IT women feel let down by HR
Women in IT complain that HR departments are less supportive to women than line managers and colleagues.When asked to rate the support they received as a female employee, respondents in a joint Microsoft and womenintechnology.co.uk survey saw HR departments as the least supportive area, with only 39 per cent rating them as good or excellent. […]
Big guns get qualifications green light
Network Rail, Flybe and McDonald’s have been given the right to award nationally-accredited qualifications to employees for the first time.The employer recognition scheme will form part of the new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF).John Denham, secretary of state for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills said: “By accrediting high quality in house training schemes […]
Employers help IT professionals meet globalisation challenge
A revolutionary development programme to fast-track the careers of new IT professionals has been announced by e-skills UK, the employer-led Sector Skills Council for IT and Telecoms. The Masters’ level programme will unite universities and employers to increase training, while minimising time away from work.Karen Price, CEO e-skills UK, said that many traditional entry-level IT […]
Digital skills shortage blights sector growth
Research by digital media recruitment website Chinwag Jobs reveals that business is finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain people with digital skills. Chinwag’s ‘Digital Skills Survey 07’ canvassed employers, recruitment consultants and HR professionals. While digital opportunities increased, 97 per cent of respondents found it either difficult or impossible to attract suitably qualified […]
£6 minimum wage ‘too much’, warns expert
Raising the minimum wage to £6 an hour would have significant implications for all businesses, warns a payroll specialist.HR Zone recently reported on fresh calls from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to raise the minimum wage to more than £6 an hour this year. Workers (aged 22 years plus) are entitled to a basic wage […]
Office ‘speak’ exposed
Phrases used in the office are more complex then ever, with latest research suggesting a whole new language must be grasped for those wanting to fit in.According to recruitment outfit Office Angels, workers are engaging in new expressions including ‘blamestorming’, which means to debate with colleagues why a deadline was missed and who was responsible, […]
TUC campaigns for an end to ‘cheap’ apprentice labour
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is calling on the government to tackle what it is dubbing the apprenticeship ‘quality divide’.According to the TUC, there should be a wage hike for the 250,000 apprentices in England to improve the quality of training and put a halt to increasing drop-out rates.Decent Pay for Apprentices – the report […]
Weekend hangover gives rise to Monday drag
Nearly a quarter of UK businesses admit to problems with hungover staff on Monday mornings. Sarah Clayton, head of employment law at Heatons, said the problems are far greater than slower rates of productivity:“It can also have more serious health and safety consequences as operating machinery or driving when feeling a little worse for wear […]
M&S laptop containing staff details is stolen
Marks & Spencer (M&S) has been found to be in breach of data protection laws, following the theft of an unencrypted laptop containing the personal details of 26,000 employees.An investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) revealed that the laptop, which contained M&S employees’ pension details, was stolen from the home of an M&S contractor.The […]
Partners over 65 can be forced to retire
A recent industrial tribunal has ruled that business partners over 65 can be forced to retire.When the government imposed a default retirement age in 2006, professional business partners were deliberately excluded. But the recent tribunal has nullified that exemption, ruling that it was proportionate to force partners to retire from the firm in order to […]
HR professionals are unhappy at work
HR workers are the most unhappy at work for the third quarter running, according to the ‘Happiness at Work’ index.Recruitment consultancy Badenoch & Clark carried out the research, and surveyed over 1,000 UK office workers in the following professions: legal, HR, finance & accounting, sales, media & marketing, IT & telecoms, retail, catering & leisure, […]
Once a bully always a bully? Dealing with the perpetrators
‘Helping’ the bully is a side of the coin that is not much talked about, yet more and more businesses are beginning to realise their role in helping the perpetrator as well as the victim. Annie Hayes reports. Where we’re atThere’s no shortage of statistics to paint what is a rather bleak picture of bullying […]
Bully priest sacked: Anger management training for clergy
A vicar accused of bullying and intimidation is to be sacked following a ruling by a Church of England tribunal. Rev Thomas Ambrose, a Vicar in Trumpington, was accused of being a “bully and a liar” after a spate of resignations from volunteers and church wardens, The Times newspaper reported. Ambrose had brought the once […]
Annual pay rise is ditched by majority
The traditional annual pay rise is out of favour with almost half of all businesses, no longer awarding employees an across the board pay rise each year or cost of living adjustment.This is according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) annual reward management survey. Manufacturing, production and private sector service firms are […]
Five ways to get ahead in 2008
A new year is upon us and the annual reviews should now be a distant memory. However, if you weren’t fortunate enough to get the promotion or pay rise you wanted, Kate Farrell offers you some advice that could make all the difference in 2008. Before I start, working in the field of recruitment, you […]
When the grievance procedure is part of the problem
Martin Cheyne, employment expert at Hempsons, discusses a recent case where strict adherence to grievance procedures resulted in a constructive dismissal, and he examines the future implications of this. The grievance procedure is designed to resolve grievances at work. Occasionally, however, that procedure can itself become a part of, or the focus of, the grievance. […]
Outsourcing your HR: The benefits
Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) can provide companies with a flexible, scalable solution to the kind of business problems that HR professionals are increasingly being asked to deal with, says Nick Boothroyd. Finding and recruiting (not to mention keeping) good people has always been an interesting challenge for HR departments. But when the board wants an […]
HR tip: The disappearing employee – not turning up to work
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:"An employee has just stopped coming to work, though has been seen around town. After how long can we assume that he has resigned?" HR tip:You may accept that an employee has resigned […]
Banks rubber stamp huge bonuses despite redundancies and layoffs
Citigroup is the latest bank due to hand out huge bonuses worth more than £5.6 bn to its investment bankers today, despite writing off huge losses.Reported by The Daily Telegraph, the figure is roughly the same as last year and comes as the industry braces itself for more job cuts, with rumours that Citibank itself […]
Value of ‘Investors in People’ award in doubt
Minority groups lose out on training if they work for organisations that have won the Investors in People (IiP) gold standard, the Nottingham University Business School has claimed.According to the study of almost 15,000 people, women, ethnic minorities, temporary/fixed term employees, the disabled and older workers were all at more of a disadvantage, in terms […]