Facebook dismissals: Misuse of IT in the workplace
Nick Hobden and Ben Stepney discuss some steps that can be taken to prevent misuse of IT in the workplace, focusing on social networking sites, blogs and the regulation of workers use of the internet. In February, a 16-year-old from Essex was dismissed three weeks into her job after she described it as "boring" on […]
HR tip: Reporting sexual harassment
These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications. Question: "I have been told that a couple of women in my section are being sexually harassed but are reluctant to report the matter to me, a male, as I will not take […]
Ask the expert: Employee given a prison sentence
An employee has been given a custodial sentence. Esther Smith and Martin Brewer advise on whether the employer should deal with this as a frustration of contract or not. The question: One of our employees has just been given a six-month custodial sentence. I am wondering how to deal with his employment. I see that […]
Tomorrow’s workforce: Right people, right place, right skills?
The constant changing nature of today’s workforce presents many challenges for HR. Paul Lambert explains why effective workforce planning can give organisations a strategic advantage in a knowledge-based economy. The changing workforce – a business challenge for HR A skilled workforce is the key ingredient in delivering high quality services and great products for […]
Views on HR news: Metrics and measures
Jon Ingham trawls the net to provide his round-up of the great and the good of HR thought and opinion found on the web, so you don’t have to. This week, he discusses his continuing interest in HR metrics. My interest in metrics was raised through a couple of posts on this month’s HR […]
Take part in the Customer Experience State of the Nation survey
HRzone.co.uk’s sister site, MyCustomer.com, has teamed up with ClickTools to present the2009 Customer Experience State of the Nation survey, an annual poll that identifies the current issues and key trends in customer experience across a range of industries. To make this the most comprehensive survey ever, MyCustomer.com wants to hear your thoughts on what improvements your […]
Case study: Handling large-scale redundancies
Countless organisations have had to make job cuts in the last few months, making HR’s job a particularly tough one. Nick Golding talks to Buckinghamshire County Council to find out how they are handling their large-scale redundancy process. Back in January this year, the 14,000-strong workforce at Buckinghamshire County Council was confronted with the news […]
HCM: Using analytics to help organisations fight back
Peter Howes highlights how the use of eight metrics, that have specifically been identified for use in a downturn, can lead to greater workforce insight, improving efficiency and driving cost savings. With the recession in full swing, rapid changes within the global business environment have left many HR directors reeling. Until recently most were […]
Celebrating National Work from Home Day
To coincide with National Work from Home Day, Mick Hegarty discusses new research on remote working and highlights why home working is helping both employees and UK businesses. On National Work from Home Day, it is safe to say that the uptake of remote working practices has rocketed over recent times. In the last year, a growing number […]
Could the recession be tarnishing your employer brand?
How can organisations ensure they maintain their employer brand in a recession? Tim Holden explains how to keep brand values visible throughout any change process, and how HR can ensure the brand is protected during a redundancy process. What is an employer brand? According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD), employer […]
HR blunder of the month: Fired worker reinstated due to printer malfunction
You have probably had to repeat this HR mantra to managers and supervisors many times: Document, document, document. Here’s yet another example of what can go wrong when documentation is missing. A hearing officer has ruled that an employee from Denver, USA should get to keep his job after failing a breathalyzer test because […]
HR tip: Reducing wages
These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications. Question: "Because times are hard we would like to reduce the wages of our employees. Can we do this?" Answer: You cannot do this unilaterally since it would constitute breach of contract. You […]
The drive towards equality in the workplace
Cases involving discrimination on the grounds of age, religion and belief or sexual orientation are on the increase. Pam Loch discusses the opinion as to whether some equality rights are more equal than others. Since 1975 and the introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act, there have been many challenges in tribunals and courts which have clarified […]
Ten top tips on rewarding in a recession
Mark Eaton outlines some of the simple steps you can take to ensure you are ready to keep rewarding in a recession. It’s realistic that employers need to be prudent and take some tough decisions in the current recession and ongoing economic uncertainty. Yet, there’s much employers can do to galvanise their people and use […]
Can the private life of an employee affect their employment?
Widespread use of the internet and social networking sites have made the ‘personal’ potentially ‘public’, and this blurring of the boundaries can present HR professionals with some tricky situations, says Steven Thomas. Only last month, an insurance worker was dismissed after surfing Facebook while off sick. Not such a bad thing, you may think, until […]
Mergers and acquisitions: Creating a stronger HR function
Jan Hills and Stefania Cappello offer practical advice on how merging HR functions can be implemented, and how it should be seen as less of a daunting task and more of an opportunity for a stronger HR function. Most advice on mergers and acquisitions is about HR helping the business. The challenge for HR […]
Ask the expert: Dismissal process with less than one year’s service
An employee, with just five month’s service, is not performing well and the employer wants to dismiss him. Esther Smith and Matthew Whelan advise on the correct process to follow. The question: If a member of staff has less than one year’s service (only five months in fact), can we dismiss him without following a […]
A week in HR: Is the recession the key to job satisfaction?
This week, Lucie Mitchell reports on a mass UK jobs exodus, a rise in job satisfaction, and the swine flu outbreak. The recession will cause a permanent UK jobs exodus, according to new research. A study by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants has revealed that 81% of the UK’s largest multinational firms are planning or […]
Colborn’s Corner: Swine flu – a media frenzy
The media has been in a frenzy over swine flu and we are all being subjected to a government communication plan that includes telling us what to do when we sneeze. But what does it all mean at work? Quentin Colborn examines what HR professionals should be doing about swine flu. Recently, if you say that you […]
No time for silence: Breaking news to employees
No news is good news – but sometimes breaking bad news to employees is unavoidable. Rob Ashton explains how to do it and provides five steps to effective employee communication. It’s bonus time. And your employees are waiting for their yearly salaries to be topped up with performance-related pay. The trouble is that sales have […]
