News

Some teachers have had to hand back holiday pay they were not entitled to receive. There had been a change in holiday payment arrangements and headteachers at all nine secondary and 64 primary schools affected in the Scottish Borders were emailed back in January with news of the changes. Nevertheless in some cases, classroom teachers did not receive the information. A second email was sent to schools in June to alert them, but again the warning did not reach everyone. Within hours of Tensor's WinTAnet Time and Attendance system being installed it can dramatically improve your human resources management. WinTAnet deals with all major hours calculation methods and can supply working rules to calculate the correct result on overtime, night shifts and other matters pertaining to staff wages and holidays. Graphical calendar charts provide a colourful way of viewing an individual's or a department's absence records. Each employee can be allocated different entitlements for absence such as annual leave or allowed sickness.  

Visitors to the new Westfield shopping centre situated close to London's Olympic Park may have their cars checked by security staff before they can enter. From this month until the end of the Paralympic Games in September 2012, G4S security staff will inspect vehicles entering the public car parks. Those chosen for searches will be asked to pull over from the line of traffic before continuing their journey into the centre’s car parks. Millions of entries and exits are made by people, every day, throughout the world, using a Tensor Smart Card and Scanner to gain entry or exit to car parks, turnstiles or buildings. The security status of each access point is controlled by the Smart Card scanner settings associated to that particular access point. Among our reliable products is the Tensor LOCK5, a world-class device for securing a door using a magnetic door release. Very strong, beautifully designed, it incorporates forced entry detection and green and red LED lamps to provide visual verification the unit is working.  

Travel misery affected thousands of passengers after signal cable was stolen near one of London's busiest rail stations. Network Rail said the theft of 30 feet of cable caused severe disruption all day on Southern and First Capital Connect trains to and from London Bridge station yesterday (Tuesday, September 6). The company added that cables replacing those taken yesterday morning needed to be reconnected and each of the individual cores tested before signalling could safely be restored. A Tensor security system can deter thieves or catch them in the act. Digital CCTV camera and recording or barrier systems work extremely well as standalone systems, but can also be fully integrated with any previously installed Tensor access control or visitor monitoring equipment. A Tensor system can stop vehicles or personnel at the relevant barrier and disallow entry or exit until they identify themselves via their smart card and/or biometric fingerprint. When absolute entrance or exit security is required, full height turnstiles are the perfect solution.  

A teenager caught trying to snatch jewellery from a store during the recent unrest was spared a spell behind bars after a defence solicitor said it would not benefit the victim or the public. The 16-year-old appeared at Manchester magistrates’ court. Defending the teenager, Ian Johnstone said it beggared belief why his client chose to get involved in the looting, adding: “If he goes into custody he will associate with much more sophisticated criminals.” Your office building or store will be better served with a Tensor security system which foils potential thieves. A Visitor Management System (VMS) allows Signature Capture Tablets to be connected to the system so that the signatures of visitors and contractors can be stored at the point of entry to your premises. This signature can be used for verification purposes or as proof that the visitor or contractor has read and understood the site’s Health & Safety or security policies. These signatures can also be printed on to a visitor's pass for added security.  

A union has called for talks over planned pay cuts in a charity which was set up in the 1870s and now employs 2,000 people. The social care organisation Quarriers is planning changes to the terms and conditions of its staff, including cuts to sick and maternity pay and making all future pay increases discretionary. Unison, which represents 291 of the Quarriers staff, claimed that some workers at the Glasgow-based charity would lose up to a quarter of their salary. All aspects of time and attendance management are dealt with by a Tensor Time & Attendance system, from collecting clocking data to exporting wages to your organisation’s payroll department. It handles absenteeism, sick and overtime pay, plus night shifts and paid/unpaid breaks. The new range of T32xx clocks actively communicate with the computer system when a person clocks, books them ‘ON’ to a job or uses their contactless smart card to open a door. Real time communications provides you with the information as it occurs.  

A police sergeant criticised thieves who robbed a school of lead roofing and thus have disrupted classes. Sgt Stewart Chandler of Hampshire Police said: "The perpetrators of this crime have little or no regard for the consequences of their actions and the impact it has on others.” Police are appealing to anyone with information about the theft at Hampshire-based Swaythling Primary to contact them. The school has been left with much expense and inconvenience while repairs are being carried out. Tensor can provide your school or business with a range of acclaimed security and time and attendance software. Many of the features of the proven WinTA Lite time and attendance are included in our stripped-down PC Clock package, such as the holiday and absence planners. As such, PC Clock remains the best product on the market for small-scale time and attendance monitoring and can be used in schools. This is because pupils only need to have access to a PC input screen to register their attendance.  

Metropolitan Police Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin has thanked the public for their support of the Met following the recent looting and disorder in the capital. In an open letter Mr Godwin said Londoners have helped police identify the looters and so far more than 1,000 people have been charged with offences. He added: “Individual officers have proudly told me stories of being offered cups of tea, meals, rest facilities or being applauded as they walk down the street.” Tensor can supply your depot or business with a reliable security system which will help to tackle crime. Our access control barriers and turnstiles fully integrate with our smart card and biometric access control systems, giving you full jurisdiction over movement and access in and around your site. Improved security and extended flow capacity ensure that your access control system is one of the most efficient available today. Smart cards offer significant time savings over equivalent swipe card systems, being read in under ¼ second.  

A proposed cash injection for toilets in a town centre has now been swallowed up by other council budgets. Around £50,000 from an improvement fund is no longer available due to a reorganisation of Bolton Council finances. The council has already considered asking businesses to make their toilets available to the public as well as taking over the maintenance of a closed toilet block. The disused block in Horwich could be reopened and visitors could be charged 20p a time. Glass turnstiles from Tensor are part of our comprehensive gate, barrier and turnstile access control technology which can control entry to your organisation’s toilet facilities. These turnstiles will give all the benefits of an access control system yet fit seamlessly and elegantly into any high-status environment where appearance is equal to functionality. Glass turnstiles are an essential element for any corporate lobby environment and they are available in half height or full height models. They can cope with severe operating conditions and high traffic volumes.  

Britain is braced for the biggest spell of strikes for a generation. The Unite, Unison and the GMB unions are expected to announce they will ballot their members soon. This will likely happen after a debate at the TUC Congress in London where unions are poised to attack the Coalition over its proposed reforms on public sector pensions. Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister heading negotiations for the Government on pension reform, said he was not trying to provoke unions into striking. Tensor's WinTA clocking and time and attendance networks deal with all aspects of worker absenteeism, including email warnings when manning levels are low. Both the WinTA Lite and WinTA Enterprise time and attendance systems can be integrated with Personnel Software which offers features that will save time and aid strategic planning. The software includes features such as: Training Information for pending courses, including locations, descriptions and notes; Letter Writer including mailmerge functionality; and Pay Reviewer including reports, projected pay increases and salary expenditure.  

Fears of job losses have been played down at a major steel company which has stopped production at its works for one week. The firm Tata said it had to realign capacity with demand, hence the production halt at Llanelli in Wales. The industry is usually an indicator for the wider economy. “We have been weathering a prolonged storm,” a Tata spokesman commented, adding: "We are very concerned about the bottom line. The indicators are very worrying indeed.” Contactless smart cards which offer the fastest throughput available are used to operate Tensor’s time and attendance, access control and visitor monitoring systems. All Tensor proximity read smart cards and key fobs use the same reliable RF (Radio Frequency) reading technology. Each smart card reader transmits a 125 KHz frequency field (the electromagnetic field), which is picked up by an aerial in the smart card. The smart card microchip is a passive device which holds a unique factory encoded ID number that cannot be duplicated, making it very secure indeed.  

The government's social policy review indicated that parents of children in England who regularly play truant could have their benefits cut. Prime Minister David Cameron said during a speech about education that discipline and rigour were needed to mend a "broken society”. He commented: "But restoring discipline is also about what parents do. That's why I have asked our social policy review to look into whether we should cut the benefits of those parents whose children constantly play truant.” PC Clock is a simple PC based booking system from Tensor that can help improve behaviour in schools with its small scale attendance monitoring. It is ideal for organisations like schools where each pupil has access to a PC. Automatic and definable reports showing clockings can be viewed and printed. The reports can be customised using the Report Generator and can be printed automatically at any given time of the day. WinTA PC Clock can be used for any number of users and there is no need for additional licences.  

Police have investigated a break-in and fire at an electricity sub-station which caused thousands of pounds’ worth of damage. Mersey Fire Service were called in the middle of the night by a local resident who saw smoke coming from the depot in Liverpool. A Merseyside Police statement said: “The fire has caused thousands of pounds of damage and put people's safety at risk. Someone has also stolen the copper piping from the sub-station.” If only the ultimate in Access Control is good enough for your premises then look no further than the Tensor T34xx Smart Card scanner. It combines the latest generation of Tensor’s Smart Card electronics with a fingerprint reader. This product is for those who want the absolute peace-of-mind, certainty and the assurance that only the right people can gain access to your sensitive or dangerous areas. The T34xx is compatible with Tensor’s Smart Card Access scanners, allowing you to mix fingerprint reading and non-fingerprint reading scanners on the same security network.