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Holiday companies have come under fire for charging significantly higher prices during the school holidays than at term time, giving parents little choice in some instances but to arrange breaks during lesson time. Staffordshire County Council has recognised the problem and has been running a deal with one holiday firm to address the issue. The county saw 136,500 term time absences in 2008/09, and now the authority hopes through the initiative, it can ensure family holidays are offered at the same price throughout the year to combat the problem. Term time absences can be reduced thanks to the easy to operate Tensor Time and Attendance clocking system which schools can use as an option which will not break their budget. Via the WinTA PC Clock software the easily-customised reports can be printed automatically at any given time of the day. PC Clock can be used for any number of users as long as they have access to a computer, which is where they book in and out, and there is no need for additional licences.

Milk and juice carton company Tetra Pak is set to close a depot in Wales, resulting in 150 jobs going. Rik Jacobs, Tetra Pak managing director for the UK and Ireland, said: "The decision to consult on Wrexham's future has been an extremely difficult one, but is necessary to ensure our continued competitiveness. If the proposal to close production in Wrexham goes forward, regrettably there will be significant restructuring and job losses." Mr Jacobs said if the closure went ahead it would offer "fair and equitable severance packages over and above the statutory requirements." If your firm is restructuring or moving you can benefit from efficiencies in your HR and overheads with Tensor time and attendance software and systems. The all-in-one system features job booking and job costing, while employees log in using smart cards. As there is no physical contact between the card and reader, neither will become worn-out by continuous use, unlike swipe readers. You can quickly find the details you need with the ability to sort on any column or perform a surname search at the touch of a button with the software.

Having a puff on company time could be stubbed out from next week in one part of eastern England. William Nunn, leader of Breckland council, which proposes that staff will not be paid in future for the time they take to have a cigarette, said: "We want to make sure this policy is fair for all, including those that don't smoke and don't take advantage of breaks out of the building.” He added: “We surveyed all of our staff and 75% responded and said we should get a policy through the authority which made it fair for all.” WinTA Net is Tensor's world-class web enabled Time & Attendance and integrated security management system. It handles all absence planning and entitlement management, as accurate information about absenteeism is crucial for many businesses and bodies. WinTAnet provides this information through warning email notifications, SMS messaging direct to a supervisor's mobile or via hardcopy reports. The system quickly identifies missing employees that are expected to be at work and then informs you via automatic email reporting.

A walkout was saved at the last minute by thousands of journalists, technicians and other broadcast staff this week which would have jeopardised coverage of David Cameron’s speech. Labour Party leader Ed Miliband had earlier called on BBC staff not to black out Mr Cameron’s debut speech as Prime Minister midway through the Tories’ annual conference, saying that in the “interests of impartiality and fairness” it should be broadcast. Unions are clashing with BBC management over plans to cap pensionable pay. Tensor's range of Time and Attendance smart card personnel clocking handles all major hours calculation methods. From simple determination of overtime by the number of daily hours worked to the more complex payment of overtime hours adjusted when periodic targets are not met, Tensor's WinTAnet software can supply working rules to calculate the correct result. The system allows you to create a series of shift premium rules that enable employees to earn bonus payments under special circumstances. The bonus is calculated either as extra hours or monetary amounts and can be included in the export to payroll.

The TUC (Trades Union Congress) has given the thumbs-up to a slight rise in the minimum wage, which most adult UK workers are eligible for. In a statement the TUC said: “Its success has shown that – despite scare-mongering from some business voices – the economy can easily cope with sensible labour market regulation. Indeed, our current economic woes seem to be caused by too little regulation rather than too much.” The employment ministry added that the main 13p per hour increases “are appropriate for the economic climate.” Tensor time and attendance job booking and job costing systems make handling wages and Working Time Regulations (WTR) simple. WinTAnet software includes all the rules laid down in the WTR, and rules can be modified to suit your company's Working Time agreements. You are pre-warned when applying a shift pattern that will result in a WTR infringement. Standard reports show: the average hours worked during any period; instances when rest day rules have been broken; and when night workers are due a health assessment.

The National Probation Service says that re-offending rates can be reduced from 50 to 35 per cent if criminals take part in schemes such as those used to treat drug and alcohol addiction. But the trade union and campaigning group, which represents more than 9,000 probation and family court staff throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland, predicts that the number of successfully completed schemes will fall if government departmental cuts proceed as planned because the service will lose experienced staff. "This will increase re-offending rates and create more victims," said the group more commonly known as Napo. Tensor security technology is an effective method of preventing break-ins and other crimes at your factory or site. We supply and install many access control, site car park barrier and visitor monitoring ID pass software and systems. Smooth and efficient access is provided by your Tensor smart card system, which creates an array of access profiles for any door lock or access point. At the same time it maintains complete security and allowing you to control the movement and identification of contractors, visitors, and their vehicles.

A state-of-the-art car park has opened in Birmingham, as part of a brand new retail and shopping complex in the city centre. The ‘donkey work’ of actually parking your vehicle is done for you, a first for these shores. Motorists leave their car in a transfer area, then watch as the vehicle is carried down and placed in an empty bay on an automatic carrier. On returning for the car, it is lifted back up to the garage. Incredibly, the car is even turned around so it can be driven straight out. Kit out your site’s car parking facilities with Tensor’s state-of-the-art parking access control range. Characterised by a strong contoured design, all our parking posts combine peace of mind with excellent value for money, and work equally well whether in a home or corporate environment. Constructed from either cast iron or aluminium, two keys are supplied per post; and they also can be locked in a flat position. For more information on the parking posts and our smart card or networked barriers, gates and turnstiles, click here.

Organisations such as the Design Council and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and Arts will be turned into charities as part of the Government’s sweeping reform of quangos, of which 192 of these non-governmental bodies are set to be scrapped. "We know that for a long time there has been a huge hunger for change," Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said yesterday. "People have been fed-up with the old way of doing business, where the ministers they voted for could often avoid taking responsibility for difficult and tough decisions by creating or hiding behind one of these quangos.” WinTA Enterprise is the complete Time & Attendance system of choice for larger organisations, holding clocking and payroll data for 10,000-plus people to create better efficiency and productivity. Tensor's Web enabled, networked, multi-site facility, WinTA Enterprise can store up to 2000 employees on a single time and attendance clock, to which extra scanners may be attached for Access Control, Job Booking, and Job Costing. WinTA Enterprise operates both the T32xx and T256x clocking stations and can record employee details for an unlimited number of people.  

A Scottish First Division soccer club in administration has removed most of its first team staff. Players Mickael Antoine-Curier, Eric Paton, Dominic Shimmin, Njazi Kuqi, Paul McHale, Scott Fox, Colin McMenamin and Charlie Grant have been released by Dundee. Former Scotland midfielder Brian Kerr and the management team have also been axed. "We must get money in the door before Christmas," said the administrator’s statement. "That is the deadline we have set as of now. I cannot stress enough how much the club needs the support of Dundee and its people." Tensor can provide your organisation with a sophisticated time and attendance system guaranteed to meet your clocking requirements and increase efficiency by making savings on your human resources. Our systems easily and accurately record your employees' clocking data and perform equally well with both small and large numbers of employees. We currently have two dedicated time and attendance systems available, which are operated by our contactless smart cards and key fobs. These systems are fully customisable, and the software ensures that your organisation remains compliant with all employment legislation.

Labour left a £3.3 billion black hole in the defence budget according to the incoming Defence Minister, Dr Liam Fox. Writing in the Times, Dr Liam Fox said the Ministry of Defence had been "living beyond its means for too long". He used as an example that the cost of building two aircraft carriers rose by £767m. "Some projects would actually be more expensive to cancel than to continue – which is an absurdity that you would only really find made in Whitehall,” was Dr Fox’s verdict on the defence department. Tensor Time and Attendance software, beginning with WinTA Start, handles all hours calculations and payroll issues to ensure that your company does not overspend on its budget. Our WinTA Lite package stores information on up to 1000 production or departmental jobs. With the simple use of a smart card or key fob, employees book time against these jobs to produce a fully costed analysis and break down of time spent on each one. Reports show jobs that are over budget or those approaching their budget limit. This information can also be exported to spreadsheets.

Neighbourhood Insp Lisa Musgrove, of the Sunderland Neighbourhood Policing Team, commented that a robbery at William Hill bookmakers in Sunderland was an isolated incident. She said: “Thankfully the member of staff was not seriously injured. We’ve been following a number of lines of inquiry to find those responsible and are now releasing CCTV footage in the hope members of the public can help us.” She added: “We know that one of the men has Lidl shopping bags over his shoes but would ask anyone who may know the brand of clothing or where it could have been bought from to contact us.” CCTV is one of a number of security methods that can be employed in a Tensor Biometric and Smart Card access control system. With Tensor Access Lite and Tensor's T149x scanners, you can control most standard types of internal and external electronic, magnetic door releases and devices, making full use of location points, whether in full view or hidden out of sight. The optional CCTV tracking of video clips shows evidence quality footage of forced entries, alarm events, or users of smart cards gaining access or being denied.

Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday revealed one of the outcomes of the first strategic defence and security review in 12 years: the UK's Harrier jump jets will be axed. One Harrier pilot, Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Kris Ward, asked the PM on his visit to the armed forces: "I have flown 140 odd missions in Afghanistan and I am now potentially facing unemployment. How am I supposed to feel about that sir?" Mr Cameron thanked him for "everything" he had done for his country, but the military advice was that "it was right to keep the Typhoon as the principal ground attack aircraft, working in Afghanistan at the moment." Smart Card and Biometric Time & Attendance and security systems from Tensor provide the fastest and safest method of recording attendance and will save your organisation money through increased efficiency. The large colour display on Tensor's T32xx clocking station makes it simple for employees to confirm their clockings, check flexi-time hours or make job-booking transactions. The T32xx has a user friendly, multilingual GUI (Graphical User Interface) with an illuminated keypad.