Cutting the deficit: off-shoring could be the answer
So the 2010 election delivered a hung parliament: whoever eventually fills the power vacuum for good should consider offshoring thousands of civil servant jobs, including HR and finance roles, in order to cut the huge public deficit. This is one of the key recommendations from a policy paper entitled ‘We can cut the deficit: Ten […]
Skills of workers aren’t ‘visible’ claim HR
Only a third of UK HR professionals are very confident that they could redeploy staff as necessary within the business to cope with likely political, economic and business change over the next 12-18 months. Instead too many feel that they do not know what skills and experience are currently available within their workforces, a […]
Public sector pay freezes ‘unsustainable’
A post-election government of any stripe will find it difficult to sustain public sector pay freezes because both private sector wages and inflation rates are now picking up, a study has warned. The report by the Labour Research Department (LRD), an independent research organisation that provides information to trade unions, found that a slight increase […]
Election Live: Expert Panellists
Meet our expert panel who will be commenting on the results of the general election, live tonight on our Cover it Live page here. Phil Orford, chief executive, Forum of Private BusinessForum of Private Business chief executive Phil Orford began his career in sales before starting his own business at the age of 21. Between […]
Homeworking: perfect your policy
Today an estimated 3.5 million UK employees work from home. This typically causes huge challenges, not necessarily for IT departments, but for the HR manager specifically. How do you create trust and good working relationships when part of your workforce never or rarely goes to the office? Freedom Communications tackled these challenges by introducing a […]
Ask the expert: Should redundancy payment include bonus?
Martin Brewer and Esther Smith advise on whether redundancy pay should include a ‘set bonus’ and ‘travel allowance’. The question: Should redundancy payment include bonus? My friend works for a building company and has just been made redundant. He has been offered redundancy pay based on his basic weekly wage. For the past three years […]
Total reward: the holistic approach
Recent research highlighted that 80% of public sector workers have never heard of total reward packages, despite recognition that a holistic approach to health and wellbeing significantly improves staff retention and increases productivity. Public Sector organisations are increasingly expanding their rewards package to their employees, over and above their basic salaries. Do those benefiting from […]
Next government must curb public sector job cuts
A recruitment industry body has warned that an incoming government of whatever stripe must address two immediate priorities – stimulating jobs growth and cutting expenditure without creating a public sector recession by shedding thousands of posts. The warning came as research indicated that the rate at which recruiters filled permanent vacancies slipped last month from […]
Woman who didn’t complain loses discrimination case
A female City executive has lost her sexual discrimination case because she failed to complain about her boss’s behaviour at the time and was not considered a ‘persuasive’ witness. Yesterday Jordan Wimmer lost her claim for £4 million in compensation for sex discrimination and unfair dismissal against her former boss Mark Lowe, the owner of […]
Compare the policies: employment law implications
With the General Election taking place, Lisa Mayhew, employment partner at law firm Jones Day, examines the implications of each of the main parties’ policies on employment law. Having already introduced significant changes to employment law since 1997, the Labour Party has unsurprisingly put forward the fewest proposals. Recognising the pace of recent legislative change, […]
Election fever: follow it live here
In the early hours of 7 May 2010 the final results of one of the closest UK general elections for decades will be revealed. Join HRzone and the other SiftMedia sites for live coverage including instant reaction from a panel of experts plus a feed of the buzz on Twitter – and of course, you […]
Would you ban email in the office?
Everyone hates spam. That much we know. But email has opened the lines of communication making conversations easy across the world. It’s a great invention and we’d never be without it – or would we? You’d never ban email in an office. Email has enabled great things to happen. But it has also, according to […]
Employer branding and total reward
In a volatile business environment, it is important that firms are able to harness the value of a defined employer brand to remain competitive. An employer brand is how an organisation markets what it has to offer to existing and potential employees. An effective employer brand can help ensure that an employer’s workforce is not […]
Back in ash – Ireland closes airports
Employers are counting the cost of the disruption caused by the eruption last month of a volcano in Iceland – just as the continuing ash cloud forced Ireland and parts of Scotland to close their airspace again. The plume of ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano caused travel chaos for a week in April after Europe […]
Pregnant partner sacking ruled fair due to papertrail
A Liverpool-based law firm accused of sacking one of its partners because she was pregnant has been cleared of sexual discrimination. An employment tribunal dismissed all of the allegations against DLA Piper, even though it was described as an ‘old boy’s club’ by Sarah Sweeney. The 36 year-old former real estate partner at the company […]
Managing HR in SMEs
Last year was one of the toughest for businesses with almost 27,000 British companies going bust as a result of the recession, more than in any other economic downturn and although Britain may be on its way out of the recession, 2010 is going to be another difficult year to get through. SME organisations in […]
Energy boosting tips – perform at your best
To keep energised throughout the day it is important to keep your blood sugar balanced with the right healthy snacks and foods. If you are eating refined, sugary foods and snacks this will cause a short burst of energy and then soon afterwards you will feel depleted with a low mood too. Apparently everyone is […]
Seven steps to managing attendance
Managing absence positively and clearly can reduce a sickness rate and decrease disruption and cost absence can cause an organisation. Take seven steps to better absence management. The average employee has seven days off work a year attributed to sickness. This increases to 12 for those in call centres and 10 in local government employment. […]
McFarlane vs Relate: Employees must obey policy
The McFarlane versus Relate case has made it clear that employers are entitled to require staff to conform to equality and diversity policies in relation to both colleagues and those to whom they provide services, no matter what their religious beliefs. The indirect discrimination case in question involved Gary McFarlane, who was dismissed by relationship […]
New L&D degree launched
The University of Chester has got together with the Training Foundation to offer practitioners a Foundation Degree in Learning and Development Practice in a bid to help professionalise the sector. The two-year long part-time degree will be delivered by facilitators from private sector course provider, the Training Foundation (TF), under the supervision of the […]