Catch up on the week in HR including first raft of new employment legislation, last call for Pensions Commission, D-day for A-day, CIPD move Harrogate conference, pay rises sink to three year low and mums take an average six months maternity leave.

W/C 3/4/06
April sees introduction of new employment legislation
April 6 marked the first trigger point in the year for incoming employment legislation.

Annette Partridge, Associate at Hogan & Hartson's employment practice said, "The only major changes are in relation to TUPE and that employers now have to consult in relation to pensions.”

From 6 April, companies with over 150 employees will be required to consult with their staff before making certain changes to occupational and personal pension schemes. By 2008 the requirements will be extended to apply to companies with 50 or more employees. It is hoped that this will afford employees some protection while at the same time maintaining the employers right to make long term commercial decisions.

“The other major change coming into effect is the implementation of new regulations in relation to protection of employment on the transfer of a business.

“The new regulations are intended to clarify the circumstances when the regulations apply as well as, amongst other things, introducing a new requirement for the seller of the business to notify the buyer of certain information before the transfer takes effect. It is envisaged that the new regulations could have a big impact on the way transactions are carried out and particularly the tactics and negotiation strategies that companies use," she said.

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Last call for Pensions Commission
The government's Pensions Commission has today published its final conclusions on the future of the UK's state pension regime.

Unveiling the report, Lord Turner, the Commission's head, defended its proposals to increase the basic state pension in line with earnings, raise the state pension age to 68 and introduce a compulsory national savings scheme.

Hitting out at the current system by saying it was not "fit for purpose", the peer added that a purely voluntary scheme would not work effectively and his proposals were affordable.

The Commission calls for pensions to be linked to earnings rather than inflation and proposes that the basic state pension age should gradually increase from 65 to 68 by 2050.

It says the whole system should be backed up by a National Pension Savings Scheme (NPSS), into which many employees would be automatically enrolled into and to which employers would be compelled to contribute.

Speaking at a press briefing this week, Turner said there was "almost universal support" for automatic enrolment in the NPSS.

For more on this story see: AccountingWEB

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D-day for A-day
As new rules aimed at encouraging more people to save for their retirement come into force this week, research has claimed only the well-off will actually benefit.

Dubbed A-day, the changes mark the biggest shake-up to pensions rules for 50 years.

The eight tax regimes which previously governed pensions have been scrapped in favour of just one, with the complex limits on how much people can save each year also abolished.

The pensions industry claims the rules will persuade more people currently with limited savings to put more money aside for their old age but a report by Datamonitor claims the rules will actually widen the gap between rich and poor pensioners.

It said that wealthy customers are best positioned to take advantage of the liberated market that these changes create because they are more likely to utilise the greater freedom that simplification of the system allows.

For more on this story see: AccountingWEB

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Organisations place learning responsibility with individuals
Over 80% of organisations encourage learners to take more responsibility for their own learning and development according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) 2006 learning and development survey.

This can only be effective if organisations introduce initiatives to encourage a learning culture, said Martyn Sloman, the CIPD’s learning and development adviser.

According to the CIPD research, just 56% of learning and development professionals say that on-the-job training is the most effective way for people to learn in their organisation while only 17% say that formal training courses take this accolade in their organisation.

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CIPD move Harrogate conference
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) have announced plans to move the annual conference traditionally held in October to an earlier September slot.

From 2007 the largest management conference in Europe will be held from 18-20 September.

While the HRD conference, traditionally held in early April will move venues in 2007 from its Olympia site to ExCeL, London.

Fiona Fennell, CIPD Head of Conferences and Exhibitions, said: “From 2007 HRD will benefit from ExCeL’s state of the art facilities, allowing us to make the conference and exhibition work together better for the thousands of learning and development professionals who join us each year.

“The new dates for the Harrogate conference from 2007 onwards are designed to be more family friendly, moving us away from the frequent clash with the school half-term break. The new Tuesday to Thursday slot is also intended to make the event work better for visitors, avoiding a Friday evening journey home.”

The Annual Conference and Exhibition will be held in Harrogate from 24-26 October 2006.

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Pay rises sink to three year low
According to latest figures from number crunchers, IRS pay rises are at their lowest level for three years.

The median basic pay award stood at 2.8% in the three months to the end of February 2006, down from 2.9% recorded in January 2006. Pay rises last stood at 2.8% in March 2003.

IRS Pay and Benefits editor, Sheila Attwood said: “Our view is that the pay deals concluded in January 2006 mark a turning point, with a downward shift in the level of awards made. Despite some concern from other commentators that the tight labour market and higher energy prices will exert upward pressure on wages, our data point to an easing of pay pressure on the back of falling inflation. Yet, despite falling pay awards, rises are still comfortably above the rate of headline inflation.”

The analysis covers the three-month period between 1 December 2005 and 28 February 2006.

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Mums take an average six months maternity leave
Three quarters of working mums are taking their full entitlement to maternity pay, up from two thirds in 2002.

Most mothers also now take an average six months of maternity leave, up from four months in 2002.

The 2005 Maternity and Paternity Rights Survey, commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), also shows that 79% of dads take their entitlement to paternity leave. The proportion of dads taking more than two weeks rose from 22 to 36 per cent in just three years.

Other key findings include:

• Sixty-eight per cent of mums now say that flexi-time is available to them, up from 44 per cent in 2002. While 54 per cent of dads report availability of flexi-time, up from 22 per cent in 2002.
• Forty-seven per cent of mums now work flexi-time, compared to just 17 per cent in 2002. Almost triple the number of new dads now work flexi-time, with 31 per cent saying they now work this way, up from 11 per cent in 2002.
• The proportion of mums who changed their employer when returning to work has halved from 41 per cent in 2002 to 20 per cent.

From April 2007 maternity and adoption pay will rise from six to nine months.

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Employers value skills over age
Two thirds (66%) of UK firms say skills and the right attitude are more important than age when employing staff.

New research from recruitment body, Office Angels claims that UK employers are increasingly focusing more upon skills than age when hiring new workers.

Thirty-eight per cent of the 1,600 employers quizzed said that attitudes to older employees were changing, as companies looked more favourably upon experienced workers than in previous years.

According to the study 19% of businesses now offer ‘age‘ incentives including part-time employment, to encourage experienced employees to continue working.

Paul Jacobs, managing director of Office Angels, said: “The key for anyone employing new staff is to look at the skills needed for a role and to hire the best person to fill that gap, regardless of age – great recruitment really is as simple as that.”

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More news in brief including employers turning a blind eye to apprentice training.