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 […]
Pedalling your way to good health
Former world champion cyclist Tony Doyle, MBE, advises how employers can support their employees’ health and wellbeing without breaking the bank. With health secretary Alan Johnson’s announcement of a £372m anti-obesity strategy aimed at employers, communities and individuals last month, the pressure will be firmly on all UK employers to invest in new health policies […]
HR tip: Advising retirement age employees of their rights
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:"Are we obliged to inform people approaching their retirement age of their rights or is it up to them to find out?" HR tip:Indeed you are. You are required to inform employees in […]
Employers divided on rights of agency workers
A new study shows continued division on the principle of equal rights for temporary agency workers and qualifying periods.Friday 22 February sees the second reading of the Parliamentary private members bill seeking to give agency workers the same employment rights as permanent employees, with possible agreement on the stalled EU Temporary Agency Workers Directive on […]
Management slog reaps little reward
Despite working longer and harder hours, managers are seeing little return for their efforts.This is according to a report by the Chartered Management Institute, which has revealed that as many as 89 per cent of managers work over their contracted hours – the equivalent of working an extra 40 days a year on average.Over half […]
Breach of trust causes workers to walk
Over half of workers have left an organisation citing trust issues.This is according to a new poll by The Ken Blanchard Companies. According to the findings, almost 40 per cent cited ‘lack of open communication’ as one of the reasons for their departure. Other prevalent ‘trust busting’ behaviours included broken promises, breach of confidentiality, unethical […]
Management turns perpetrator as bullying cases soar
As many as seven in 10 employees have felt bullied at work with almost half of bullying instigated by management.The research conducted by Peninsula employment law service shows that bullying has increased significantly since 2003, with 69 per cent of employees saying that they have been exposed to bullying in the workplace, compared to 52 […]
McDonald’s basks in top restaurant employer award
Fast-food giant McDonald’s has been voted Caterer and Hotelkeeper’s Best Place to Work in Hospitality 2008 in the restaurant and bar sector.David Fairhurst, senior vice president, chief people officer, McDonald’s Restaurants said: “We invest time, energy and resources into getting the right people into our business – people who have the potential to deliver an […]
Workers ‘leap’ at chance to train
The opportunity to develop and train is what workers really want this leap year.According to a new survey conducted on behalf of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), almost a third of UK workers would like to train on their extra working day, but 42 per cent lack confidence in their bosses to fulfil their […]
Data Protection Act ‘top’ burden
The Data Protection Act has cost companies more than £7bn over the past decade, while the Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2002 have added £1.588 billion to businesses’ bills during the last six years. This is according to the 2008 edition of the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) Burdens Barometer, which shows the cumulative cost […]
Keeping it in the family: The mentoring legacy
Mentoring has historic roots yet a thoroughly modern feel, and everyone from politicians to movie stars are at it. Annie Hayes finds out whether Batman and Robin were onto something. What is mentoring?Mentoring is often confused with coaching. The terms are used interchangeably, rolling off the tongue in a merry-go-round of terminology where professionals mistake […]
HR responsible for growing fear over benefit cuts
One in three employees expects a cut in their benefits package this year and HR is being blamed for poor communication.Research involving 300 HR professionals by pensions and employee benefits consultants, Hymans Robertson, suggests that HR may not be communicating effectively with employees about benefits.Over 95 per cent of employers have no plans to cut […]
Talent: What is it? Where is it?
Whilst it is important to know what ‘talent’ you have, it is even more important to make sure it is developed and not wasted, says John Pope. The word is misusedI am uneasy about the way ‘talent’ is used to describe the prominent high fliers; an elite singled out as being people whom it is […]
Networking: Supporting learning and creativity in the workplace
HR Zone member Jackie Cameron examines the advantages of networking for sharing knowledge and encouraging creativity at work. As a strong advocate of networking – face-to-face, using social networking sites and blogging – I could tell many stories about how an interaction with another person has given me an idea which in turn I could […]
