Louise Naylor S M3 Assignment
Assignment Title: Analyse how Political, Legal and Social Factors have impacted on the two contrasting organisations.
Qualification: BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Business
Unit 1: Business Environment
Assessor Name: Ben Owusu-Domfeh
Student Name: Louise Naylor
Student ID: 62812 Group: A
Date Submitted: 10th December 2013
In this report I will be analysing how Political, Legal and Social factors have impacted on my two selected organisations, Marks and Spencer plc (M & S) and Oxfam International.
Political factors
From October 1st 2013 the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rose in accordance with the recommendations set out by the independent Low Pay Commission (LPC) in April 2013
From 1 October 2013: the adult rate increased by 12p to £6.31 an hour the rate for 18-20 year olds increased by 5p to £5.03 an hour the rate for 16-17 year olds increased by 4p to £3.72 an hour the apprentice rate increased by 3p to £2.68 an hour the accommodation offset increased from the current £4.82 to £4.91
This has a direct impact on all businesses in the UK as paying less that the NMW is illegal and companies will be fined if they do not comply with the above rates.
M & S currently employs approx 82,000 people worldwide. An increase in the national minimum wage will inevitably increase M & S’s labour costs and potentially reduce their profitability. Nevertheless, M & S wants to be seen as a good employer who treats their staff fairly so they will be keen to demonstrate that they not only meet the NMW, but pay a fair living wage to their employees in the UK and abroad. However, M & S have recently been heavily criticised for their “Make your Mark” youth employment scheme. This is because they have just announced they intend to provide 1,400 ‘placements’ for young people in a huge extension of their workfare scheme which has already seen over a thousand people work without pay for the company. They claim this scheme is to help people find work – but only half of those
Qualification: BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Business
Unit 1: Business Environment
Assessor Name: Ben Owusu-Domfeh
Student Name: Louise Naylor
Student ID: 62812 Group: A
Date Submitted: 10th December 2013
In this report I will be analysing how Political, Legal and Social factors have impacted on my two selected organisations, Marks and Spencer plc (M & S) and Oxfam International.
Political factors
From October 1st 2013 the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rose in accordance with the recommendations set out by the independent Low Pay Commission (LPC) in April 2013
From 1 October 2013: the adult rate increased by 12p to £6.31 an hour the rate for 18-20 year olds increased by 5p to £5.03 an hour the rate for 16-17 year olds increased by 4p to £3.72 an hour the apprentice rate increased by 3p to £2.68 an hour the accommodation offset increased from the current £4.82 to £4.91
This has a direct impact on all businesses in the UK as paying less that the NMW is illegal and companies will be fined if they do not comply with the above rates.
M & S currently employs approx 82,000 people worldwide. An increase in the national minimum wage will inevitably increase M & S’s labour costs and potentially reduce their profitability. Nevertheless, M & S wants to be seen as a good employer who treats their staff fairly so they will be keen to demonstrate that they not only meet the NMW, but pay a fair living wage to their employees in the UK and abroad. However, M & S have recently been heavily criticised for their “Make your Mark” youth employment scheme. This is because they have just announced they intend to provide 1,400 ‘placements’ for young people in a huge extension of their workfare scheme which has already seen over a thousand people work without pay for the company. They claim this scheme is to help people find work – but only half of those