control most standard types of internal and external electro-magnetic door releases, providing access from visible or hidden scanners. A useful feature is an audit trail that shows who gained access (or was denied) at any location at any time. A Hardware Device Manager allows easy adding or editing of hardware device profiles.  

Campus safety will not be compromised by industrial action. That was the message from bosses at Coventry University after a week-long strike over plans to outsource the work of security staff. The university said it takes the issue of student and staff safety very seriously, and stated it “can confidently reiterate the assurances of our protection service providers that the secure environment on our campus and at halls of residence will not be adversely affected by any proposed industrial action.” Web enabled, mobile and wireless technology based Time & Attendance from Tensor ensures both accurate staff absence monitoring and entitlement, plus it ensures the safety of employees. The WinTA time and attendance system performs the latter function by incorporating fire roll call technology. The Fire Roll Call reporting is directly from the clock, automatically triggered by fire alarm activation. It automatically emails or SMS text messages both employees and system users concerning any employee holiday request authorisations or refusals.

A man claimed he agreed to get involved in a robbery in order to pay off a drugs debt. Ossama Hamed today (Monday) pleaded guilty to taking part in the robbery on a jewellery shop. Giving evidence, Hamed said he had travelled on January 29 for a face to face meeting with suppliers. “I was in hock to them for about £7,000,” he said. He said the drugs debt would be wiped out and he would get £500 for the robbery. Exterior or interior Access Control and barrier devices from Tensor help prevent crime from taking place at your retail, commercial or business premises. Pedestals are available for mounting your entry control device for motorists to use to enter your facility or property. Stands are available with base plates for pad mounting or with extra length for in-ground installation. Perfect for the seamless integration of your access control system, pedestals can also be powder coated to co-ordinate with your car park barrier or turnstile.  

Four out of ten companies allowed staff to watch the Olympic Games in the workplace, a new survey says. The findings from the Institute of Leadership & Management report that 70 per cent of managers said that their office had bonded over the shared viewing experience, while 37 per cent had felt more personally productive. Two in ten firms put on trial new systems, with working from home and adjusted start and finish times being the most popular options. Tensor can provide the office with a reliable and complete time and attendance clocking system which saves time and boosts morale. Contactless key fobs can used to operate your regime as well as smart cards. The long lasting fobs use well-proven and reliable RF (Radio Frequency) reading technology, which gives a consistent read range and is unaffected by most external conditions. As there is no physical contact between the key fob and the reader, neither will become worn-out by continuous use, unlike swipe readers.

New figures suggest public sector salaries have gone up despite a pay freeze having been imposed. In order to shave billions off the public purse, two years ago chancellor George Osborne imposed a two-year freeze on pay, with the provision of a £250 flat rate increase for workers earning below the £21,000 per annum threshold. However, public servants are still entitled to incremental pay rises within their grade’s wage band, so this accounts for the overall increase. Personnel software from Tensor completely integrates with both the WinTA Lite and WinTA Enterprise time and attendance systems. Extensive information stored on each employee in your company using Tensor Personnel. One of its very useful features is the Pay Reviewer which includes reports, projected pay increases and salary expenditure. The Screen Designer allows you to completely customise the way that data can be entered into the system. Other functions include: Training Information for pending courses, including locations, descriptions and notes; and Letter Writer incorporating mailmerge functionality.  

Two armed men who carried out a reign of terror when raiding stores have been jailed. Ian Parkhouse and Anthony Delaney targeted Midlands post offices, including attempting two robberies in the space of one day. One of the instances was while the postmaster was serving a customer in December last year. Parkhouse entered with an imitation gun while Delaney carried an axe and pushed an assistant to the floor. The duo fled the premises when a panic alarm was pressed. Tensor Access Enterprise is one of Tensor’s smart card door control and monitoring access control systems. Door entry at a building, store or depot can be limited depending on the person’s roll call status. Your clocking station network can consist of one or more clocks, and is connected to a main server PC either via the PC's standard serial port or an ethernet network adapter. The Anti Pass Back facility limits the same smart card being used by more than one employee.

The retail industry is debating whether to loosen Sunday trading restrictions, which has been triggered by the temporary extension granted during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In a BBC interview Mark Wallace from the Institute of Directors said these types of businesses should be given a level playing field. He added: “It’s a historical quirk that offices, factories and all sorts of other businesses can open when they need to, but shops are forbidden from doing so.” If your office or factory is changing its opening or staff hours then you want a flexible clocking system that can change with it. Tensor provides just that via our networked PC-controlled multi site time and attendance systems. There are numerous extra features that can be implemented on your WinTA system to take into account diversity with working rules between different organisations. There is Secondary Pay Bands, where certain pay bands pay into other bands either on a 1:1 basis or by using a multiplier.

Police say a prisoner who has gone missing does not pose a risk. They said Bernard Sharkey was picked up from where he was working in a silver saloon car, which indicated a level of planning. Officers added that Sharkey was deemed as “low risk” by the prison, which is why he had been working on a farm among the community. Police added it was “important to stress we do not believe he poses a risk to the wider public.” Prison Pass from Tensor, a version of our visitor monitoring systems, is a highly secure way of monitoring your prison visitors. A photograph taken by a digital or eyeball camera is printed on a bar-coded pass using a high speed printer so each visitor is easily identified. At controlled monitor points, the visitor pass badge is simply swiped and a high quality digital image appears to the HM Prison Service Officers, thus verifying that the correct person is passing through.

Nearly two-thirds of UK staff believe employers are breaking overtime rules. The Workforce Institute found that a majority of workers in every region, except the United States, said their employer had at some time violated overtime rules. Thankfully there were lower levels of perceived legal breaches in the UK (63 per cent) compared to places like China where it hit a high of 88pc. Researchers found that working extra hours at the office was “commonplace around the world”. Using a Tensor PC clocking recording system your firm can create a range of daily working patterns (shifts), with either fixed or flexitime rules, to ensure overtime and other working rules are adhered to. These can run past midnight, making night shifts simple to define. Overtime is easily monitored with up to four different pay bands in each shift. Bands are selected based on the time and the number of hours worked. An Exception view quickly identifies areas where the normal working pattern has not been followed.  

A man got a rude shock – literally – after he tried to steal from an electricity sub-station. Martin Gavin was hurled to the ceiling by the force of an 11,000-volt jolt. The 48-year-old was intending to swipe scrap metal but instead spent three weeks in hospital on a ventilator. Gavin and a friend broke into the heavily protected sub-station in Salford, Manchester. Gavin was convicted of burglary after a trial and was sentenced to three and a half years. Tensor has an unbeatable range of access control outdoor products which conform to strict security standards and operate under severe operating conditions. Tensor’s high quality, durable gates (a swing version of which is pictured), offer reliable performance in the most demanding environments and cope with high traffic volumes. Ideal for controlling vehicle access to and from your site, Tensor’s gates are quick to respond to the users instructions. They can be integrated with an access control network and need no routine maintenance.