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 Draft guidance being drawn up by the Minister of Justice and seen by the Guardian appears to indicate that foreign companies […]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 […]
Health and safety spot checks could be reduced: good or bad for business?
The British Safety Council has called for public debate on the implications of proposals by the Health and Safety Executive to reduce unannounced workplace inspections by a third following deep budget cuts. The move follows the leaking of a letter signed by HSE’s chief executive Geoffrey Podger to the BBC’s File on 4 programme on […]
Social media – the new learning diet pill?
With any area of dissatisfaction there’s a natural human desire for the one stop cure – the silver bullet. Take the slimming pill. Now, intellectually and rationally we all know that losing weight is tricky but there’s only one sure way of achieving success – eat less, do more. It’s not a secret which is […]
Recruiters suggest NI holiday to boost job creation
Recruiters have called for a year-long national insurance holiday to support hiring by small businesses in order to tackle rising youth joblessness as the TUC warned of an imminent female employment crisis. The Report on Jobs published by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and management consultancy KPMG revealed that, even though demand for staff […]
Mum mentoring and menopause guidance for women in work
To coincide with International Women’s Day yesterday, Asda unveiled its Mum2Mum maternity leave mentoring scheme, while the TUC also published guidance for employers on how to support female workers going through the menopause. Asda’s Mum2Mum mentoring initiative is targeted at women going on maternity leave to “help counteract the dips in confidence and motivation mothers […]
Police may ‘take to streets’ over cuts
Police officers could take to the streets over proposed “cataclysmic” cuts to their take-home pay, after accusing the coalition government of bullying tactics and “unfair treatment”. The furious reaction followed a government-commissioned review by former rail regulator Tom Winsor, which called for the reduction in or abolition of a series of allowances and overtime payments […]
Redeploying employees – how to develop a successful strategy
Restructuring has been an increasingly necessary tool for HR to help organisations survive in the recession. However the trend is not over: how do you do this effectively? Cameron Bird, HR Operations director at Santander, explains. The challenging economic circumstances that we have experienced in recent times have forced many organisations to re-structure. According to […]
