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HR Zone Members Newswire Issue 74
16 November 2004
http://www.hrzone.co.uk
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SITE HIGHLIGHTS ***** SITE HIGHLIGHTS ***** SITE HIGHLIGHTS
1. Editor’s Comment: Raising the game to woo parent voters
2. Focus On: HR Specialists – Quentin Colborn, HR Consultant
3. Peoplesoft spurn Oracle’s takeover offer
4. Subdued growth puts manufacturing jobs at risk
5. Any Answers: sacking temps, homeworking, outsourcing payroll
SITE HIGHLIGHTS ***** SITE HIGHLIGHTS ***** SITE HIGHLIGHTS
Editor’s note
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Political wrangling over packaged reforms to boost the deal for
parents leave and pay hit the headlines last week. Editor’s
Comment examines the proposals to assess the parties’ promises.
Is it all just child’s play? Why not share your views with
others.
This is what one HRZone member had to say: “The emphasis on
improving childcare aspects is really needed in this country and
happy parents mean increased productivity which can only help
Britain to successfully compete with the rest of the world in
business, which is the message that HR likes to get across.”
Review the article and add your comments at:
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133345
Regards,
Annie Hayes
Editor
mailto:editor@hrzone.co.uk
Job Centre Plus – Recruit the right people
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At Jobcentre Plus, we want to help you find the right person for
your job. We’ll work to get to know you so we can achieve the
best results – we already place over 20,000 people into work
every week. To see what we can do for your business visit
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/jobcentre.html
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Member’s news
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Welcome new members
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This week, HR Zone welcomes members from the following
organisations, among others, to the site:
Training For Advancement; Aurora; Reliance Security Group
Limited; Vodafone UK; Wood Group Management Services Ltd; Marks
and Spencer plc; Admiral Insurance plc; Snowdrop Systems
Limited; Fleet HQ; Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust; Siemens
Business Services; HR Dyanamix Ltd; Business Link for Norfolk;
JP Morgan Chase; Napier University; DWP; Tesco; MacDonald
Dettwiler Limited; Willis Group Services; Citigroup; Fitness
First; Capital Careers Ltd; Health & Safety Executive;
Connexions Kent & Medway; Cable & Wireless; Federal Reserve
Bank; Royal Mail; The Pay Zone Bureau; British Medical
Association; The Rugby Football League; Shell People Services
HCI schemes: the fastest growing employee benefit in the UK
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Home Computing Initiatives (HCI schemes) are the fastest growing
staff benefit in the UK, allowing employees to enjoy the latest
computing technology. Because companies typically recover the
cost of the loaned computer equipment through salary sacrifice,
they can benefit from reduced employer National Insurance
Contributions of as much as 64 pounds per person per year. To
find out more visit:
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/ukhc.html
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Editor’s Comment: Raising the game to woo parent voters
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Michael Howard and Tony Blair played their ‘family friendly’
cards this week in a battle where one tried to outwit the other
for points in an attempt to win over voting parents. Editor’s
Comment looks at the proposals.
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133345
Focus On: HR Specialists – Quentin Colborn, HR Consultant
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Redundancy provided Quentin Colborn, a seasoned HR professional
with the opportunity to go solo and spearhead his own
consultancy; in this feature Colborn tells HRZone about the
daily ins and outs of life as a consultant and how handling
mergers and acquisitions can be likened to the process of buying
and selling a house.
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133329
The Couch?! dreams of a room with a view
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The Couch?! team now appreciates being in the office as the
winter weather seems to be upon us. However with a roundabout on
one side, and a building site on the other, couldn’t the view be
better than this?
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133142
Peoplesoft spurn Oracle’s takeover offer
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HR solutions provider Peoplesoft have rejected software giant
Oracle’s bid for ownership at $24.00 per share.
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133290
Subdued growth puts manufacturing jobs at risk
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Quarter results show that output in the beleaguered
manufacturing sector has continued to lag putting workers jobs
on the line.
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133319
Pay predictors look to a brighter 2005
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Pay analysts, IRS reported in October that average settlements
continued to stand at 3%; a figure that has remained unchanged
for the last 18 months since April 2003.
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133379
Capital’s postal workers threaten to strike at Christmas
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Postal workers in London are preparing to ballot for industrial
action over the Christmas period in reaction to an overtime and
pay dispute.
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133308
Workers long for some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Latest research shows that employees yearn for their bosses to
give them time to sleep during the working day.
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133254
Sellafield worker sacked for being ‘too fat’
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Thirty stone Graeme Ivison has been dismissed by his employers
because he was too fat to do his job at the Sellafield
reprocessing plant.
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133396
Scottish workplaces to quit smoking habit by 2006
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First Minister Jack McConnell outlined his plans to the Scottish
Parliament for an all out smoking ban in Scotland which he said
should be in place by spring 2006.
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133261
Any Answers answered: Holiday buy and sell
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Q – We are considering holiday ‘buy and sell’ for employees, but
would like to understand some of the issues that other companies
have faced when introducing such a scheme.
Sam Lewis
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A – We allow staff to sell back holiday at time and a half. This
policy was introduced to compensate employees who were unable to
take their full holiday entitlement due to work commitments but
it is sometimes abused.
Unless your aim is to offer this as more of an employee benefit
than a method of compensation, I suggest restricting the selling
back of holidays to a defined point near the end of the holiday
year. (But encouraging employees to take the holidays they’re
entitled to first, if possible).
I would also recommend that you include a clause to prevent
someone taking say two weeks paternity leave at 100 pounds per
week and then selling back holiday to claim the extra pay for
the same period.
I hope this is helpful.
Julie Godbold
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http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133224
If you have a question – or can offer an answer – go to
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/anyanswers/
Any Answers
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Any Answers is the place to go to share your professional
experiences with others. A selection of new Any Answers
questions posted this week:
Marie Griffiths wants to know whether she can sack her slack
temp?
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133380
Homeworking: Sandra Beale is looking for remote workers
guidelines. Do you have a policy in place you are willing to
share?
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133394
Gary Scott wants to know if there is any statistical evidence
that demonstrates the cost effectiveness of outsourced v in-
house payroll. Can you help?
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/133423
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