Nine million will not receive a full state pension
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs has denied trying to shift the blame to employers for a National Insurance blunder that could mean millions of people are not entitled to a full state pension. The entitlement problem came to light after an All Party Parliamentary Taxation Group found that about 9.3 million NI payments made […]
Gray to sue over sexism sacking
Former Sky Sports presenter Andy Gray is set to sue the broadcaster for £3 million in an unfair dismissal lawsuit after losing his job following a sexism row with fellow presenter Richard Keys. The football pundit was sacked on Tuesday after leaked videos showed him making sexist comments and actions. But he has now […]
Networks – the power of informal learning
Francis Marshall looks at the growth of informal networks and the impact these are having on the world of work. With Facebook never far from the news and the film ‘The Social Network’ being such a recent success, we all know the vital role networks play today in bringing people together as well as […]
Paternity leave: A practical guide
The Government has confirmed that the rules concerning “shared” maternity leave will come into force, supplementing a father’s existing right to two weeks paternity leave. The two separate rights are “Paternity Leave” and “Additional Paternity Leave”. Paternity Leave: the entitlement In order to qualify for up to two weeks’ paternity leave, the following must apply: […]
Negative figures raise fears of double dip recession
“Astonishingly poor” economic growth figures for the fourth quarter of 2010 have led to fears of further jumps in unemployment, particularly in the crucial services sector, over the year ahead. According to initial figures from the Office of National Statistics, December’s snowy weather conditions were partly to blame for an unexpected 0.5% contraction in the […]
Tuesday, 10am – stress alert
A huge three quarters of workers regularly come to the end of their tether by 11.16am each day, but Tuesday morning at 10am is when they peak in terms of stress, according to research. A survey undertaken among 3,000 UK employees aged between 18 and 45 by recruitment agency Michael Page, revealed that, after staff […]
Employee engagement – finding the missing link
It is a truth, almost universally acknowledged, that an organisation full of engaged employees will outperform its competitors. Universally acknowledged it might be, but it seems that few organisations are achieving this. This is despite a great deal of effort including compelling vision and mission statements, leadership training, performance management systems and incentive schemes. Russell […]
Ask the expert: AWOL or Sickness?
This time the experts, Esther Smith and Martin Brewer give their advice on dealing with an employee who appears to be AWOL… The question: AWOL or Sickness? A member of staff has been off sick since beginning of October. The last contact was via a "family friend" in mid November which was followed up with […]
HR kidding itself it is strategic business partner
While almost three quarters of HR departments consider themselves to be strategic partners to the business, a huge 85% of their day-to-day activities are actually tactical in nature. A study undertaken by benefits consultancy and outsourced service provider Mercer among organisations in 40 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa revealed that there was […]
Work experience for young NEETs ‘blighting’ Britain
Employment Minister Chris Grayling will unveil a programme aimed at extending work experience opportunities for young people today in a bid to tackle the “blight” of youth unemployment. With unemployment rates among the under 25s now standing at around 20%, the Minister will reveal plans to extend the length of time that young unemployed […]
Training a priority in budgets, say managers
A huge 83% of UK managers expect their training budgets to either remain static or increase over the year ahead, with two thirds saying that they have been unaffected by the difficult economic conditions. Moreover, according to a survey among 96 business decision-makers undertaken by e-learning provider SkillSoft, a massive 95% said that they now […]
Union blasts ‘outrageous’ county council cost-cutting plan
Proposals by Dorset County Council to make thousands of workers take 12 days’ unpaid leave per year as part of plans to save £55 million by 2013/14 have been branded “outrageous” by the union. The unpaid leave, which would be implemented among the local authority’s 6,500 staff in calendar years 2012 and 2013 on top […]
What are you doing to prepare for the agency workers regulations?
This year will see the introduction of the new Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) on 1 October 2011. This new piece of legislation is set to have a significant impact on business and performance. But what are HR professionals doing to prepare themselves and their organisations for this change? This new law means that temporary agency […]
Job Centre Plus call centre on strike
Thousands of call centre workers at Jobcentre Plus are starting a 48-hour strike today in a dispute over “oppressive” working conditions and claims of “excessive monitoring”. Some 3,500 members of the Public and Commercial Services union at seven of the newest Jobcentre Plus call centres in Newport, Glasgow, Bristol, Norwich, Sheffield, Makerfield near Wigan and […]
Youth unemployment hits new high – and set to worsen
As official figures revealed that the number of people out of work had risen to 2.5 million, experts warned that youth and female unemployment was only set to worsen over the months ahead. According to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics, unemployment rose by 49,000 in the three months to November, putting […]
Avoiding Blue Monday
In 1979 Bob Geldof complained that "I don’t like Mondays". So many people agreed with him that he went to the top of the charts. The fourth monday in January is “Blue Monday" and as such should be disliked above all other days because it has been declared the most depressing day of the year […]
Invest in customer service skills, urges survey
As the consumer spending market becomes increasingly fragile, organisations must invest in developing staff customer service skills in order to avoid losing business and suffering the effects of a tarnished reputation. According to a survey among 2,082 UK adults undertaken by YouGov on behalf of training provider Kaplan, some 47% indicated that they had boycotted […]
Addressing skills gaps in project management
Most projects still fail to meet expectations. Eddie Kilkelly examines the extent to which this failure may be due to a lack of individual competence and identifies potential strategies for bridging skills gaps. Even the best planned and resourced projects can be knocked off track by constant technological change, new market entrants, and fluctuations in […]
Legal lowdown: Age discrimination at the BBC
Miriam O'Reilly’s successful age discrimination case against the BBC last week sets a benchmark for age discrimination cases going forward, says employment lawyer Emma Bartlett. The BBC’s public apology and acceptance of the Employment Tribunal’s decision and desire to take Ms O’Reilly back is somewhat exceptional. Taking her back could mitigate the BBC’s potential liability […]
IT and comms falling behind – Unite calls for better training
Unite is calling on employers in the IT and communications sector to improve their training and appraisal practices after research revealed widespread dissatisfaction among staff. A survey of just under 400 personnel working for firms ranging from Accenture and Apple to Capita and Hewlett-Packard undertaken by the union revealed that 62% were not receiving the […]