Employers must tackle poor awareness of pension changes, warns CIPD

More than half of UK workers are unaware that pensions auto-enrolment will start to be phased in next year, with knowledge of the change particularly low among young people. But because awareness of the reforms, which will be rolled out over four years from October 2012, is predominantly linked to age and managerial status, it […]

London Fire Brigade uses e-learning to improve training and cut costs

The vital role the London Fire Brigade plays was brought into sharp focus recently when its 999 control officers answered 2,168 calls in a 24-hour period at the beginning of August and attended over 100 fires during the four-day period of unrest in the capital. Each of these incidents will be fully reported, and learning […]

Book Review: Suddenly in Charge by Roberta Chinsky Matuson

Title: Suddenly in Charge Author: Roberta Chinsky Matuson   It’s been a while since I read a management book from cover to cover.   What I normally do is pick one up, select a chapter and read the elements that I think I will find most useful – I work in the NHS and deliver […]

Blog: Is more home-working the Olympics’ legacy for employers?

‘Olympic legacy’ is a phrase mentioned on a daily basis at present. But what effect will London 2012 have on businesses in the capital? For starters, a meltdown of public transport according to Olympic Games organisers and Transport for London. There’ll be three million more journeys a day including one million more Tube passengers during […]

Legal Insight: How to craft an effective social media policy

The proliferation of social media has blurred the lines between workers’ public and private lives.  As a result, over the last few years, there has been a rise in the number of cases involving employees’ use of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The situation has also been made all the more difficult […]

Birmingham Council to hire out staff using workforce planning tool

Birmingham City Council plans to commercially hire out workers to other local authorities with the help of a newly introduced ‘Talent Net’ workforce planning framework. The framework will also be employed to ensure that the local authority’s skills needs are met in the face of thousands of job cuts by enabling it to identify critical […]

Line managers lack skills for people tasks, fears HR

Although just under two thirds of HR professionals have devolved tactical activities to at least some line managers, three out of five are not convinced that they have the necessary skills and know-how to cope. According to a survey of 139 senior HR managers working in firms with more than 100 employees undertaken by YouGov, […]

Modern Workplaces consultation: the view from payroll

Back in May, the government launched a four part consultation on Modern Workplaces to explore the pros and cons of four key regulatory proposals. These proposals comprised: the introduction of a system of flexible parental leave a right for all employees to request flexible working changes to the Working Time Regulations affecting the interaction of […]

Blog: Fancy contributing to a book on corporate politics, anyone?

We’re working on a new book, which we are planning to launch later this year, on the subject of corporate politics, hidden agendas and manipulation in business. It’s a thorny topic, we know, and we believe that HR professionals are best placed to observe and comment on these activities. In the book, we cover three important […]

Career visioning as an antidote to corporate rioting

There are very few people who would give those involved in this month’s rioting the time of day, let alone the chance to explain why they sought to bring disruption, violence and chaos to the streets of the UK. But as anyone working in HR will know, communication, whatever the circumstances, is always critical. So […]

Goldman Sachs takes away bankers’ two-year old pay rise

Goldman Sachs is taking the unusual step of cutting the salaries of hundreds of its London bankers by invoking a contractual clause to phase out former pay increases by the end of the year. The move follows a previous announcement by the New York-based investment bank’s that it plans to cut about 1,000 staff across […]

Tate trustees take action to stop bullying

Complaints of bullying by managers has led the Tate galleries to issue a directive pointing out that staff have a right to work in a safe place “free from harassment or discrimination of any kind”. According to the Independent, the problem was considered so serious that the organisation’s trustees, who are appointed by the Prime […]

Digital and social media specialists’ wages soar 70% in three years

Senior digital and social media specialists have seen an explosion in pay over the last three years as companies increasingly divert marketing budgets to online campaigns. Wages have soared by almost 70% over the last three years, according to recruitment company, ReThink Recruitment. ‘Head of Search’ jobs, responsible for managing a company’s Search Engine Optimisation […]

Ask the Expert: Can I reject candidates due to their visa status?

The Question I’ve had applications for full-time permanent positions from applicants who are on a Post Study Work (PSW) Visa and so only eligible to work for two years before they would have to change status.    I’m assuming that there is no guarantee that new visas would be granted, so is this a valid […]

SuccessFactors to expand beyond traditional HCM base

"In good companies, CEOs recognise the power of the people they have and the power that HR can bring to the table. If the CEO doesn’t respect what HR can bring to the table and sees it as a transactional function, well, we can try to bridge the gap. We try to ‘up-level’ HR to […]

Blog: Apple loses Jobs – so what does it mean for the people?

When one of the world’s most celebrated business leaders announces plans to make a move, the focus is all too often on shares and customer impact, but little is mentioned about the impact it will have on the people within the organisation. When Steve Jobs announced he is standing down as chief executive at Apple, […]

‘Take pay cut and unpaid leave or lose your job’, council workers warned

Thousands of council workers could be forced to take a pay cut, a reduction in sickness benefit and a week’s unpaid leave as part of radical plans in Rochdale to minimise job losses. The changes to the pay and conditions of the local authority’s 7,000 town hall workers are part of an attempt to slash […]

Update: Health unions plan first ever NHS-wide strike

Health service unions are planning to launch a series of targeted, rolling strikes this autumn rather than a mass walkout if pension negotiations with the coalition government fail as expected. The news came to light after Unison, which represents 460,000 NHS workers, hosted a meeting with other unions in London on Wednesday, in order to […]

Blog: Workplace relationships – just like in personal life, you want a good match

“You were too aggressive and I do not like aggressive.” My wife and I laughed so hard that I almost had to pull over on the side of the road with laughter. On Friday, my wife Janetta and I celebrated 39 years of marriage.   The line above was referring to when we first met […]

Demand for temporary and migrant labour is on the up

Demand for both temporary and migrant workers is on the up as employers focus on maintaining flexibility and filling skills gaps during the uncertain economic times ahead. According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s latest JobsOutlook survey of 600 employers, 83% expect that their use of agency workers will either increase or stay the same […]