Holiday blues trigger resignation thoughts
Holidaymakers are turning into budding entrepreneurs as melancholy thoughts of returning to the UK springboard business ideas into action, fuelling resignation plans.Nearly half of jetsetters polled by The Franchise Group said they would think about handing in their notice back home and 67 per cent would set up their own business given the chance.Peter Finley, […]
Applause for first minimum-wage clampdown
News of a children’s nursery owner being fined for flouting the national minimum wage laws, in the first criminal prosecution of this kind, is being welcomed by unions.Reported by the Financial Times, Teresa Aguda of Rascals Day Nursery, in Walthmastow, East London was fined £2,500 after she admitted obstructing HM Revenue and Customs officials from […]
Awards to recognise stress management
A new national competition has been launched to find the UK’s most stress-free companies. The National Stress Management Awards will publicly recognise those companies with effective stress management policies that make a real difference to staff. Launched by The Stress Management Society, the awards are open to all UK companies in the public and private […]
Competition bites team spirit
Almost half of all workers believe that competition amongst co-workers is responsible for destroying team spirit.Over a third of employees surveyed on behalf of Investors in People, the development standard claim they work with colleagues who are very or fairly competitive in the workplace whilst a quarter admitted that they actually find themselves competing with […]
HR fails to push ‘green’ transport
A whopping 70 per cent of HR professionals admit that their organisation could do more to encourage employees to reduce the environmental impact on their travel arrangements. The findings are highlighted in the latest quarterly CIPD/KPMG labour market outlook survey which shows that whilst bosses are paying more than lip-service to recycling and energy issues, […]
Tips for the top: Getting the most from executive coaching. By Matt Henkes
Executive coaching is beginning to be seen as less of a solution to a problem and more of a tool to help people realise their full potential. With increasing numbers of top-level executives having tried and benefited from it, Matt Henkes looks at how its effectiveness can be measured. It wasn’t too long ago that […]
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 […]
