Latest News, Blogs & Announcements

Home Secretary Teresa May told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that the findings of a review on police pay were going through the negotiating process. The review of pay and conditions has recommended a range of allowances and special payments be scrapped to save £485 million over three years. Mrs May said when pay made up 80% of police expenditure, and cuts were being made to tackle the deficit, it was "right to look at pay, terms and conditions". Comprehensive user-definable working patterns and rosters are featured in Tensor’s all-in-one Time and Attendance WinTA clocking system. 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, WinTAnet can supply working rules to calculate the correct result. It contains special rules to accommodate the formal flexitime contracts worked by many public sector employees. Night shifts are simple to define, and both paid and unpaid breaks are easy to define and calculate.  

A seaside building which in a former life was a public toilet has been sold for more than twice the guide price. The block at Norfolk resort Sheringham is more than 100 years old and was sold this week with planning permission to be used as a holiday home. The building, which had a guide price of between £30,000 and £50,000, had its value improved due to coverage in the national media that drew interest from around the country. Tensor's 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. Included in this array are coin operated toilet turnstiles which help pay for the upkeep of the toilet block via the revenue streams the turnstiles create. Available as single or double half height turnstiles, the turnstiles cope with high traffic volumes and prestige access points. For more information on a Tensor turnstile, barrier or gate, please contact our sales team.

Almost 20 tonnes of metal intended for the new grandstand for a top military display has been stolen. The girders were to be part of the stand at the Edinburgh Tattoo, and the theft took place between Sunday and Monday (May 29 and 30, 2011). Police have suggested the theft was made because steel prices have remained high, and the huge amount of that metal was why thieves targeted the two trailers carrying the girders. Using the latest .NET PC-based access control software, Tensor technology is the first step towards protecting your business premises from theft. From the control of a single internal door through to a fully computerised, multi-site network of control points, a Tensor Access system is the solution. It begins with low cost 1 to 4 door access control which linked together can control up to 128 doors from one PC. Tensor Access is modular in design, and so is able to be adapted and extended with extra features like visitor control and monitoring systems.  

Police have been swift to arrest four people following a robbery at a petrol station earlier in the week. The crime happened on Monday evening (May 30) at the filling station at Flintshire in North Wales. A minor amount of cash was taken in the incident and a cashier was taken to hospital with minor injuries. Police are urging witnesses to come forward. Tensor offers a top of the range access control system which gives protection to your site. When a person attempts to pass through an access point, the T32xx access control unit compares the individual’s security profile with that of the access point. Security profiles are based upon the day, time of day, and the security threat level of the attempted access. You can upgrade Tensor Access to include digital evidence quality CCTV technology. Further additions to your Tensor Access system may also include automatic number plate recognition – with the option to add a comprehensive visitor monitoring ID badge system – to enhance your security solution.  

Parachute Regiment soldiers returning from tours of Afghanistan face having a special bonus payment cut as defence bosses are looking to reduce costs. Paratroopers are most likely to be affected since the Army wants to decrease the number of soldiers fully trained to parachute. The Daily Telegraph newspaper says it could mean a pay cut of up to a tenth for the lowest paid private. The newspaper also claims as many as 4,000 individuals could be affected. Using Tensor’s comprehensive time and attendance software, including WinTA Lite, your firm’s payroll department can create a wide range of daily working patterns (shifts), with either fixed or flexitime rules. These can run past midnight, making night shifts simple to define. Bonuses and other payments are easily created. 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. Periodic Overtime is used to calculate overtime on weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis.  

A convenience store was burgled twice in three days, with an employee saying he felt sure it had been targeted by professionals. Shift manager at the shop in Swindon, Wiltshire, Nathan Humphries, said: “They came through the back door and must have used a crowbar to prise open the shutter. I’m sure they were professionals.” He added: “We were worried about our payroll information but we’ve been told they shouldn’t be able to access it.” Whether it is a retail store, site or office, your business property can be protected by Tensor’s access control products. These range from simple door and registration point control, through to a fully computerised global networked Access Control System. Further options include a Visitor Management System, a low cost PC based visitor pass production system that controls, records and monitors the arrivals and departures of an organisation’s visitors and contractors. Reception and gatehouse staff can quickly check the identity or enter the details of visitors, and print their personalised ID pass, which includes a digital photo.  

Wetter walls and dry rot has resulted from a spate of thefts at a church in Lancashire. St John the Divine is riddled with the rot after damp has set in through areas where protective lead was stolen. The vicar, Father Keith Henshall, explained it is worse when thefts go unnoticed. He said: "We haven't realised the lead has gone and we've only become aware of it as the walls have got wetter and that has undoubtedly exacerbated our problems with dry rot." For security protection of your premises or site, a Tensor Access system is the solution. Tensor Access Lite is one of our proven range of Windows™ based Access Control products. With Tensor Access Lite and Tensor's T149x scanners, you can control most standard types of internal and external electronic and magnetic door releases. The scanner controller is the unit to which all Access Control equipment within your Tensor Access Lite network is connected. A Tensor T32xx clocking station can have up to twelve T8424 scanner controllers attached to it.  

Last month, Network Rail said passengers were delayed by 6,088 hours over the past year because of cable thefts along its routes. The rail operator’s figures showed the number of theft incidents in the 2010-11 financial year leaped by 52 per cent to 995 on the railways it controls. The crime causes significant disruption to rail services and places huge financial costs on the rail industry. The organisation blames the high cost of scrap copper for increased cable thefts. A Tensor Access system improves security at your depot or office, no matter how exposed or remote it is, thanks to our CCTV, barrier, Access Control and visitor management technology. Under Tensor Access Lite, each T8424 scanner controller can have combinations of up to two T149x access point scanners or fingerprint readers giving you full control over who is allowed access through any controlled point at any time of day. Sensitive or dangerous areas can easily be denied to those who do not have the appropriate security clearance.  

Allowances for senior council officers at one authority will be limited to make savings of £34,000 from year two of the plan. There will be an allowance for the new ‘champion roles’ at Gloucestershire County Council, but this will be capped to ensure that overall the changes will save the equivalent of one cabinet member’s allowance (£17,599), increasing to two in future years. Council leader Mark Hawthorne said: "With less cabinet members and time-limited project champions, we will save money and still get the job done." Tensor’s WinTA time and attendance network handles all frequently used methods of hours calculation. WinTAnet can supply working rules to calculate the correct result. It contains special rules to accommodate the formal flexitime contracts worked by many public sector employees. Workers paid on an annual contract basis can be handled by the annualised hours procedures and reports within WinTAnet. A number of basic rules control how hours are calculated. These include settings to separate "worked time" into different overtime rates and to handle night shift working.  

Health bosses are putting forward an action plan to get workers to set an example over sickness levels and absenteeism. The health board serving the Swansea area said in a report: "As one of the largest employers across Bridgend, Neath, Port Talbot and Swansea – the ABM Health Board should be an exemplar of a public health practising organisation." Statistics for Swansea show the average number of working days or shifts lost through sickness absence was 12.9 days per annum. WinTA Net, Tensor's world-class web enabled Time & Attendance Management System, is the best there is for time and attendance absenteeism and lateness reporting. Accurate information about absenteeism and lateness is crucial for many businesses. 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. Alerts via email are also given on factors like manning levels.  

Included in a refurbishment of out-of-date Victorian station toilets are anti-vandalism materials. Train operator London Midland is bidding to tackle vandalism and other crimes head-on at Worcester station. Mike Hampson, London Midland’s head of facilities, said of the refurbishment plan: “When the works are complete London Midland anticipates a significantly improved environment for the benefit of our passengers and other station users.” Tensor's resilient coin operated toilet turnstiles are manufactured from graded stainless steel for ease of cleaning and maintenance. They can be a stand-alone access control device and are duty cycle rated for intensive use. They are ideal for rail and other companies who cannot afford to assign staff to the job of checking the lavatories at regular intervals. The turnstile bodies have lockable lids to prevent unwanted access and are securely mounted to the floor plate. If necessary Tensor's gates, 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.  

Leaked documents show the average salary at the British Olympic Association (BOA) has risen by more than one-fifth during the past 12 months. Figures which have been leaked to the BBC demonstrated that the average pay of a member of staff at the BOA, which admitted earlier this year it was struggling to fund Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics, has risen by more than £13,000. The average salary at the sporting body is now more than £75,000. For gold medal performance at dealing with your company’s payroll and clocking, look no further than Tensor's WinTAnet world-class web enabled Time & Attendance system. It handles all major hours calculation methods, including simple determination of overtime – whether the number of daily hours worked or the more complex payment of overtime hours adjusted when periodic targets are not met. Tensor is the leader in the field of exporting information to the payroll system. WinTAnet has a wide range of configuration options to extract payroll information in exactly the correct format.