Ask the expert: Changing working patterns
Two part-time employees both work mornings and their employer wants to change the rota so there is cover in the afternoons; but both employees refuse to change their hours. Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner at Mills & Reeve, advise on whether this is a redundancy situation. The question:I have started […]
Compensation for worker sacked for being ‘too young’
In the first case of its kind, a 20-year-old woman has won a discrimination case for being too young.Reported by The Times newspaper, the case involves a young woman, Megan Thomas, who told the tribunal that she was sacked from her job as a membership secretary at London club Eight, after being told that she […]
UK ‘lacking entrepreneurial ambition’
The number of adults with ambitions to grow their own successful business lags behind that in countries such as the US, New Zealand and Iceland, a major new study has revealed.According to an examination of high-expectation entrepreneurship (HEE) – the term used to describe wannabe entrepreneurs or existing start-up owners expecting to employ at least […]
People planning triggers biggest headache
Getting people strategy right is the hardest business challenge.This is according to a new survey by Barclays Commercial Bank which reveals that people strategy beats off marketing and sales, financial forecasts, risk management and environmental and corporate responsibility policy as the most difficult part of a business plan to get right. This challenge is compounded […]
Face-time – not Facebook – scores business
Business is most likely to be won as a result of a face-to-face meeting than any other method, including social networking.The research, by Vodafone UK, reveals that just over half (57 per cent) of business people win business via the traditional face-to-face method, dropping to just 34 per cent who have won business by email. […]
Boss idols applauded
Far from loathing bosses, 80 per cent of workers admire them, according to a new survey.Peninsula, an employment law service, quizzed 1,873 employees and 76 per cent said they had a great boss, whilst 62 per cent of respondents felt their boss is a good role model and someone that they would like to aspire […]
Log on to Facebook and log off from work
At least 1,700 employees have been sacked or disciplined for internet or email misuse, including surfing social networking sites, in the past three years.The figures – obtained from 65 institutions – show how strongly employers are clamping down on staff who spend hours on social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo.According to a […]
Older workers face pay squeeze
Little progress has been made in closing age pay gaps, according to The Age and Employment Network (TAEN).Commenting on the latest Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2007 from the Office of National Statistics, TAEN says that the pay gaps between ‘prime age’ and older workers have barely closed for either men or women. TAEN […]
‘Hair’ today, gone tomorrow: Salon sued for religious discrimination
A Muslim woman is taking a London hair salon to an employment tribunal claiming the wearing of her headscarf cost her the job.Reported by the BBC, Bushra Noah was rejected for a post at Wedge salon in King’s Cross because the owner, Sarah Desrosiers, allegedly said she needed staff to display their hairstyles.Noah, aged 19, […]
The final curtain-call: Paying for performance
Performance-related pay (PRP) is the bedrock of motivation at many organisations – or so they’d like to think. Annie Hayes finds out whether these schemes continue to push the right buttons or if it’s time for the curtain to come down on them. What is PRP?PRP, in reality, is a reward strategy based either on […]
BT axes 5,000 managers in reshuffle
Telecoms giant BT has announced plans to sack 5,000 managers in the latest wave of its restructuring programme.Reported by The Times newspaper, the restructuring has already witnessed the departure of 2,000 managers since May. The white-collar cull is a deliberate move away from management. “We are seeing a move away from managers to hire engineers […]
City & Guilds DG gets top skills job
City & Guilds director-general Chris Humphries is set to head up the new UK Commission for Employment and Skills.In his new role, Humphries faces the task of creating a highly skilled workforce for the UK, increasing employment levels and engaging with more people from disadvantaged backgrounds in the workforce. He said: “I am absolutely delighted […]
Political activists to get union boot
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has welcomed proposals for unions to expel members for belonging to a political party. The new rights come after train drivers union Aslef defeated the UK government in the European Court of Human Rights over the expulsion of a member of the British National Party (BNP). The government argued that […]
Gender pay gap narrowest since records began
The pay gap between men and women is at its narrowest since records began; yet despite the news, business groups say progress is slow.Official statistics show the gap between women’s median hourly pay and men’s was 12.6 per cent, compared with a gap of 12.8 per cent recorded in April 2006. The median hourly rate […]
My boss is (still) bad
In a follow up to his article examining how our workplaces have been unwittingly designed to mass produce dictator-bosses, Chetan Dhruve provides some answers to the many questions that this idea throws up. Using the ‘systems thinking’ theory, my previous article showed why we shouldn’t blame individual bosses for bad behaviour – the boss-subordinate relationship […]
How to win the war for talent
Matthew Parker, group managing director of StepStone Solutions, examines how HR can win the war for talent and enhance employer brand, through making the most of new technology to attract candidates cost-effectively, and by bringing them on-board quickly and smoothly. Traditional recruitment methods – print advertisements in newspapers and trade press, printed CVs and paper-based […]
Using motivational interviewing for absent workers
Jean Brading, employment services director at HCML, suggests using motivational interviewing to help people back to work after significant absence. Managing absence, rehabilitation, and retention – these are all terms that are much on the mind of HR professionals and managers generally. The costs involved in neglecting this are huge. We know that time is […]
New guide to retail qualifications launched
Skillsmart Retail has launched a ‘Guide to Retail Qualifications and Job Roles’ aimed at employers and learning providers, as well as individuals seeking a career in retail.The new guide maps out the various qualifications available within retail and their corresponding job roles for each of the four nations. It also serves to demonstrate how new […]
HR tip: Recording disciplinary proceedings
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 we disciplined recently insisted on tape-recording everything. We refused. Were we in the right? Can the recording be used in an employment tribunal hearing?" HR Tip: As you cannot prevent an employee […]
Employees urged to take action on bullying
An anti-bullying organisation is urging employees who witness others being bullied at work to take action against it before it escalates.As part of the ‘Ban Bullying at Work’ day campaign on Wednesday 7 November, Dignity at Work is advising people to step forward because, by maintaining a silence, an environment is created where it is […]