Unleash your strengths with Marcus Buckingham
Help yourself and your employees think about your strengths rather than focus on your weaknesses with these mind-opening tests from Marcus Buckingham. These exercises are simple ones which you can do yourself and send to others as the first steps in understanding and developing your strengths. Who’s on your board? Draw an oval on a […]
Is there really time to train?
Christopher Fisher examines the scope and impact of the recently introduced right to request time off for training. On 6 April 2010, new regulations came into force giving employees the right to request time off for training. Currently, the right applies only to businesses with 250 or more employees, but from April 2011, it […]
Ask the expert: Pregnant again while on maternity leave?
The experts, Adam Partington and Esther Smith advise on how to handle successive pregnancies which seemingly overlap… The question: Pregnant again while on maternity leave? If an employee becomes pregnant again while on maternity leave, does she have to be put back on full pay during her pregnancy (her job is one that cannot […]
Cuts cause ‘bullying tactics’ accusations from unions
Unions have condemned Birmingham City Council’s “bullying” tactics after warnings that new contracts imposing cuts in pay and conditions on nearly 26,000 staff were to be introduced as part of a bid to save more than £330 million by 2014. Stephen Hughes, chief executive of the country’s largest local authority, has sent legal notices to […]
NHS introduces official whistleblowing policy
An official national ‘whistleblowing’ policy has been agreed by the NHS Staff Council and is to be brought in locally by all health service employers in cooperation with staff representatives. The policy will be included in the NHS terms and conditions of service handbook and means that all personnel working in the health service now […]
NI holiday not enough to avoid double dip
A coalition government scheme to provide a national insurance ‘holiday’ for start-ups does not go far enough and must be accompanied by further tax breaks if small businesses are to spearhead economic recovery, an employers’ body has warned. The government is hoping that job creation by the private sector will counterbalance job cuts of an […]
The pension journey: auto-enrolment is just the beginning
Auto-enrolment is a powerful remedy for employers struggling to sign up employees to their pension schemes, but it should only be the start of the relationship, according to speakers at AXA’s first Future of Workplace Savings roadshow. Pension decision-makers from leading employers were given tips from the experts on how to deal with the enrolment […]
Solving the talent puzzle: identifying the talent of tomorrow
How to spot potential leaders of tomorrow? Try our guide and discover the people who will shape your organisation’s future. Identifying talent is like completing the tough Suduko puzzle in the paper; we’ve all had a go; thought we had a chance but few of us ever get near cracking it. Performance indicators, appraisals […]
Scalable resources future of outsourcing
While just over half of European organisations expect to outsource more IT services in 2010, the focus now is on getting more for their money and gaining access to flexible and scalable resources rather than simply cost-cutting. The release of the study undertaken by researchers Gartner coincided with an economic policy speech from President Barack […]
Voluntary benefits– knight in shining armour or plaster over a sore?
Offering a voluntary benefits (VB) programme to employees can be an inexpensive, quick and effective addition to an organisation’s benefits scheme. VBs provide a practical way for employees to stretch their often frozen net pay at little or no cost to the employer, since they are paid for by the employee, often through the payroll. […]
Up to 14 years to recover from lost public sector jobs
The UK risks sliding into a double-dip recession before the end of the year as business leaders resolve to slash recruitment and rein in expenditure in response to the coalition government’s proposed austerity measures. But even if private sector employment growth continues at the last decade’s average of 0.7%, it is expected to take 14 […]
Union calls for civil disobedience to beat cuts
The Trades Union Congress is expected to overwhelmingly back a composite motion today to ‘support and co-ordinate campaigning and joint industrial action’ at a national and local level in response to proposed public sector budget cuts. Union leaders warned the Financial Times that public sector pensions are shaping up to be the most “combustible” issue, […]
Sexual harrassment at work widespread and unreported
While almost one in ten women feel sexually harassed at work, just under half report the situation to HR or managers over fears that their career will be affected or they will not be taken seriously. The most common complaint, cited by one fifth of female workers, was being subject to sexist comments from male […]
US and European brain drain on horizon
Companies in China, Taiwan and India are leading the world in their desire to expand their workforces, but with employers across the US and Europe remaining reluctant to do so, the situation raises the unpleasant prospect of a brain drain. According to the ‘Employment Outlook Report’, which is based on a survey of 61,000 companies […]
Employment law takeaways for September
Employment law takeaways: our bitesize legal updates for busy HR professionals, provided by Ann Bevitt of Morrison and Foerster. This month, equality, incapability and disability discrimination. 1. Community Dental Centres Ltd v Sultan-Darmon – Unfettered right of substitution fatal to worker status2. Aylott v Stockton on Tees borough Council – Identifying the proper comparator in […]
Uncertainty taking toll on morale
Four out of five senior managers believe that the current unsettled economic outlook is more difficult to deal with than outright recession, not least because they are finding it increasingly difficult to win staff buy-in for difficult decisions. Just under half acknowledged that employees now had a jaundiced view of the sincerity of the leadership […]
Dying for work – over 20,000 every year, claims TUC
More than 20,000 UK staff are killed prematurely through their work each year, while 1.2 million are suffering from work-related illnesses ranging from musculoskeletal disorders such as back pain to mental health problems such as depression. These are the findings of research undertaken by union umbrella organisation the TUC, which revealed that the equivalent of […]
Employees win over lack of redundancy consultation
About 60 workers made redundant in January after their employer went into liquidation have been awarded 90 days’ back pay due to inadequate consultation over the situation. Electrical contractors J&G Engineering had debts of around £2.3 million when it went into liquidation just after Christmas. But Unite brought a case against it because staff were […]
SMEs recognise value of social media
While just over half of small-to-medium businesses regularly use social media in their day-today activities, the number jumps to four out of five among engineering and technical firms. According to a survey of 269 companies undertaken by Darryl Willcox Publishing, some 35% of SMBs updated social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter on […]
Ask the expert: Is this redundancy fair?
This week the experts, Martin Brewer and Esther Smith, advise on whether this redundancy selection is fair. The question: Is this redundancy fair? The shop floor team consists of five employees working 42 hours per week (full time), three employees working 35 hours per week (part time) and six employees working a variety of […]