News: Big brand retailers urged to employ ex-offenders
The Justice Secretary plans to call on big brand high street retailers later this month to try and encourage them to recruit former prisoners in a bid to cut reoffending rates. The move comes on top of the coalition government’s decision in March to make former prisoners join its Work Programme immediately on their […]
News: Employers join with working mums to slam proposed maternity leave cuts
Employers and working mums have joined together in slamming coalition government proposals to cut default maternity leave from 26 to 18 weeks in order to share the remaining entitlement between both partners. Legislative changes to maternity and paternity leave, which are expected to be announced in the Queen’s Speech on Wednesday 9 May, were greeted […]
News: Boots’ move to slash Sunday pay unlawful, rules tribunal
A move by Boots to slash workers’ Sunday pay has been ruled unlawful by an employment tribunal and could see it having to pay out thousands of pounds in compensation. The retailer cut its Sunday pay rate for employees that were taken on before October 2000 from double time to time-and-a-half last June. The […]
Ask the Expert: What is the legal status of union-appointed safety reps?
The question Under The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 and The Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996, only trades unions can appoint safety representatives – they can do this whether the employer wishes them to or not and indeed they can appoint as many safety representatives as they want. These […]
Blog: Can you tell your performance measurement from your performance management?
Performance Management is an Art! If you want to be cutting edge you need to measure your results and performance manage your team. Getting the best out your people can sometimes be a stressful business. In my many years of managing and subsequently as an HR professional, one of the biggest barriers to great […]
Blog: What HR can learn from alien abductions
As an Investors In People assessor, I frequently ask staff what would happen if they were abducted by aliens tomorrow. Not because I’m interested in probes and things (although I’m sure that would be quite fascinating.) What I’m interested in is whether staff would be conspicuous by their absence. Would critical work not get […]
Legal Insight: The pros and cons of the employee share ownership model
On the last day of April, the government agency that administers the pensions of 1.5 million former and current civil servants became the first ‘mutual’ organisation in Whitehall. MyCSP Ltd will take over the operation of the state-run pension scheme, but will also be able to expand and bid for new business under the shared-ownership […]
News: Budget cuts see public servants improvise to get training
Public sector workers are being forced to turn to colleagues and the web to boost the skills that they require to take on new responsibilities, after budget cuts have led to workplace training provision being slashed. According to a survey among 1,100 UK public sector workers undertaken by recruitment consultancy, Badenoch & Clark, about 14.5% are […]
News: Whitehall contractor status crackdown mauled for ‘missing the point’
Plans outlined by the chief secretary to the Treasury to crack down on 2,000 senior civil servants who are being paid as if they were contractors rather than staff have been criticised by industry experts. The coalition government started to investigate the issue, which has been branded in some quarters as tax evasion, in February […]
Blog: Why you should beware of video CVs
Following attendance at a recent recruitment industry event, it seems that the idea of using video CVs as a recruitment tool may be coming back into ‘vogue’ – certainly if the number of companies extolling the benefits and trying to sell their systems and software to me are anything to go by. I first encountered video CVs as a concept […]
Blog: What makes a good mayor?
Today, as votes are being cast in London to elect the city’s mayor, and a further 10 English cities vote on whether they wish to have a mayor at all, it’s a good time to contemplate the value and role of a leader and what lessons our business leaders can take from this week’s mayoral elections. […]
How to manage a mixed age workforce
Two years ago, the number of people who were over 65 outstripped those who were under 16 for the first time. Moreover, the abolition of the Default Retirement Age now means that older workers are likely to stay in the workplace for longer – either through choice or economic necessity. Meanwhile, Generation Y-ers […]
Legal Insight: Health matters part 3 – Tackling presenteeism
‘Presenteeism’ can have many meanings. On the one hand, the term can refer to employees who feel that they need to be at the office for longer than everyone else in order to show the boss how dedicated they are. On the other, it can apply to staff members who turn up for work […]
TV Review: The Apprentice Week 7 – Know, and listen to, your team
This programme contained plastic bugs, beard trimmers and extreme overuse of the word ‘strategy’. The tans we saw were definitely fake, but the people were all real, although most of the task was set up purely for Lord Sugar’s entertainment. Week 7 of ‘The Apprentice’ and the remaining ten hopefuls met Lord Sugar at […]
News: ‘Dress down Friday’ becomes the new norm for workplace attire
It appears that workplace dress codes are starting to become casual, with ‘dress down Fridays’ becoming the new norm – all week. According to a survey undertaken among 2,000 UK adults by researcher Canadean Consumer, it is no longer just workers in the creative and media industries who are wearing more informal attire for work […]
Legal Insight: Age discrimination – What you can and can’t do
The abolition of the default retirement age in 2011 has meant that age discrimination has now become a major issue for many employers. The good news is that, unlike other grounds for discrimination, both direct and indirect age discrimination can be objectively justified. The bad news is that there has, to date, been very little […]
Blog: The value in encouraging staff to raise their public profile
Encouraging your key employees to actively take steps to manage and raise their profile in the world at large can only be good. It is good for them in that it raises their own confidence, supports their long term career plans and is the perfect acknowledgment of the hard word and effort they have put […]
Blog: How to hold on to good employees – Part 3
You now know the reasons why employees leave your company, and last week I described two of the five top strategies that will help you keep them: creating and maintaining an attractive and nourishing working environment, and developing effective employee relationship strategies. To complete the picture, here are strategies 3, 4 and 5: 3. Employee […]
Six steps for succession planning success
The identification and development of future management candidates – otherwise known as succession planning or talent management – was recently identified as one of the top three immediate HR issues that needed to be dealt with (Bersin and Associates, 2011). Over 50% of the employers surveyed struggled to fill key positions and believed that their […]
Talking Point: Would you want to live in an ‘anywhere working’ city?
A study last year by the TUC found that employees in the UK spend almost 200 hours a year travelling to and from work. While an average of approximately four hours a week may not sound like a huge amount, it is the equivalent of around five weeks extra work per year. I remember […]