Hindsight no longer has to be a wonderful thing – not with HR Zone’s round-up of predictions and forecasts from some top HR directors and commentators on what to look out for in the year ahead. By Annie Hayes.

* Go full throttle with EAPs
Liz Booth, HR director, NSPCC:
2008 holds the promise of better protection for children and vulnerable adults; with the Independent Safeguarding Authority taking control of vetting and for warning employers if one of their employees is banned from working with children. I hope that the new authority can phase implementation in a way that maintains public confidence and deals with fears about the ‘nanny state’ – this really is a major step towards keeping children safe.

Economically, fears about mounting debt should alert larger employers to make sure their employee assistance programmes highlight debt counselling and encourage colleagues to seek help if they need it. Concerns about debt can lead to debilitating stress and depression, so it is well worth making confidential debt counselling available.

Everyone in the HR community will hope that the Employment Tribunal System will get some attention in the coming year. It is clear that delays in the system are damaging to everyone (with the possible exception of our employment lawyers) and a review is long overdue.

Finally, at NSPCC we are planning a major expansion to ChildLine and the NSPCC Helpline in 2008, to give children and adults counselling, help support and advice. We hope that people across Britain will want to “be the full stop” in 2008 and help to make our country one where all children are loved, valued and feel safe. This, above all, is my hope for the New Year.

* Add some juicy carrots to aid attraction and retention
Richard Jordan, head of employer brand, Ernst & Young:
Diversity and inclusiveness has been a talking point for businesses and government throughout 2007, but we expect to see it move up the agenda significantly in the year ahead. The UK’s business leaders are now driving this to ensure they can recruit and retain the best people. We will see more companies embracing different religious and cultural festivals, and more diversity networks springing up.

Employers’ attractiveness is increasingly determined by the amount of flexibility and control they are able to provide their employees. Companies that can get the balance right will be best placed to recruit and retain a more engaged workforce. As a result, firms will be developing more and more innovative schemes to attract the highest calibre employees in 2008.

Following the credit crunch, and the increasing dominance of China and India, we will also see businesses encouraging global mobility and UK employees – in the consultancy and financial services sector especially – to take up secondment opportunities abroad in the emerging markets and the Middle East.

* Get tough on rogue and negligent bosses
Nick Harness, director of BackgroundChecking.com
The big HR trends for 2008 will be asylum, immigration and the right to work; security in the workplace and minimising internal fraud; corporate manslaughter; annual monitoring; increased use of e-recruitment; seamless HR; and screening third-party suppliers, contract and temporary employees.

On asylum, the current system is lacking and immigration is to be revamped in 2008. Companies in Britain will face severe fines if they do not source migrant labour through the official channels. The penalties for employing illegal staff are due to rise in 2008, with fines possibly increasing to £10,000 per worker and possible jail sentences for the principles of the business.

Internal fraud is also becoming more prevalent, especially in the financial services industries, or within contact centres (where credit card payment is involved). There needs to be clearer communication between HR and security/risk so that the risk can be managed more effectively.

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act received Royal Assent on 26 July 2007, but does not come into effect until 6 April 2008. Under the Act, companies whose gross negligence leads to the death of individuals will face prosecution for manslaughter. The Act makes it easier to prosecute companies and other large organisations where gross failures in management of health and safety (not just health and safety violations) lead to death. Where found guilty, companies, organisations and government bodies face an unlimited fine.

* Prepare for a changing economic climate
Iain Young, HR consultant
As HR professionals, we are not always seen as true business partners. Too often, we get bogged down in day-to-day compliance issues and don’t have the time to look around to see what’s going on, nor apply it to ourselves and our work.

As HR professionals, we might not worry about the changing economic environment; however, we should understand how, over the coming year, it will impact the businesses and clients we work for.

HR should also look at whether the changing workforce due to both emigration and immigration will effect our profession in terms of the supply of workforce skills.

* Get creative and watch the red tape
Sandra Beale, HR consultant
For 2008 there is more legislation coming on board with Corporate Manslaughter in April 2008, whereby companies could be prosecuted where an employee kills someone on the roads when driving on company business. Companies should therefore check their employees are legal to drive regularly – that is copy for files of tax, insurance, drivers licences, etc, and have a driver handbook or travel policy in place. All this will help in a prosecution defence.

The Information & Consultation regulations will affect companies employing 50 staff from April 2008. If they receive a request from 10 per cent of the workforce, they must put a consultation forum into place.

The legislation surrounding the employment of immigrants will be changing. A points-based system will be implemented during 2008, whereby immigrants will be assessed on their skills and will be allocated points. If they score too low they cannot be employed in the UK.

Companies who illegally employ immigrants can face fines of up to £10,000. They should therefore check the ‘right to work in the UK’ documents on start of employment, and add dates in the diary of when documentation is expiring to ensure there are no lapses.

In terms of generalist HR issues, the war on talent will still continue to give the UK skills shortages, and employee reward will continue to play a part in recruiting and retaining high calibre employees. Companies will need to be creative to get ahead of their competitors in terms of their employee reward.

* Remember it’s never dull in HR
Nicky Machin, group HR director, Thomas Eggar LLP
With the economy entering a potentially quite different phase, I think there will be a big focus on reward in the next few years and employers will have to balance retention of key players with affordability. Interestingly, any impact on the financial service providers in London could prove advantageous for regional employers who can offer better work-life balance. However, the ripple effect of any downturn will affect everyone in the end if strong enough.

I also think corporate social responsibility will continue to be a hot topic, particularly environmental issues and travel to work incentives that have an environmental plus, could gather a pace. The price of petrol is not going down, and it’s time the Inland Revenue looked at mileage rates again.

Age discrimination again might begin to come into focus in a falling economy and anyone considering redundancies will need to ensure their selection criteria are not age related. Similarly, the need to work to repay the credit cards may result in more people wishing to work over 65; employers should look closely at the costs and flexibility offered in some of these cases.

On a good note, anyone building a career in HR should relish a different economic climate as it presents all sorts of new challenges and learning experiences! Never a dull moment in HR.