UK Prime Minister Theresa May has announced plans to call snap general election on 8 June.

Some useful tools

YOU ARE HER

Overtime Calculator
Working extra hours without pay? Find out what it could be costing you.

Union Finder
Work out which trade union is relevant to your company or sector.

YOUR MONEY:

Pay Reckoner
Calculate your hourly rate from an annual salary

Tax Calculator
Work out your income tax and National Insurance bill.

Minimum Wage Calculator
Check if you're entitled to the National Minimum Wage, and if so, how much.

Redundancy Pay Calculator
See how much statutory redundancy pay you are entitled to. This site is only a guild, please talk to your steward to find out how to get a true figure.

Cover up mate

Everyone should take precautions against sunshine and sunburn over the summer. This year NHS England is especially targeting men who work outdoors with the “Cover Up, Mate” campaign. Farmers, builders, gardeners and sportsmen are all being asked to take a safer approach to the sun to help reduce the incidence of skin cancer.

They have been targeted because the incidence of skin cancer in men is increasing at a faster rate than it is for women, and men who spend a high proportion of the day outdoors are at risk because increased exposure to sunlight increases the likelihood of developing skin cancer. 

For more information visit www.nhs.uk

 

International Workers' Memorial Day

International Workers' Memorial Day - More events and resources

News is coming in about various events and activities to mark this year's International Workers' Memorial Day.    We've heard from: UNISON member and Hartlepool TUC President, Edwin Jeffries; UNISON Pembrokeshire Local Government Branch; UNISON West Midlands Health and Safety Forum; and UNISON Cymru Wales Region.  UNISON's Health Conference will be marking the Day, as will UNISON's Further Education and Sixth Form College Seminar.  Staff at UNISON Centre will be holding a minutes silence at 12 midday on Friday 28 April.  And numerous UNISON members, activists, and staff will be speaking at events across the country. We'll be posting these and other details on our website (see the "events" page) and by social media (FaceBook and twitter - see logos below for our links) in the coming days and weeks. But we also want to hear about your planned activities no matter how large or small, just send a reply to this email or email Vincent at: v.borg@unison.co.uk Don't forget, UNISON's IWMD webpage has further information and resources, including our IWMD poster and leaflet to download or order.  You can now also download our pdf to create your own IWMD flags from our webpage or direct from here. Remember the Dead and Fight for the Living on this year's International Workers' Memorial Day! The Health and Safety Unit UNISON

Did you know that immediately apply for an introductory loan of up to £2000 repayable over a term of up to 60 months

OXFORDSHIRE CREDIT UNION PAYROLL DEDUCTION SCHEMES

OXFORDSHIRE CREDIT UNION already run payroll deduction schemes through the employers listed below and are in discussions with other Oxfordshire employers.

• Oxford Bus Company
• Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
• Oxford City Council
• South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Council

Employees who can pay to their credit union account by a payroll deduction can immediately apply for an introductory loan of up to £2000 repayable over a term of up to 60 months

Payroll deduction also makes saving easy through our range of savings accounts to help you budget for Xmas, Eid, Diwali, holidays or any other special occasion.

Call now

Call 01865 777 757 to start saving today...

Information for employers

If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity to save money by payroll deduction, or would like to offer your employees access to secure savings accounts and low cost loans, please contact us.

Is today your day to join Oxford Credit Union

About membership of OCU

Anyone who lives or works within the county of Oxfordshire can join OCU.  And even if you move away from Oxfordshire you can still remain a member.

All you need to do when you join is to start saving a regular amount each month.  If you would like to join us and start saving, please call 01865 777 757 or download an application form.  We make a £2 charge for joining which will be deducted from your first payment. We have an annual charge of £5 for managing your account, we waive this fee if the balance in your account is more than £50 or if you are making regular savings.

Download a membership application form.

In order to comply with anti-money-laundering regulations we will need to see proof of ID and address.  You can send us a photocopy of a driving licence, passport or birth certificate.

Payroll deductions:   Members who work in Oxford University Hospital Trust, the Oxford Bus Company, Unipart, Oxford City Council, West Oxfordshire District Council, Vale of White Horse District Council or South Oxfordshire can pay into their OCU account directly through a deduction from their payroll. More about the advantages of payroll deductions here. Download a OCU Payroll Deduction form.

Standing orders and cash:  Other members can save using either a standing order arrangement with their bank or by paying in cash using a PayPoint card (provided by OCU) at a retailer displaying the PayPoint sign – eg a local corner shop or garage. Just call us and we’ll talk you through this.  Download a Standing Order Mandate.

Redirecting your Child Benefit to your OCU account:  Use the Child Benefit redirection form if you would like your Child Benefit to be added directly to your OCU savings.

All our forms are available to be downloaded directly from the Forms and documents page.

Oxfordshire Branches Survey: LG Reorganisation

You will probably have seen in recent weeks campaign materials for “One Oxfordshire”, a proposal for local government reorganisation initiated by Oxfordshire County Council. You may also have seen counter proposals, particularly if you live or work in Oxford City or Cherwell which are opposed to the plan.

The One Oxfordshire proposals would mean a single unitary authority covering the whole of Oxfordshire responsible for all the services currently provided by District and County Councils.

The Government will have the final say on the proposals and we don’t yet know what it will decide but UNISON wants to know your concerns and priorities so that we are ready to support our members interests once the decision is announced. Any changes, whether it is a single unitary authority or unitary authorities based on existing district council boundaries or some other formulation, is bound to impact on our members who are directly employed by a local authority but also those whose jobs are linked to the councils through contracts or funding arrangements, and of course those who live in Oxfordshire regardless of where they work.

It will be a great help in this if you could take a few minutes to complete this survey by Friday 7 April.

Please feel free to ask your work colleagues to complete it too, regardless of whether they are UNISON members. You can do this by forwarding them the link.

Kind regards

Caroline Raine (Area Organiser) 

One Oxfordshire Survey

It only takes a few minutes!

Click here for the survey

Find out more about better oxfordshire click here