Apprenticeships must provide more value for money, warns NAO
While adult apprenticeships provide a good return on public investment overall, value for money could be significantly improved by upping standards in line with other European countries, the government spending watchdog has advised. The report by the National Audit Office, released only days before the start of National Apprenticeship Week next week, revealed that, while […]
CIPD aims to find new CEO by November
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development is looking for a new permanent chief executive by November to replace current incumbent Jackie Orme, who is ill. Orme, who is on long-term sick leave as she undergoes treatment for cancer, has asked to step aside from her duties. When her health allows and she returns to […]
Trades require more – not less – recognition, says Wolf report contributor
As the government announced today that it would axe vocational subjects ranging from nail technology to horse care from school league tables, one of the contributors to the Wolf report called for greater recognition of traditional trades. More than 3,100 vocational qualifications, which also include fish husbandry and travel and tourism and are currently regarded […]
Tax workers strike over privatisation fears
In something of a reprieve for those workers struggling to file their income tax self assessments online, HM Revenue & Customs offices were closed today due to strikes over fears that its call centres are in the process of being privatised. The Public and Commercial Services Union dislikes plans to trial the use of private […]
Pension reforms will increase public/private sector gap, warns IFS
A think tank has added to comments made by an independent pension analyst last month that the coalition government’s rationale for changing public sector pensions may have a questionable basis. The Institute for Fiscal Studies is scheduled to release a study as part of its annual ‘Green Budget’ tomorrow, in which it claims that proposed […]
Blog: Employee stress equals financial risk
Recognise This! –If employee retention is important enough to list as a substantial risk factor to meeting financial expectations, then it should be important enough to find ways to reduce employee stress. I just read an interesting story in Forbes, which noted that a common phrase included in the risk factors on 10-Q forms for […]
Uncovering the real agenda behind HMRC’s Real Time Information scheme
HM Revenue & Custom’s introduction of a requirement to support Real Time Information within the PAYE system from October 2013 is likely to have a negative impact on businesses across the UK, Straughans tax director Mike Fleming told our sister site, www.AccountingWeb.co.uk. The government department is presenting the PAYE overhaul as a positive move, implemented for […]
Short on rewards – an HR skills crisis
It would be hard to miss the steady growth in demand for reward professionals. Interest in their skills began with a handful of FTSE 100 businesses back in the 1990s, but the job title of ‘compensation and benefits director’ was a rarity at that time. Today, however, there are a lot more reward roles […]
Woolworths union takes advice over collective redundancy laws
Shop workers’ union Usdaw is taking legal advice on whether to challenge the UK’s implementation of EU collective redundancy legislation after thousands of former Woolworths staff were denied compensation because they worked in stores where less than 20 people lost their jobs. The move came following an employment tribunal ruling that Deloitte, which acted as […]
Legal Insight: Is it discriminatory to sack a depressed tweeter?
A story that hit the headlines last week about a tweeter who was apparently sacked for depression has opened up the important issue of disability discrimination for renewed scrutiny. @badlydrawnroy claimed that he opened up to his employer about his personal situation but was dismissed three hours later. The story circulated quickly on Twitter, where […]
Blog: How to embed a learning culture
I guess many companies have survived over many years without what we’ve started to call a Learning Culture, but without doubt it’s going to be a major help. When Kaplan & Norton first published their balanced score card method in the mid 1990’s it was interesting to note their attention to learning: Customer goals, Finance […]
Tribunal fees could put paid to early dispute resolution, warns ACAS
The introduction of employment tribunal fees could make employers less inclined to take early action in resolving disputes with staff as they will just bank on them not being able to afford legal action, ACAS has warned. Andrew Wareing, the mediation service’s chief operating officer, told the Daily Telegraph that such a scenario risked sending […]
Update: RBS chief rejects £1m bonus
Royal Bank of Scotland boss Stephen Hester has hit the headlines again by turning down his controversial £1 million bonus, just as the founder of easyJet tabled a motion to end what he claims is a “gravy train” at the company. According to the BBC, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, whose family still owns 37.5% of the […]
London 2012: Civil servants ordered to work from home during Olympics
Staff across Whitehall will be forced to work from home during the Olympics and Paralympics Games in order to ease the pressure on London’s public transport network. Civil servants will be ordered not to commute to work for up to seven weeks to prevent the public transport network in the capital from becoming over-congested. Operation […]
CIPD and CfA to offer Higher Apprenticeship in HR management
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and CfA are to jointly develop a national Higher Apprenticeship in HR Management, after being awarded nearly £800,000 in financing by the Government. The money will come from the £18.7 million Higher Apprenticeship pot, which was announced by Business Secretary Vince Cable in December last year. The Higher […]
Analysis: Reed loses £158m ‘salary sacrifice’ case
In the latest round of the UK’s most prominent tax grudge match, the Reed Group lost a first tier tribunal appeal against HM Revenue & Customs' decision to revoke an expenses dispensation for its temps after eight years. Faced with a potential tax bill of £158m, the recruitment agency has called for a judicial review of […]
Trends 2012: Rewards
Nearly two thirds of UK private sector organisations plan to change their reward strategy over the year ahead, with almost half saying that the shift will be significant. Our recent study entitled ‘Which way now for reward?’ revealed a number of drivers behind the move, with ‘employee engagement’ and ‘ensuring a clear link to business […]
Blog: Taking a leaf out of marketing’s magic book of metrics
How defined is your brand? “I have always believed that great brands are built on improving the lives of the people they serve; I wanted to prove that maximum profit and high ideals aren’t incompatible but, in fact, inseparable,” said Jim Stengel, former global marketing officer of Proctor & Gamble and author of GROW. […]
Employers adopt ‘wait-and-see’ approach to hiring
Employers are currently adopting an increasingly cautious ‘wait-and-see’ approach to hiring new staff, with the number of graduate vacancies in particular predicted to fall by 1.2%. According to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation’s monthly JobsOutlook, January suffered a marked dip (2%) in the number of employers expecting to take on permanent staff in the short-term, […]
Ask the Expert: Is there a minimum hours requirement for lodging a tribunal claim?
The question I have a part-time employee who works 12 hours per week. He has decided that he does not like his job, does not want to do it anymore and is openly seeking another one. But the worker is being disruptive and is demotivating other team members. He has been with the organisation […]