Retirement gets its Heyday
Heyday, a sister organisation of Age Concern, is taking its fight against the UK’s implementation of European anti-age discrimination legislation before the European Court of Justice.There are currently some 260 forced retirement cases making their way through the tribunals and all have been stayed until the outcome of the Heyday case is known. If this […]
Argos workers prepare to strike
Workers for retail chain Argos have voted in favour of strike action in a dispute over pay.The majority (67%) voted for the action after rejecting the company’s pay offer of 4.0%. Unite, the union that represents Argus workers, argues the pay deal is unfair considering profits are up 16% on last year’s and pay awards […]
Butcher falls foul of minimum wage laws
The owners of a Sheffield butcher’s shop have been found guilty of failing to pay staff the national minimum wage (NMW).According to a report by BBC online, David Jackson and Pauline Smout, who own Jackson’s Butchers in Sheffield, pleaded guilty to offences against two former employees.They have now been ordered to pay more than £11,000 […]
Extra milers believe work matters
Seven out of 10 UK workers believe their work makes a difference to the success of their organisation and is the driving force that makes them go ‘that extra mile’.This is according to a new survey by performance improvement outfit Maritz. The highest proportion of those who feel most valued fall into the millennial and […]
How healthy staff can lead to a healthy bottom line
It really is quite simple – the less healthy your employees, the more they will be absent, and the more that will impact on your bottom line. So what can you do about it? Jeff Archer has a few suggestions. When you walk into an office you've never visited before, you know within minutes what […]
Controlling healthcare costs
Much of the time, the cheaper, off-the-shelf healthcare insurance packages offer very poor value for money. Tom Burfitt explains how a little expert advice can help you find the best and most cost-effective way to build a healthcare plan for your business. When it comes to building a healthcare plan, all too many businesses make […]
Promoting health, safety and wellbeing in the workplace
With sickness absence costing the economy £13bn last year, it is imperative that organisations have effective absence management policies in place. Professor Michael O’Donnell emphasises the importance of promoting rehabilitation in the workplace. Everyone at work will probably need to take sick leave at some point during their working lives and, in most cases, this […]
Software satisfaction awards: Which is your favourite HR provider?
We need your votes on the software awards that matter most – the Software Satisfaction Awards 2008.Organised by HRZone.co.uk’s parent group Sift Media and the software trade body BASDA, the Software Satisfaction Awards set out to honour those software developers and resellers who do the most to keep their customers happy every year. Nearly 2,000 […]
Make e-recruitment work for you
E-recruitment systems can be beneficial to all companies, large and small, but the key is in ensuring you maximise its benefits, says HRZone.co.uk’s technology editor John Stokdyk. E-recruitment and applicant tracking systems (ATS) used to be the preserve of large employers who had the means to develop an online presence. By effectively building their own […]
Corporate social networking: Why should HR embrace it?
Frédéric Radier looks at the benefits that social networking can provide in the workplace, and offers some advice to help HR professionals implement a corporate network within the organisation. Social networking sites have revolutionised communication and the art of personal marketing. A huge number of people now have profiles on sites such as Facebook, MySpace […]
People: Your greatest asset or biggest threat?
People who lie about their background can cost your business wasted time, money and untold damage. So how do you know your staff are who they say they are? Nick Ryan and Chris Macmillan discuss. The number of cases of people caught lying on their CV has risen dramatically over the past couple of years.Hardly […]
Embedding positive employee health
Paul Avis questions what effects online health risk assessments have had on employee health, and discusses the next stage of evolution for this service. Traditional approachesAs with all areas of health management, services exist to support employers already. For example, Occupational Health (OH) practices will offer pre-employment screening, health surveillance and health promotion. This could […]
Employees want to give something back
UK workers are increasingly seeking a more rewarding career, a survey has found.The poll by Lifelong Learning UK revealed that, whilst a higher salary is still the biggest reason to re-evaluate a career choice, one in five employees stated that their career must enable them to ‘give something back’ or make a difference to the […]
Generation Y spells trouble for talent management
Many organisations risk losing their most talented employees as the credit crunch takes hold, according to leadership company Dynamic Transitions. Speaking at the HR director’s talent management breakfast event at the Lord’s Cricket Ground, Dynamic Transitions MD Judith Germain warned that the emergence of Generation Y is “spelling further trouble for organisations who continue to […]
HR tip: Heavy lifting and sex discrimination
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:"Our warehouse staff are required to carry out a great deal of heavy lifting, so as a result we tend to recruit only men. Is this a problem? We may be discriminating but […]
Debenhams among winners of first LEP awards
The winners of the first annual Local Employment Partnership (LEP) awards have been announced at an awards ceremony hosted by former Apprentice winner, Tim Campbell.HRZone.co.uk first reported on the shortlist last month and can now reveal that Debenhams, Marriott Hotels and Tesco have all won an award.The awards recognise the outstanding contributions made by employers, […]
Majority want tax justice
Only 7% of people believe that Britain’s tax system gets the balance right between the amount of tax paid by the rich, the poor and those in the middle.The results of a new poll by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) show that even among those with household incomes of more than £100,000, only 13% think […]
Restless workers struggle to find happiness
A new survey has revealed that 37% of workers are not enjoying their job as much as they used to.The research by Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, which looked at attitudes within small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), found that only those workers from the East Midlands, South West and Scotland feel that they are happier […]
Lack of flexible working fails mums
Mothers are hungry for work but feel that a lack of flexible working opportunities are holding them back, a poll of over 1,000 working mums has shown.The second annual survey from Workingmums.co.uk revealed that as many as 73% blamed a lack of appropriate and available flexible jobs for their failure to return to work. In […]
Ashes to ashes: Smoking ban one year on
Chaos was predicted when the smoking ban was first introduced on 1 July last year. But apart from a drop in nicotine-addicted regulars down the pub, it seems there was smoke without fire in the majority of workplaces. Louise Druce looks at the law a year on. It’s not unusual to see little groups of […]
