The salvation army: Our companies need you
The government is hoping to draft in a raft of apprentices to get more people into the workforce and plug the widening skills gap in the UK. But is this the right way to fight company shortfalls? Louise Druce investigates. As ‘Apprenticeship Week’ draws to a close, is your business any closer to realising the […]
How competency frameworks have lost the plot
In his latest column, Andrew Mayo argues that competency frameworks have lost touch with reality and have become far too ‘narrow’ and far too powerful. It must be some 25 years ago that I was introduced to the ‘development dimensions’ of DDI and their application in the design of assessment centres. It was the first […]
Legislation update: Unfair dismissal compensation for sick employees
How should a tribunal assess compensation for unfair dismissal if the dismissed employee is incapable of finding another job because of illness? Richard White explains and considers a recent case in relation to this issue. The conventional view of calculating unfair dismissal compensation for sick employees is that s/he should only receive compensation for loss […]
HR tip: Companion at informal warning
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:"Is an employee entitled to be accompanied at a meeting at which an informal warning is to be given?" HR tip:No, provided there is no chance that a formal warning might be given. […]
Online job search outstrips other methods
Job seekers that search online fair better when it comes to finding jobs, according to recruitment giant Monster.The claim was made following a recent poll by Enhance Media, which discovered internet job searches have increased by 50% since 2006.According to the recruitment experts, online recruitment sites offer added benefits to those seeking a new job. […]
Moonlighting magician sacked from insurance giant
Insurance firm Legal and General has sacked ‘Mr Hocus Pocus’, a moonlighting children’s magician, for working whilst on sick leave for stress.Reported by The Daily Mail, Peter Hopkins, 38, who earned £30,000 a year at the firm, had been away from his job for six months with stress when he performed as a ‘friendly wizard’ […]
IVF ruling signals way forward for employers
The pregnancy status for women undergoing IVF treatment has been made clear to employers following a recent ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ).European Union judges ruled that an Austrian woman undergoing IVF treatment, who was sacked three days before her fertilised eggs were implanted, was not pregnant under EU law. However, she was […]
Sainsbury’s gives graduates a taste for leadership
Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has developed a programme to enhance the personal leadership skills of its graduate recruits through a community-based project.The action-learning programme has been designed by Impact, a company that recently won three-star accreditation in the Best Companies awards. A local primary school in Newham is at the heart of the community-project, which includes […]
TUC and FSB champion apprenticeship cause
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is backing calls from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to increase the minimum weekly wage for apprentices from £80 to £110.The organisations said this would happen once legislation has been passed to extend wage contributions to small employers who are taking on an apprentice. They added that £110 for […]
Social enterprises beat profit chasers to ’employer of choice’ gong
A survey has revealed that 30 per cent of people feel that social enterprises would be their employer of choice. The YouGov poll of more than 2,000 individuals, commissioned by the Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC), found that just 16 per cent would pick a traditional business, while only 13 per cent opted for a government […]
Employee engagement: Tailoring it to the company
Kentucky Fried Chicken draws on the iconic ‘Colonel’, Yahoo yodels, and the Penguin Group depends on a shared passion for books. Annie Hayes discovers that engagement comes in many different shapes and guises. What is employee engagement?I am engaged therefore I am. HR would be delighted with the play on philosopher Nietzsche’s words of wisdom, […]
Employing illegal workers: Are you in the know?
The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 comes into force on 29 February, which will introduce stricter penalties for employing illegal workers. Solicitor Laura Mitchell explains the implications for employers. The government has recently revealed that more than half of the new jobs created under Labour since 1997 have gone to foreign workers and, for […]
You and your job – happy together?
Are you happy in your job? If not, then you’re not entirely alone, but don’t worry because Denise Taylor has some handy hints on how to make your working day that little bit more enjoyable. Some lucky people love their job and look forward to work each day, but for many of us work is […]
Ask the expert: Re-hire after redundancy
Can you re-engage an employee a few months after you made them redundant? Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner at Mills & Reeve, advise. The question:We made a few redundancies in November 2007 based on restructuring and the need to reduce headcount in a certain area. As a result, a team […]
CV howlers leave candidates jobless
Jobseekers are missing out because of blunders such as misspelling, inappropriate email addresses and grammatical errors, according to a new poll.The poll by online recruitment outfit fish4jobs found that three-quarters of employers admit that badly presented and written CVs are more of a turn-off than a candidate showing up late, wearing inappropriate clothes or swearing […]
Single women rank highest for ‘unpaid’ overtime
Women under the age of 30 work the most extra hours.This is according to a Trades Union Congress (TUC) study, which reveals that 39 per cent of the under-30s notch up hours over and above their contracted duty.Comparatively, only a quarter of men of the same age work over their hours for no extra money.Brendan […]
Overwhelming vote in favour of rights for agency workers
MPs have backed new proposals to give agency workers the same rights as permanent staff despite opposition from the government.In the House of Commons on Friday 22 February, politicians voted 147 to 11 in favour of the Private Member’s Bill. A total of 136 Labour MPs supported the Bill’s second reading including former work and […]
It takes 2.0
Web 2.0 is helping people to interact on a wider scale but is that a good thing? Louise Druce looks at how HR can embrace these tools to get the most out of the company. Love or hate social networking sites, they are among the so-called Web 2.0 applications here to stay. So for those […]
Stressed out: Who is looking after HR?
HR is responsible for implementing wellbeing policies but what happens when they get stressed? Alan King provides advice on how HR professionals can deal with stress at work. In 2006, an HR professional at Intel, the world’s largest computer chip maker, was awarded more than £114,000 after she became so stressed at work she had […]
Protecting employees who work in high-risk countries
With increasing social and economic unrest, and the growth of terrorism attacks around the world, Mike Penrose explains the responsibilities that companies have for employees working and travelling in high-risk countries. It is one of the great ironies of international business that so many of the regions with the most development potential are also sometimes […]
