HR tip: Garden leave
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 key employee has just put in her three months' notice to go and work for an important competitor. Her manager wants her off the site right away with pay in lieu of […]
Ministers promise to cut red tape
A programme of reforms aimed at slashing the red tape blighting UK businesses was unveiled yesterday by the government. Business and enterprise secretary John Hutton said the new measures are aimed at “tackling regulation and creating a dynamic business environment”. Ministers, he revealed, will put greater pressure on regulators to review and reduce the number […]
Colborn’s Corner: Can you train for honesty?
Few will have missed the media furore surrounding the BBC and the apparent breaches of trust that have occurred in the running of competitions. The BBC seems to be taking peremptory action by arranging training in editorial integrity for 16,000 employees. This may be a necessary reaction to a serious threat to the BBC’s perceived […]
Race victim awarded £42,500
Muslim street warden Iqbal Rasheed was awarded the huge payout for the four years of abuse he suffered whilst working for security firm, Chubb.Reported by the Evening Standard, the father-of-three who patrolled the West End in search of anti-social behaviour was bullied by workmates who branded him a “madman who believes in God” and laughed […]
The trust dimension
Building trust is not as simple as one, two, three. Sally Bibb shows why and looks at what it means to genuinely build the foundation of trust that a company needs to be successful over the long term. In today’s financial markets, earnings account for barely more than 50 per cent of a company’s market […]
Turning pressure to your advantage
Professor Graham Jones, director of research and product development at Lane4 Management Group Ltd, explains how to cultivate high performance leadership within your organisation. High performing leaders are the ones who can respond quickly to change, deal with ambiguity, provide direction, manage around constraints and leverage the commitment and intellectual capital of the people around […]
Pizza outlet shamed in ‘minus-payslip’ scandal
Young Hungarians working for franchises of Domino’s Pizzas are being exploited in what one Union has dubbed “modern day slavery”.The story, exposed by The Mirror, claims that the workers are charged £500 for an old car to deliver the pizzas, £700 to insure their vehicles and £100 a fortnight for shabby and tired bedsits. The […]
The PC program that looks after your back
A British software house has pioneered an interactive program that helps protect computer users from back-pain, repetitive stress injury (RSI) and other occupational hazards. PostureMinder is the brainchild of computer vision scientist Dr Philip Worthington, who realised the need from his own experience.“When I went to work for a new company, I had my display […]
Gender equality will take generations
Workplaces, institutions and services that are designed for an age when women stayed at home is fuelling the equality gap between the genders. The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has warned that closing the gap between men and women will take generations if things continue as they are.Twenty-two indicators have been flagged by the EOC as […]
Being ‘liked’ and ‘liking’ colleagues improves well-being
Employees that are liked and in turn like their colleagues are happier and healthier, but only 2.4 per cent would share their concerns with HR.These are the findings of a study on behalf of SkillsSoft which quizzed over 5,000 staff about the factors that influence their well-being.Just under half said working with people they like […]
Bullies attack victims by email
A fifth of workers have been bullied by email, a new report has found.The survey showed that a further 6.2 per cent have been bullied by text message. Nine per cent admit that cyber-bullying is a problem.Thirteen per cent of victims blame the increased use of communications tools, including blackberrys, which make bullying a 24-seven […]
Discrimination cases soar
Cases of sexual and racial discrimination have dramatically increased, according to the Employment Tribunal Service.It reported that in 2006 the number of sexual discrimination cases rose from 2,524 to a staggering 14,250 whilst racial discrimination rose by 786 to 4,103. Only 86,083 of the 115,039 claims made were disposed of, leaving 28,956 claims unresolved. Responding […]
Royal Mail plans to axe final salary pension exposed
Pensions for Royal Mail staff will be slashed unless they work five years longer, according to a leaked proposal.According to the story reported by the Daily Mirror, the move would cost members of the scheme thousands of pounds a year whilst some would see their retirement funds slashed by as much as half. The plans […]
Discrimination enters a new age. By Louise Druce
It has been nine months since new age discrimination laws were introduced into the workplace and the claims are already coming thick and fast. Louise Druce looks at why older workers are still feeling neglected and what HR can do about it. It hasn’t even been a year since the new age discrimination laws were […]
Forty winks are a waste of time say bosses
Whilst a huge nine in 10 employees believe an hour’s Spanish-style siesta would enhance their performance almost the same number of bosses disagree.These are the findings of Peninsula employment law firm who found that 78 per cent of bosses consider siestas to have a negative effect on workplace productivity.Peter Done, managing director of Peninsula said: […]
Tax proposal puts future of legal help lines in doubt
A proposal to backdate tax on employee assistance programmes (EAPs) by up to seven years is putting doubt over their future existence.Ceridian, a provider of human resources services, is calling on employers to join forces to put pressure on the government to avoid taxing EAPs.EAPs are a mechanism for providing counselling and other forms of […]
Top talent at full throttle. By Anthony Landale
Do you or your team have any passion for your work? HR Zone member Anthony Landale reports on an issue that is rising up the leadership agenda and suggests that leaders must find the missing spark to ensure employee engagement. How much energy do you hold in reserve? Apparently most people feel capable of improving […]
Can other people affect our stress levels?
In a return to her series on stress management, consultant and HR Zone member Annie Lawler looks at how senior management can affect stress in the workplace. In my previous article, an observation raised by an HR Zone member was that it is the behaviour of management that causes workplace stress and that it could […]
University launches Masters in talent management
Kingston University, London, has developed a Masters award in career and talent management, which will run from January 2008. The work-based course is the first of its type to be offered by a UK university and aims to provide HR, L&D and talent management professionals with theoretical insights and practical applications used to successfully retain […]
E-Learning to drive human rights campaign
The National School of Government and the Ministry of Justice are using e-learning in a bid to promote a wider understanding of human rights across government.The decision to launch the campaign follows an internal review by the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, of the implementation of the Human Rights Act. The review highlighted, amongst other […]
