Poverty warning as lone parents forced back to work
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) warns that government plans to get more lone parents back to work could push many families into poverty.The government proposes moving parents of children aged seven and over from income support to jobseekers allowance, so that they are available and looking for work. The plans are designed to meet the […]
Fat cats struggle to juggle
Senior executives in the UK admit they are struggling with conflicting priorities that leave them no time to think and are worried that the challenges are just too much. Research, published today by the Chartered Management Institute, showed that 84 per cent battle with the challenge of prioritising work, whilst two-thirds claim to have little […]
Top ten most irritating workers shamed
Irritating workers such as shirkers, screamers, gossipers and whiners have been named and shamed as the types of colleagues who are most likely to get our blood boiling.A survey on office stress by Ceridian, a provider of human resource services, has been published ahead of ‘National Stress Awareness’ day on 7 November. The survey identifies […]
CIPD drums home lessons ahead of ‘Ban Bullying at Work’ day
Wednesday 7 November 2007 is both ‘Ban Bullying at Work’ day and ‘National Stress Awareness’ day; and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is sharing free advice on how to tackle the problems ahead of the event.Dianah Worman, CIPD diversity adviser, said: “Eliminating all forms of harassment and bullying makes good business sense. […]
Sage adds KCS to growing HR portfolio
Sage paid £20 million this week for HR and payroll developer KCS to sit alongside Snowdrop in the company’s rapidly expanding HR division.Like Snowdrop, KCS is a mid-range supplier of integrated HR, payroll and time & attendance software. It has 900 customers in the UK, including well known brand names such as Paul Smith, Reg […]
Capital celebrates Mayor’s skills and employment strategy
Mayor of London Ken Livingston plans to plug the capital’s skills gap with the first ever London skills and employment strategy.Backed by the £560m London Learning and Skills Council’s annual adult skills budget, the final strategy will recommend the steps that must be taken to meet the skills and employment challenges facing workers and businesses […]
Operation good guys: HR and CSR
Running a business isn’t just about making a profit anymore – it’s about making an ethical profit. Rob Lewis finds out how HR can sound the clarion call for corporate social responsibility. Isn’t it time you started doing the right thing? Job hunters are certainly warming to firms with good corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies […]
Spotlight: Stephen Taylor, HR director, Bounty
In this month’s ‘Spotlight’ series, Lucie Benson talks to Stephen Taylor, who has worked across seven very different sectors in his impressive 30-year career and who explains that his HR department’s success is all down to a good old dose of team spirit. Vital stats: Company: Bounty The aim: To be the UK’s favourite parenting […]
Voice from the workplace: HR – who are they and what do they do?
This is the second article in a series looking at problems experienced by an employee working for a government organisation and how HR can help to put it right. In this instalment, Jim Fischer discusses what should be done when HR does not have enough of a presence within their organisation. Introduction by John PopeIn […]
Tea and gossip drain productivity
A second survey in as many days has suggested that valuable time is being wasted in the office, with workers spending over an hour a day having tea and chatting with friends.Recruitment consultants Office Angels says that workers in the UK lose 16.5 million hours every day – the equivalent of a whopping £193 million […]
CIPD slams immigration quota proposal
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) says that restrictions on the movement of non-EU labour will leave employers struggling to find staff.Political debate centres on a points-based system or absolute quota to restrict non-EU immigration. John Philpott, chief economist at the CIPD, remains doubtful that such a system can avoid damaging employers. Philpott […]
Positive discrimination: The exception to the rule
“A majority of people, including many HR professionals and equal opportunities officers, simply do not appreciate that positive discrimination in favour of disabled people is lawful,” says Paul Archer, head of employment law at Lemon & Co Solicitors. Somewhat ironically, it would be perfectly lawful to positively discriminate in favour of disadvantaged groups (for example […]
Ask the expert: Dismissal while on probation
How do you dismiss an employee who is on probation, and on sick leave, but has been absent for several days without informing anyone, and is generally not up to the job? Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner and employment law specialist at Mills & Reeve, advise. The question:We have a […]
Payroll lucky dip affects 15 million
Shocking findings reveal that over half of the UK’s workforce has been affected by a payroll error with one in five admitting they wouldn’t even notice the mistake.According to number crunching research by ADP Employer Services and YouGov, 11 per cent do not regularly check their payslips whilst three quarters admit they don’t even understand […]
Competition to find Britain’s best business speakers
The College of Public Speaking is launching a competition to find the UK’s top corporate orators, to encourage communication excellence in the business world.Speakers will be expected to demonstrate skills in terms of gestures, speech construction, speaking with conviction, use of voice, vocabulary and word pictures, humour and audience rapport. The college also stipulates that […]
Bosses confess cultural mismanagement
Businesses have confessed to making the wrong choices in building company culture, admitting that activities deemed important are not being carried out effectively.Penna, the human capital management consultancy, quizzed a sample of HR directors to find that 94 per cent feel their culture is distinct, with 64 per cent agreeing that this is a factor […]
Going green begins at home not work, firms confess
Although the vast majority of UK company directors are making efforts to reduce their carbon footprint at home, most are not applying the same principles to the environmental impact of their business, new research reveals.Despite the publicity surrounding businesses’ role in combating climate change, the study by Citrix Online showed that while 93 per cent […]
Cash versus non-cash rewards
Which approach is best in your organisation – a pay-based or gift-based reward system? Mike Morgan, MD of Peoplevalue, champions the case for a non-cash rewards scheme due to its "psychological and motivational value". Is it possible for an employee to demonstrate pride and achievement with a pay-based reward? Have you ever seen money displayed […]
TUC makes fresh call for October holiday
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is renewing its campaign for an additional bank holiday in October.Together with a number of volunteering groups, the TUC suggests the extra holiday would encourage workers to participate in community activities.TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “The UK has fewer bank holidays than nearly every other country in Europe, so […]
Commute to work reaches all time high
The number of commuters spending an hour or more travelling to work has increased dramatically over the last decade, fuelling new demands for flexible working.According to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Londoners are faring particularly badly with over 1.3 million workers now travelling for longer than an hour each day. However, it’s not just those […]
