Spotlight: John Roberts, HR director, Ford Retail. By Lucie Benson
In a return to our series shining the spotlight on HR directors working in a number of sectors, Lucie Benson talks to John Roberts, HR director at Ford Retail, about how his experiences working for some great companies over the years is driving him to ensure his current organisation is a success. Vital stats: Company: […]
Sexual harassment predator to men and women
Men as well as women are victims of sexual harassment and the problem is no laughing matter, warns a leading business director.Peter-Jon Chalmers, director of Empire HR made the comments in light of the Fair Treatment at Work survey by the Department for Trade and Industry which found that the incidence of sexual harassment was […]
Ask the expert: Special sick policy
This week, Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Anna Youngs, solicitor at Mills & Reeve, discuss the risks involved in setting up a different sick policy for an individual member of staff. The question:We have a member of staff who is currently a sessional worker (only employed for odd hours). In the past he […]
Soaring City bonuses sparks outrage
Bonuses for city workers have increased by a huge 30 per cent to a record £14bn this year.Reported by The Guardian the rise is twice as big as 2006 and, say the paper, is likely to exacerbate the widening gap between executive and shop-floor pay.Analysis by The Guardian of preliminary data from the Office for […]
Anti-bullying policies: What you need to know
Barrister Charles Price discusses what you need to be aware of when creating an anti-bullying and harassment policy. What the policy is designed to stopThere is no specific UK legislation to protect those who may be suffering, or have suffered, from bullying or vindictive behaviour at work. This does not mean they have no legal […]
US job hunters targeted in Monster.com blackmail hack
Monster, the world’s largest recruitment website, was left reeling this week when thousands of US jobseekers were targeted in a sophisticated phishing blackmail scam.American users who had registered with the site received emails last week inviting them to download a Job Seeker Tool from Monster. What they got was a Trojan horse virus that encrypted […]
Breastfeeding Mayor wins damages
A mayor, who was forced to travel separately from the civic limousine afforded to her position for official engagements, has been awarded damages from the council that banned her from breastfeeding in the car.Reported by the Times, Dr Pauleen Lane successfully sued Trafford Council in Greater Manchester for sexual discrimination, claiming that she would not […]
Earnings soar as demand for HR interims reaches new high
HR interim managers are enjoying boosted earnings as demand for their services peaks.According to a new survey, HR and finance interim managers are seeing the most demand for their services in a market that is seeing demand outstrip supply.Interims are also being paid record daily rates, which have reached an average of £585, up 5.4 […]
Training and development top priority for graduates
Graduates rank training and development over salary when selecting their first employer, a new survey claims.The online poll for Ernst & Young, which registered over 1,000 votes, found that that nearly half (44 per cent) of graduates view a company’s provision of training and development as the most important consideration when weighing up a potential […]
Rise in GCSE top grades
The proportion of students gaining the top GCSE grades has increased again.Almost one in five entrants gained an A* or A, up 0.4 percentage point to 19.5 per cent, while those managing an A* to C rose from 62.4 per cent to 63.3 per cent, a rise of 0.9.Results in the all-important subjects of English […]
Royal Mail staff raise millions in payroll donation scheme
Royal Mail employees raised a record-breaking £2.6 million through payroll giving in the last financial year, up almost £440,000 on the previous year.Around 50,000 employees at the organisation make monthly payroll donations – at a rate of £295 an hour. More than 850 charities have benefited from the scheme at the Royal Mail, the main […]
Training needs analysis: What is the best approach?
Jan Hills of HR consultancy HR With Guts suggests taking a more positive approach to your training needs analysis, by focusing on the outcome rather than the problem. When you feel your HR team could be working more efficiently, or at a higher level, and you are unsure as to how to go about making […]
Colborn’s Corner: Diversity – it’s not down to HR
Trevor Philips, the chair of the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights, which will take over the work of Britain’s three existing equality commissions in October 2007, has recently stated that responsibility for diversity should be taken away from HR. Quentin Colborn takes a look at what HR professionals should and shouldn’t be responsible […]
HR tip: Giving notice
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:"A woman accepted a job at my company but I then had to withdraw the offer before she started work. Am I required to pay her anything since she did not actually take […]
Getting your just reward. By Louise Druce
Hard work can be worth it simply for the perks of the job but how can employers be sure they are offering the right incentives to staff? Louise Druce finds out that there’s more to reward schemes than a token pile of cash – although sometimes that would be nice too! Job perks can often […]
Civil servants forced to break working time regs
One in 20 civil servants work over and above their contracted hours, breaking the working time regulations by working over 49 hours per week.Excessive workload is being blamed for creeping hours with half admitting they work extra hours to keep in control. This compares to a third in the private sector delivering civil service contracts.Shockingly, […]
Employees are sick of change
Change is happening in almost every organisation and the pace and frequency is hitting employees hard with levels of sickness soaring.Eighty-nine per cent of managers say they have experienced some form of organisational change in recent months which has resulted in a whopping 60 per cent reporting an increase in illness rates over the past […]
Facebook ban bars half of workers
Fifty per cent of employees are blocked from accessing social networking site Facebook by employers who are worried that it saps productivity and is a security threat.LloydsTSB, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs are amongst the companies reported to have blocked employees from visiting Facebook. Graham Cluely, a senior technology consultant at IT security firm Sophos, […]
Training conference moves to off-set carbon footprint
Delegates to this year’s World of Learning Conference will be able to off-set their carbon footprint with a tree planted in their name.The move is aimed to highlight the issue of the role of learning and development in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and carbon footprint reduction.On day one of the November conference, Cathy Ham, general […]
Business group proposes ‘golden carrot’ for science students
A ‘golden carrot’ bursary of £1,000 a year should be given to science and engineering undergraduates as part of a five point plan to double the proportion of students taking these subjects, a business group has said.The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) five point plan proposes action across the schools and universities system to get […]
