Concern at only 3.7% of UK SET workforce skilled to technician level

The Skills Commission has launched a parliamentary inquiry to explore how the UK can catch up with the rest of Europe by boosting the availability of technician-level skills in the manufacturing and engineering industries.  The UK, which has only 3.7% of its workforce trained up to technician level*, lags behind the rest of the EU, […]

Budget ‘must tackle unemployment’

Employer bodies have called on the coalition government to focus on delivering a “meaningful Budget for jobs” next week in order to tackle steadily rising unemployment, which is now at a 17 year high.  UK unemployment increased by 27,000 in the three months to the end of January, hitting 2.53 million or 8%, the highest […]

Businesses relying on temps

The nature of the UK labour market is changing as a result of the ongoing difficult economic circumstances, with the use of temps and those working in “unsustainable, unconventional” ways on the increase.  According to research from temp recruitment agency de Poel, the number of temporary staff hired by employers increased by 65% last month […]

HR: prepare for pensions tax legislation now

HR managers need to be aware of new legislation affecting pension contributions which is coming into force in April this year.    At the moment if someone’s total earnings for the current and previous two tax years is less than £130k per annum, then an individual or company can  make pension contributions of up to […]

Prepare for childcare tax changes

How is your organisation going to be affected by changes to the tax system in regards to childcare? Expert Rebecca Benneyworth gives her advice. Employers operating childcare voucher and similar schemes will have their work cut out after 5 April if new employees join the scheme. Changes brought forward to reduce the cost of the […]

Budget blag: Pubs want beer duty frozen to ‘protect jobs’

A pub association has called on the coalition government to protect nearly a million jobs in an industry worth more than £21 billion by freezing beer duty in next week’s Budget.  A study by economic forecasting consultancy Oxford Economics, commissioned by the British Beer & Pub Association, pointed to the “vital role” the sector played, […]

Government plans to drop maternity for SMEs and weaken bribery act revealed

Controversial proposals by the coalition government to exempt some foreign companies from prosecution under the Bribery Act and drop maternity and paternity regulations for small businesses could bring it into conflict with other administrations.  Draft guidance being drawn up by the Minister of Justice and seen by the Guardian appears to indicate that foreign companies […]

Asda launches leadership programme

Asda is about to introduce a company-wide leadership programme just as a study revealed that one in four managers have in the past knowingly breached professional conduct guidelines at work.  The supermarket chain intends to provide management training to 10,000 bosses across the UK under the auspices of its Asda Leadership Event developed in conjunction […]

Public sector pay should be linked to performance

Senior public sector managers’ pay should be performance-related but not subject to a cap at 20 times the salary of their lowest paid staff, an independent review has proposed.  The government-commissioned Fair Pay Review, led by Work Foundation head Will Hutton, the final version of which is published today, U-turned on initial recommendations made in […]

Book review: The Art of Action by Stephen Bungay

Once upon a time an entrepreneur was presenting a product to a large player in the software field… After the meeting, one of the key heads from the vendor company approached the hopeful, and said: “All year long people come in here and say what they are going to do. You and your team have […]

The return of the thank you event

During the depths of the recession many companies either cancelled all staff events, rewards and incentives or conducted them in secret. Those which ran incentive travel programmes were forced, by those who deemed such spending was “inappropriate” during a recession, to deliver vouchers or tickets, unbranded, to their staff’s home addresses. End of year thank […]

Wellbeing: become more resilient

Do you feel under pressure to deliver at work? You could do with a spot of resilience training. Mark Walsh will help you out in this area. I help people build their personal resilience and stay sane in difficult environments – in both the high-pressure business world and in areas of more obvious conflict globally. […]

Ask the expert: HR reviews – do we need to consult?

This time the experts, Esther Smith and Adam Partington advise on whether a consultation period is required before an HR review. The question: HR reviews – do we need to consult? We are an organisation that has grown quite organically. It started with one staff member in 2002 and we now have eight currently employed […]

Bizarre CVs: For a reference, contact God

CVs that cited God as a reference (no phone number) and had ‘Master of Time and Universe’ listed under the experience section were among the most bizarre CVs to hit recruiters’ desks last year.  The US topped the poll for the most unusual resumes with a candidate claiming to be a direct descendent of the […]

Eight jobs removed from ‘skills shortage’ list

Senior care workers and migrant chefs from outside of the EU seeking employment in any restaurant that provides a takeaway service are among eight occupations to be banned from working in the UK.  The coalition government plans to put the restrictions in place as part of a package of anti-immigration measures intended to cut the […]

Event: You can get agile – survive and thrive

At an upcoming executive forum hosted by Pilat HR Solutions in association with HRzone, we will explore what HR can do differently to ensure ‘agility’ in their organisations. HR Zone readers are welcome to attend this free event by registering their interest here http://www.pilat.com/forum Since the earliest academic research on how best to manage organisations […]

Union fury at public sector pension plans

Unions were gearing up yesterday for a summer of discontent in protest at sweeping changes to public sector pensions proposed in Lord Hutton’s much anticipated report.  The Independent Public Service Pension Commission’s final report recommended that pensions no longer be linked to final salaries but instead be tied to average career earnings in a move […]

Sickness insurance could replace sick pay from employers

Employers could be required to take out income protection insurance for their staff rather than provide statutory sick pay in a bid to cut a sickness absence bill that currently costs them £8 billion a year.  This is a leading proposal before Lord Freud, the coalition government’s welfare reform minister, and is one of several […]

Event: Reward management in financial services – where do we go from here?

An upcoming financial services breakfast briefing hosted by Curo Compensation in association with HRzone.co.uk will explore the priorities and challenges for those impacted by the expansion of the FSA code on their reward strategy in 2011 and provide a networking opportunity for reward professionals in this sphere. HRzone readers are invited to attend this event […]

HR can do complicance but struggles with strategy, says survey

Although HR professionals are performing well in dealing with tactical statutory compliance issues, they are failing miserably in more strategic areas such as mapping and managing staff competencies.  These are the key findings of a survey among HR directors and board members in 53 organisations across Europe undertaken by HR services provider Aon Hewitt. The […]