Video CVs: Is this the future of recruitment?
Video CVs are increasingly used in recruitment, allowing candidates to stand out and helping HR directors assess presentation skills and interview readiness. VoIP technology enables cost-effective remote interviewing across geographic distances, though questions remain about diversity implications for UK workplaces.
Colborn’s Corner: Working from home
Working from home remains underutilized despite technological advances that make it feasible. While remote work offers flexibility benefits, concerns about employee accountability and the social aspects of workplace interaction continue to limit widespread adoption across UK businesses.
TUC calls for new October bank holiday
The TUC and voluntary organizations are calling for a new October bank holiday to encourage community involvement and celebrate volunteers. They argue the extra holiday would offset costs through increased volunteering activity, worth over £40 billion annually in England.
Trustees to administer personal pensions accounts
Trustees will administer the new personal pensions accounts system launching in 2012, with legal obligations to act in members’ best interests. A members’ panel will be established to ensure member views influence trustee decisions, similar to the U.S. Thrift Savings Plan model.
Employers urged to promote staff health
The government is urging employers to promote staff health through workplace gyms and healthy food options, while supporting disabled employees in finding and retaining work. Ministers emphasize that preventing ill-health and maintaining supportive workplace cultures are key to reducing employment barriers and improving social inclusion.
Bloggy hell!
A survey reveals that 39% of bloggers post details about their workplace, with some sharing sensitive information that could damage their employer. Businesses should update employment contracts and internet policies to address blogging risks, including confidentiality breaches and potential misconduct issues.
Knowledge management: Is HR in the know? By Rob Lewis
Knowledge management promised to revolutionize business by sharing collective expertise, but early implementations faltered due to over-emphasis on technology rather than people. HR professionals remain largely absent from KM initiatives despite their obvious role in fostering knowledge-sharing culture and informal learning environments.
Change management: Get it right
Effective change management requires leaders to provide clear vision, establish values, and build team capability. David Kelly outlines five practical steps leaders can use to help employees understand change and navigate transitions successfully, from mergers and acquisitions to organizational restructuring.
Ask the expert: Appeal hearings and notice pay
During an employee appeal after dismissal, you typically owe no additional salary if the original termination decision stands, since employment ended on the termination date despite the ongoing appeal. If the appeal succeeds and the employee is reinstated, you must pay them for the period between termination and reinstatement that wasn’t covered by notice pay.
HR Zone’s Maternity Law Briefing 2007: Where next? By Annie Hayes
UK maternity law expanded on April 1, 2007, extending statutory maternity pay from 6 to 39 weeks across nine months. HR Zone’s briefing highlighted key changes including Keeping in Touch days and practical administration challenges for employers managing the new entitlements.
Work and Families Act Q&A
The Work and Families Act 2006 extended maternity and adoption leave to 12 months, with Statutory Maternity Pay now covering 39 weeks. Employers must observe a two-week compulsory maternity leave period following childbirth, during which employees cannot return to work.
HR Tip: Sex discrimination because we have only male engineer apprentices?
Having only male engineering apprentices may constitute unlawful discrimination even if no female candidates apply. Employers must actively recruit and attract female candidates through targeted outreach, advertisements, and school engagement to demonstrate non-discriminatory hiring practices.
Changes in the Law what would you like to see.
This post explores proposed reforms to UK employment law, including changes to TUPE regulations, stricter penalties for non-compliance, tribunal service improvements, and modifications to employment rights procedures. The author presents ten key suggestions for strengthening worker protections and employment dispute resolution.
Corporate manslaughter: Are we failing our staff? By Lucie Benson
A proposed corporate manslaughter bill could soon hold organizations more accountable for workplace deaths caused by gross negligence. With 124 worker deaths recorded in recent months, employers must strengthen safety policies and procedures to protect staff and comply with health and safety regulations.
The dark side of agency work
A TUC survey of 2,500 agency workers reveals significant gaps in protections, with 56% lacking equal holiday rights and 61% denied equivalent sick pay compared to permanent staff. The findings highlight concerns about fair treatment, limited career development, and difficulties raising workplace complaints among vulnerable workers.
All’s fair in love and war? By Charles Price
When employees leave, employers can use restrictive covenants to protect trade secrets and confidential business information from being disclosed to competitors. However, these agreements are only enforceable if they reasonably protect legitimate business interests and don’t impose unreasonable restraints on trade.
Ask the expert: Group fighting
A casual worker fired after a group fight on a work coach may have unfair dismissal rights depending on their employment status. Legal experts explain that casual workers with mutual obligations to their employer could claim unfair treatment, though employers may justify dismissing all involved if they cannot identify specific perpetrators.
Are our industry magazines letting us down?
Industry magazines may not be meeting HR professionals’ needs, according to one employee benefits MD who argues that trade press coverage lacks depth and practical guidance. Rather than addressing complex workplace challenges, publications often oversimplify topics like benefits communication with basic advice that experienced HR managers already know, potentially underestimating their audience’s expertise.
Leading in tough times
Effective leadership during challenging times requires innovation rather than cost-cutting and retrenchment. Experts argue that combining creativity with calculated risk-taking drives the organizational change needed to navigate difficult business environments successfully.
Discrimination still rife says ILO
The International Labour Office reports that workplace discrimination persists globally despite progress, citing gender pay gaps, underrepresentation of women in leadership, and emerging forms of discrimination based on age, sexual orientation, disability, and genetic status.
