Legislation update: Discrimination and philosophical belief
Georgina Folkes, solicitor at Withy King, explains the changes in the definition of the Employment Equality Regulations and what that means for employers. The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, which prohibit discrimination relating to religion or belief, were amended on 30th April 2007 to change the definition of ‘religion or belief’. Previously the […]
Women unlikely to benefit from pension changes
Saving for pensions via the new personal accounts is not likely to benefit vulnerable groups, including many women, warns research commissioned by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) and conducted by the Pensions Policy Institute.The research found that middle income earners will receive a better return from saving into personal accounts than under the current pensions […]
Legislation to close holiday loophole introduced
Following a consultation, the government has introduced regulations which will raise the statutory number of days’ holiday to 28 days from 20.But the change will still leave the UK at the bottom of the EU member states’ holiday league table as it does not offer any more holiday than the statutory minimum required by the […]
Single equality law considered
The government has published a green paper outlining plans for a single equality bill with the aim of simplifying and improving existing legislation. But the proposals have come under fire from both the TUC and the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) for not including employment law. Instead, the government is looking at private clubs and associations […]
Smoking ban – a recipe for legal confusion?
With less than three weeks to go until England’s workplace smoking ban comes into force, lawyers have pointed out that differences in the legislation between the four UK nations is a recipe for confusion.The problem, says Sara Sawicki, an employment law partner at Pinsent Masons, is not the buildings, which tend to stay where they […]
CRE ‘appalled’ at widespread workplace racism
After 30 years of race relations and legislation protecting ethnic minorities at work, the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) is appalled that racism is still widespread in workplaces across the UK.Of 5,000 complaints made to the CRE in the past six months, 43 per cent relate to racism at work. The most common complaints are […]
Government launches Employ Ability scheme
With an estimated 600,000 job vacancies in the British economy to fill, the government has launched a new scheme to spell out the benefits of employing disabled people.Employ Ability aims to highlight the benefits of employing disabled people and dispel some of the myths.Work and pensions secretary John Hutton said: “We will not succeed in […]
UK bottom of the EU holiday league
The UK, along with the Netherlands and Romania, is languishing at the bottom of the EU member states’ holiday league.Research by Mercer Consulting added together the minimum statutory annual leave plus public holidays – and found that entitlements for an employee working five days a week with 10 years’ service varied from 28 days to […]
Venus and Mars in the interview room
Could a gung-ho, risk-taking attitude at work be giving men a head start on the career-ladder? Trainer Byron Kalies looks at how women with a cautious nature may be disadvantaged in the interview process. I am reluctant to write about one particular issue for HR: the differences between men and women. I have noticed that […]
Ask the expert: Maternity returner
What should you do if an employee, who is due to return to work after maternity leave, calls at the last minute to say she is not returning for a while due to a sick child? Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner and employment law specialist at Mills & Reeve, advise. […]
Home Working: A recipe for sloth and suspicion? By Annie Hayes
Forming a major relationship with your slippers and This Morning’s competition time are just some of the indulgent delights enjoyed by that strange breed of salary suckers, the home worker; but is the reality as shiny and how do managers conquer that pesky trust issue? Annie Hayes reports. In May the UK celebrated its second […]
Consolidation looms over HR software industry. By John Stokdyk
If you are a regular visitor to the CIPD’s HR Software Show (taking place on 21-22 June at Olympia,London) one of the games you can play to fill idle moments is to guess which of the exhibitors is likely to get swallowed up before next year’s event. A couple of years ago, the likes of […]
HR Awards
Awards… love them or hate them? Undoubtedly a bit of a ‘Marmite’ subject.Do you think entering HR awards is all about vanity? Maybe you dismiss them as magazines/institutes making a bit of cash/publicity, or do you see them as a driver of excellence?Maybe you see the writing of award submissions as an unwanted distraction, or […]
HR Tip: Confidential information on employees over the phone
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: "Someone telephoned us to ask if a certain named person – one of our employees – worked here. I did not know what to do so asked them to ring back. What […]
EAPs: The deeper you dive
Employee Assistance Programmes have been highly commoditised and packaged in recent years but Paul Avis, corporate development manager at Ceridian, explores what services are on offer and confirms that you still get what you pay for. Employer benefit, rather than the employee benefit, is the future! As you step into the clear waters of the […]
Juggling not struggling
UK bosses are missing out on the huge benefits that flexible working can bring to their businesses, explains Kate Milner, WebEx Communications. From October 1 this year, the right to request flexible working hours is extended to carers of adults in the UK, reflecting the dramatic shift in working patterns that UK employees have […]
Watch what you say – Or your boss will. By Louise Druce
Would you expect the boss to let you nip off to the supermarket every five minutes during work? Probably not. Yet some staff still happily spend hours trawling the net looking for bargains during company hours, or emailing their mates about plans for the weekend. It may seem harmless but, as Louise Druce finds out, […]
A guide to the smoking ban
Consultant Sandra Beale explains what the smoking ban in public places in England from July 1 will mean for business. From 1 July 2007 in England all smoking in enclosed public places will be banned. It is already banned in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (from 30 April 2007). The ban covers pubs, bars, private […]
Make the most of temps’ skills
Investors in People (IiP) is urging employers to make more of an effort to integrate temporary workers so they can benefit from the skills and experience temps bring with them.It’s estimated that 1.2 million temps keep businesses in the UK moving each week – but IiP says many do not know what’s expected of them, […]
Mental health problems on the increase
Research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) reveals there has been a sharp increase in the number of employees taking time off sick for mental health problems.The examination of 30,000 absence records across 40 organisations reveals that musculoskeletal conditions are still the number one cause of time lost due to sickness with […]
