Breast cancer – what can employers do to help?
John Picken, Director of the health and wellbeing consultancy Shandwell, reviews the latest research on breast cancer and the implications for employers. It’s a startling statistic, but according to Cancer Research UK (CRUK) one woman in eight will get breast cancer. The risk increases with age yet this is not a condition that just affects […]
Ask the expert: Disability discrimination questions
This time the experts, Esther Smith and Adam Partington advise on asking questions regarding health on an application form. The question: Disability discrimination questions… Would we be in contravention of the DDA by asking applicants the following question on an application form? "Do you consider yourself to have a disability?Yes/No Please state the type of […]
FTSE 100 need to diversify boardrooms or face quotas
A government inquiry is expected to recommend that FTSE 100 companies be given two years to radically increase the number of women in boardrooms or face the imposition of quotas. The review by Lord Davies of Abersoch, ex-trade minister and former chairman of bank Standard Chartered, is likely to reject the immediate introduction of statutory […]
Redundancies ahead as cuts bite
The first three months of 2011 will be “a quarter of reckoning” for the jobs market, with the number of redundancies across the economy set to rise “sharply” as coalition government cuts start to bite. According to this quarter’s Labour Market Outlook from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and management consultancy KPMG, the […]
Love in the office – heartbreak for HR
A stolen kiss in the stationery cupboard is one thing, but when love blooms in the office it can turn into heartbreak for HR managers, explains Adrian Martin, Partner at Burges Salmon LLP. If members of staff develop a personal relationship, there is a risk of conflict of interest and potential for discrimination and […]
Employers face fines over inappropriate background checks
Employers that repeatedly make inappropriate or even unlawful background checks on staff will in future face fines of up to £500,000 as part of the coalition government’s revamp of the controversial Vetting and Barring Scheme. The proposals are contained in the Protection of Freedoms Bill, which is due to be published today, and would see […]
Chris Last appointed head of Government HR Operations
The implementation of a single civil service HR policy across all Whitehall agencies has moved a step closer following the appointment of the first head of Government HR Operations. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s in-house publication People Management, Chris Last, HR director general of the Department for Work and Pensions, has […]
Company revises Facebook policies after firing employee
A US company that fired an employee after she criticised her boss on Facebook has agreed to revamp its policies to ensure they do not restrict workers’ rights. Ambulance service American Medical Response of Connecticut reached a private settlement with employee Dawnmaire Souza, after the US National Labor Relations Board, a US federal agency that […]
Oakeshott resigns over coalition bonus cave-in
The Liberal Democrats’ Treasury spokesman in the House of Lords resigned last night in protest at what he saw as a cave-in by the coalition government on a deal over bankers’ salaries and bonuses. Lord Oakeshott, who was a City fund manager for 35 years and advised Business Secretary Vince Cable when the Lib Dems […]
Align social media strategy with business objectives
Employers need to approach the development of a social media policy in an organised and planned fashion and ensure that it is consistent with the organisation’s mission, strategy and values, Gartner has advised. Social media provides “tempting opportunities” to interact more effectively with employees, customers, prospects, business partners and other anonymous users, but also “disrupts […]
Defining resilience: what we can learn from resilient role models?
Resilience is becoming a common word in the HR community and an increasingly important and desirable quality for employees. In this article, we look at what resilience really means for individuals, the key components that make up resilience and explain why it’s important to learn from our resilient role models. Why is resilience important?Resilience is […]
Forcing retirement after the DRA? A high hurdle…
The recent announcement by the Government that the default retirement age (DRA) will, as expected, be abolished with effect from 1 October has been welcomed by age campaigners. It does not, however, necessarily spell the end of forced retirement and employers groups, including the CBI, have pointed out. The proposed abolition of the DRA in […]
Catching stars – talent management and technology
Talent management is a thorny issue which touches everything from recruitment, to retention, through to succession planning. Many are utilising technology to help them plan for and manage their talent needs, but what difference can it make to HR? 1 What are the main challenges you find HR is facing today?As companies begin to emerge […]
January figures good but unemployment to remain high
The CBI has warned that unemployment will remain “stubbornly high” over the next two years, as new figures revealed that hiring in January grew at the fastest rate for six months. The employers’ lobby group predicted that the number of people out of work would jump from 7.9% last year to peak at 8.4% or […]
John Lewis ‘bottom slapping’ case thrown out
A male John Lewis shop assistant has had his sexual discrimination claim thrown out after an employment tribunal ruled that there was no “culture of bullying” at the retailer’s flagship Oxford Street store. Konstantinos Kalomoiris sued John Lewis following claims that management did not take his complaints of sexual harassment by a female colleague seriously. […]
Mind the skills gap – HRzone at TRULondon
HRzone will be at TRULondon 3 – unconference time is here again! Bill Boorman, connector, community builder and TRU events organiser is back with TRULondon 3. This version is bigger than ever and the event is still growing. More than just a recruitment event, and different from a conference, the event has pre-announced ‘tracks’ which […]
Vox pops from Learning Technologies 2011 – Day 1
Last week HRZone joined TrainingZone at the Learning Technologies event at Olympia. We asked attendees: What changes would YOU like to see in L&D in 2011?
Half of bankers set to leave over 2011 bonus
With half of frontline banking staff threatening to leave if next year’s bonus again fails to meet their expectations, financial services organisations may need to find new ways of retaining top talent. According to a survey of more than 1,000 banking personnel undertaken by recruitment consultancy Hays Financial Markets, almost two thirds said they were […]
Jobs for skilled workers should be cut by 1/3
The number of occupations available to skilled workers coming to the UK from outside the EU should be cut by more than a third, a government-appointed panel has recommended. The Migration Advisory Committee proposed that the list of eligible jobs should be reduced to 121 from 192, which would result in the exclusion of hairdressers, […]
Reward management – where do we go from here?
Whether you are considering overhauling your reward structure or not, it’s clear that reward has changed. Could your remuneration strategy be more effective? Denis Crowe gives some tips. How far is the culture of bonuses in banks to blame for the financial crisis? Vince Cable has gone on the record to say that: “there is […]