Legal Insight: The implications of the SFO’s latest Bribery Act guidance

Since becoming director of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office, David Green has not wasted time.  The honeymoon period that, under the previous director allowed for self-reporting in relation to corruption and bribery, is over.   As one commentator put it: “There will be no more chats with the SFO over coffee and biscuits.” But what […]

News: BBC to investigate harassment claims after journalist’s suicide

The BBC has appointed a third party to investigate whether complaints about sexual harassment by a journalist who later committed suicide were handled properly. The family of Russell Joslin has accused the broadcaster of failing to act on the complaints of sexual harassment from a female colleague made by the reporter for BBC Coventry and […]

News: UBS bankers head to pub after being turned away at door

In what would appear a classic example of how not to do it, UBS bankers only discovered that they could be out of a job after having their passes refused on entry to the office yesterday. According to the Daily Telegraph, scores of London traders were denied access to the Swiss bank’s City headquarters and […]

News: UK HR pros least likely in world to use social media

HR professionals in the UK are the least likely in the world to use social media in order to identify prospective job candidates or communicate with staff.  According to a new study of 1,500 hiring managers and HR professionals from around the globe entitled ‘2012 HR Beat‘, less than half (47%) of UK hiring managers use […]

Blog: How to deal with equal pay after the Birimingham ruling

The recent high profile case where 170 women have been given the right to take an equal pay case against Birmingham City Council brings equal pay firmly in the spotlight. The workers, mainly women who worked in traditionally-female roles, such as cooks, cleaners and care staff won the right to seek compensation in the civil […]

Blog: Did you know that suicide is the 2nd biggest killer of young men?

Male suicide is the second biggest killer of young men in this country, yet the problem remains largely ignored.  When you think that we’re often brought up to believe that boys don’t cry, perhaps it’s not that much of a surprise that so few people feel able to talk about how they’re feeling. In an attempt to understand […]

Talent Spot: Louise Rooney, head of HR at ServiceSource

As HR manager at IT firm ServiceSource, Louise Rooney has a major recruitment job on her hands. When she first joined, the company’s headcount was about 120, but in less than a year, it had grown to 165 and there are plans to create another 100 posts over the next few months. “Sourcing the right […]

Talking Point: Is low staff turnover for losers?

Who on earth ever said that low attrition rates were the mainstay of business success? Staff turnover levels have been obsessed over for years and are still the cause of many a furrowed brow in meetings on the subject.   Some teams are even trained to worry – far too much – about an issue […]

News: ‘Freedom Food’ gangmasters lose licence for alleged human trafficking

A gangmaster company that is a member of the RSPCA’s ‘Freedom Food’ welfare scheme has had its licence revoked on suspicion of human trafficking for the purposes of labour exploitation. According to the Guardian, a 52-year old man and 50-year old woman from the company, which cannot be named for legal reasons, were arrested in […]

News: Learning management systems sector is now a “buyer’s market”

A combination of increasing commoditisation and slowing growth in the adoption of learning management systems is making it a buyer’s market, research has indicated. A report conducted by Bersin & Associates predicted that sector growth was likely to drop to 10.4% globally between 2012 and 2013 compared with 14.7% between 2011 and 2012 – although […]

Do you over-think things? If so, stop it at once…

I looked at my phone and there was a text that said, “Urgent: now what do I do?” Like a lot of people in HR, I do a fair share of career counseling, especially with Gen Y.   This was a call from someone who, to put it mildly, works in a terrible culture with mistreatment […]

Blog: Did Man City’s Mancini display emotional intelligence?

When the chips are down, how often do we hear leaders, whether in sport, politics or business, admit responsibility and shoulder the blame? Not that often.   But, last week, following a defeat away to Ajax (which could be the final nail in the Champions League coffin for money-clad Manchester City), Roberto Mancini, did just […]

Giz a job: The state of the HR recruitment market

There have been encouraging signs of more HR hiring activity during the last couple of months following our golden summer of sport.  HR stakeholders are now back in the office and permanent recruitment is starting to move again, with the flow of new opportunities also on the rise.   Financial and professional services   As […]

Infographic: How staff engagement boosts business performance

Click on the image to view it full size.

Five tips for becoming a successful interim

So you’ve decided to take the plunge and work as an interim. When starting out, the three main elements to consider are: Whether to be self-employed (sole trader) or to form a limited company (personal services company). You are likely to find that most agencies expect you to be the latter and in fact this […]

News: One in 5 UK workers fail to earn Living Wage

A huge one in five UK workers fail to earn a Living Wage, with people in Northern Ireland and Wales particularly badly hit, according to research. A study undertaken by financial information services company, Markit, on behalf of management consultancy, KPMG, revealed that some 4.82 million employees across the country do not receive the £7.20 […]

News: 1/3 of workers fiddle travel expenses to top up pay

Nearly one in three staff regularly top up their monthly pay by fiddling travel expenses, adding extra to taxi fares or claiming for non-business-related trips. According to a survey of 1,000 UK employees undertaken by expense management software provider, Spendvision, about 23% routinely ask for a blank receipt in order to add a few extra […]

Blog: Family-friendly law – The debate continues

Earlier this month we saw a shock announcement from Sheila Lawlor, director of Politeia, stating that paid maternity leave creates a “great burden” for women and has stunted their growth up the career ladder to the boardroom. With current legislation allowing women to take time off following the birth of their children and recent developments […]

Blog: Workforce planning – The answer to train operators’ prayers?

There have been ongoing announcements lately from London Midland trains about substantial cancellations of its train services on the Northampton to Birmingham line.   This is due to a lack of qualified drivers caused by several factors. It takes on average twelve months to train a driver but driver retention is poor due to crippling […]

Legal Insight: Working with the Working Time Regulations

The coalition government has expressed its commitment to “deregulating” employment law.  As part of this approach, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, is specifically targeting European Directives and has pledged the government’s commitment to negotiate UK domestic law out of these obligations.    Her concern is that directives passed down from Europe, which must subsequently be […]