Business

A WASPI campaigner has spoken of her disappointment that women affected by the issue could get payouts of just under £3,000.A new report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman looking into the WASPI (Women against state pension inequality) complaint has recommended individuals get payouts of between £1,000 and £2,950.The recommendations are not binding on the DWP or the Government, with the Ombudsman urging Parliament to take up the issue.Frances Neil, South East Essex Co-coordinator for WASPI, told Express.co.uk: "We were disappointed that those figures were so low."We understand all the arguments about the public purse, the cost of living. There are so many calls on the Government."But when you juxtapose the amounts we’ve lost, it does seem unfair.“I think the official feel...

Starbucks' former chief executive pushed back against accusations of ‘union busting’ at the coffee giant. (C-SPAN) A group of California residents have filed a lawsuit against Starbucks and claim the popular coffeehouse chain discriminates against lactose-intolerant customers. The $5 million class action lawsuit represents Maria Bolliger, Dawn Miller and Shunda Smith, three women who allege Starbucks has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by charging lactose intolerant coffee lovers like them more for nondairy milk options, according to the Los Angeles Times.In expensive cities such as San Francisco and New York City, alternatives to cow milk such as oat, almond, coconut and soy milk can add up to 90 cents to a customer’s bill. The lawsuit claims Starbucks is adding...

Check out what's clicking on FoxBusiness.com Uber and Lyft said they will stop operating in Minneapolis after the city council voted to overrule the mayor's veto of a minimum wage law impacting rideshare drivers.  Lyft said it is "shutting down operations in Minneapolis" when the law takes effect on May 1. Uber said it will stop operating its transportation network in the entire metro area, including the airport, that same day. The ordinance, which faced fierce pushback from the ride-share industry, establishes minimum driver pay of $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute, or a minimum of $5 per trip, whichever is greater. The city council's goal over the past 18 months has been to ensure that driver rates are equivalent to the local minimum wage, which rose to $15.57 per hour in Janua...

Fox News senior national correspondent William La Jeunesse reports on proposed changes to California's electric bills on 'Special Report.' How to go green without going broke? That's the latest challenge in the alternative energy capital of California, where Democrats propose taxing the rich to make energy more equitable and affordable. To do so, lawmakers mandated utilities statewide  begin billing ratepayers based not on how much electricity they use, but on how much money they make. "This would be the first state to charge people based on their income rather than what they actually just use," said Shon Hiatt, director of the USC Business of Energy Transition initiative. "The problem here has been affordability. While California has focused almost completely on clean energy, it h...

Plans to build new gas fired power stations to keep the lights on will add more than £170 to household bills, it is claimed.The government has announced the new plants will be required to provide back-up as the UK moves to a reliance on wind and solar energy.Britain’s ability to generate electricity has become increasingly reliant on the weather as net zero targets spur a shift to renewable power.However, periods of low wind and less sunlight, a phenomenon known as “dunkelflaute”, create problems for energy supplies.Industry analysts calculate that the total cost of constructing the gas fired power plants that would be switched on in these circumstances to prevent blackouts would be around £5 billion.They estimate this will add around £178 to bills which would be recouped over a number ...

Cash ISAs are gaining significant popularity as savers take advantage of rising fixed-rate product pricing and tax benefits, new data shows.According to research by Paragon Bank, the amount of cash held in adult ISA accounts rose by nearly a fifth last year.CACI data shows overall adult ISA balances grew by 17 percent, reaching £309.3billion by the end of 2023 and outpacing the growth of non-ISA balances.The popularity of fixed-rate ISAs primarily fueled the surge in adult cash ISA balances.In a notable shift, the amount of cash held in fixed-rate variants surpassed that of instant access ISA accounts for the first time in available CACI data (since January 2018), particularly evident in the final three months of the year.Overall, fixed-rate ISA balances increased by a staggering 76 per...

High energy bills have disastrous consequences for struggling households beyond simply being able to afford heat and light, according to a new study.British experts say there are serious consequences in terms of stress, health, disability and wellbeing, which need to be addressed.As a result, they have developed a new way to define and measure which households are vulnerable to prolonged energy price hikes.Employment status, housing tenure, inability to save, energy prepayment methods, and household composition are indicators of households that may struggle, according to research by the University of Sheffield, the UK Energy Research Centre, and Universities of Nottingham, East Anglia and Macedonia in Greece.They warned that low energy price resilience (LENRES) is associated with worse ...

Check out what's clicking on FoxBusiness.com American Airlines purchased 260 planes – including a significant number of Boeing's largest 737 Max airplane – in an effort to boost its domestic and short-haul international network and expand its first-class seating.  The Texas-based carrier placed orders for 85 Airbus A321neo, 85 Boeing 737 Max 10 and 90 Embraer E175 aircraft with the option to purchase an additional 193 aircraft.American is also converting its 30 existing 737 Max 8 orders to 737 Max 10 aircraft. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said these orders "will continue to fuel our fleet with newer, more efficient aircraft so we can continue to deliver the best network and record-setting operational reliability for our customers." FAA GIVES BOEING 90 DAYS TO DEVELOP PLAN TO A...

High interest rates and frozen allowances are set to land millions more people with an unexpected tax bill on their savings.Up to 5.5 million accounts earned more than £1,000 in savings interest in November 2023, compared to 1.6 million accounts the year before - surpassing the Personal Savings Allowance threshold.The research by Paragon, based on the latest available CACI data, found this reflected a staggering 246 percent rise in accounts that will need to pay tax.Andy Wood, tax expert at Tax Natives said: “As rates go up, savers need to be mindful of their Personal Savings Allowance (PSA).“More people are at risk of surpassing their PSA limits of £12,570 and unintentionally facing unnecessary taxes on their savings interest.“This is generally the basic income tax rate of 20 percent, ...

Chef Robbie Felice joins Fox News' Stuart Varney with the latest on how he is expanding his businesses as profits thrive despite record high inflation on 'Varney & Co.' Rising star chef and New Jersey-based restaurateur Robbie Felice told Fox Business on Tuesday that while he is unsure how Wendy's plan to introduce fluctuating prices will turn out, he ultimately welcomes such experimentation for the industry. The Wendy’s fast food burger chain recently announced it expects to roll out a dynamic pricing model similar to Uber's surge pricing, where the cost of items fluctuate up or down based on demand or other factors."Beginning as early as 2025, we will begin testing a variety of enhanced features on these digital menu boards like dynamic pricing, different offerings in certain...