Unpaid internships land Lib Dems in hot water
The contentious issue of internships has erupted again after it emerged that one in three posts on a government jobsite was unsalaried and the Liberal Democrats were advertising for unpaid work experience online. The revelations follow a political row last month after Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg criticised unwaged internships, saying that workers should be […]
Ask the expert: Do we have to pay sleeping workers?
This week the experts, Adam Partington and Esther Smith advise on whether the pay-to hours ratio on this sleep shift is correct and legal. The question: Paying the sleeping shift Currently staff work a shift of 7pm to 7am. They work (awake) from 7pm to 11pm and then can sleep from 11pm to […]
Communicating with your employees – don’t be anti-social!
Employee engagement should be high on business leaders’ agenda, especially given the economic uncertainty of recent years. This has been particularly challenging with a number of companies being unable to offer their staff a pay increase to maintain levels of engagement. However, an attractive employee benefits scheme can be a cost-effective alternative to a pay […]
‘Our Chezza’ style sacking could land you in court, warn lawyers
Cheryl Cole’s reported sacking from the US version of X Factor due to Americans’ failure to understand Geordie has led a UK law firm to warn employers that discriminating against individuals with regional accents could get them sued. The Girls Aloud star is believed to have been sacked ahead of the show’s launch in the […]
Low skilled immigrant workers have doubled
Official figures revealing that the number of foreign-born workers filling low skill jobs has doubled in nine years has reignited the debate over immigration and whether welfare reform is enough to encourage UK citizens to take poorly paid jobs. The Office for National Statistics indicated that nearly 20% of low skilled posts, the equivalent of […]
Online tools make employees ruder and less productive
Always-on access to technology ranging from email to social networks is not only making employees less productive, it is also making them ruder, a study has claimed. According to a survey among 500 firms undertaken by online market researcher uSamp on behalf of collaboration software provider harmon.ie, a huge three out of five interruptions to […]
Case in point: Treating maternity leavers too favourably
Caught between a rock and a hard place: too favourable a treatment of employees on maternity leave during a redundancy process can lead to discrimination issues. The Employment Appeal Tribunal decision in Eversheds Legal Services Limited v Mr J De Belin has highlighted the difficulties facing employers who, in a bid to avoid discriminating against […]
Discrimination multi-faceted, reveals report
Three quarters of staff who have experienced discrimination believe their treatment is not just down to one factor such as gender but to a range of identity-related issues, a study has found. The research, which was published to coincide with the launch of The Inclusive Employers Foundation, revealed that the most commonly cited reasons for […]
The promotion card – why your top performers are not always the best candidates
Cris Beswick on why your top performers are not always those you want to promote. Really? Read on and find out… In my experiences of working with businesses, stimulating fresh thinking and new answers comes from diverse viewpoints and perspectives. I encourage businesses to actively seek out and recruit people who offer something different […]
Classroom based learning still favoured
In spite of a wealth of technology-based learning and development tools being adopted, classroom-based learning remains the most popular training format. According to a survey undertaken among 2,500 employees at companies in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain by learning and development provider Cegos Group, nine out of 10 still receive training in a […]
Business unprepared for bribery act
Too many UK employers are still unaware of and unprepared for the changes to business policies and procedures required when the Bribery Act comes into force on 1 July, a law firm has warned. According to a survey undertaken among directors and senior managers at 120 companies with annual turnover of more than £100 million […]
Payroll giving encouraged in ‘Big Society’ re-launch
The coalition government has unveiled a year-long awareness campaign to encourage employers to support payroll giving among their staff as part of the latest re-launch of its ‘Big Society’ concept. At an Every Business Commits Forum event in Milton Keynes yesterday, Prime Minister David Cameron said that the aim was to make it easier for […]
Under 30s feel exploited and disengaged
The under-30s are the most disengaged age group in the workforce, feeling forced to do jobs they are not interested in as a result of the current economic climate as well as put upon by exploitative employers. According to a survey among 30,556 adults in 29 countries undertaken by market research firm GfK Custom Research, […]
Agility – fit for purpose
Many people believe that ‘agility’ is about reacting quickly. Not so! We can actually look to athletes to learn about agility. A high-jumper is agile in that they are able, at precisely the right time, to produce an explosion of energy toleap over a bar. However, faced with a marathon, they would fail. Likewise, the […]
Prime Minister’s advisor attacks work ethic of UK managers
An Indian steel tycoon and key advisor to the Prime Minister has attacked the work ethic of UK managers, accusing them of failing to ‘go the extra mile’ and being too keen to clock off at 5pm. Ratan Tata, who is a member of David Cameron’s Business Advisory Group and co-chairman of the UK-India CEO […]
Appeal for HR panel to oversee ‘gagging orders’ at Suffolk County Council
The leader of the Liberal Democrats at Suffolk County Council has called for the creation of an HR panel to oversee the payment of ‘gagging orders’ following huge increases in expenditure to silence disgruntled staff. Councillor Kathy Pollard told the Bury Free Press that she was concerned but not surprised after it emerged that secret […]
SuccessConnect: IT ying to the HR yang
If the world had been a different place, Doug Dennerline might never have been at SuccessFactors – he was certainly reluctant at first even to meet up with the firm's larger than life CEO Lars Dalgaard thanks to an earlier career move. “I had a small stint at Salesforce.com,” explains Dennerline. “I had been eleven […]
SuccessConnect: all you need is love – and some investment in customer support
Lars Dalgaard's got a lot of heart – and he wants you to know it. The ebullient Danish CEO of SuccessFactors has clearly ideas about how he wants to run his business and work with his customers and it's all about the heart – to the extent that he's insisted that – Eurovision-like – a […]
Air tax increase could cost 77, 000 jobs
Coalition government plans to increase air passenger tax would blow a £475 million hole in the UK’s £115 billion-a-year tourist trade and cost up to 77,000 jobs, a report has warned. The study commissioned by budget airline easyJet predicted that proposed changes to Air Passenger Duty rules would lead to an estimated drop of […]
Development focus welcomed by employees
In a happy marrying of priorities, three quarters of employees would be keen to undertake more on-the-job training, while four out of five HR professionals are making staff development a key focus this year. A three-year research project commissioned by Middlesex University’s Institute for Work Based Learning among an average 4,300 workers per annum […]
