Discrimination an increasingly burning issue
Dealing with discrimination and equal opportunities is becoming an increasingly burning issue for employers. That’s according to the second Burning Issues barometer published by the manufacturers’ organisation EEF.Discrimination and equal opportunities now rank fourth in the table – up from tenth in the first six months of 2006 – with EEF receiving more than twice […]
The cost of sick leave
Sick leave costs the economy 175 million working days – £13.4 billion a year – and employers believe that 12 per cent of absences are faked, according to research by the CBI and AXA.The research revealed that the average worker takes seven days a year off sick and long-term absence of 20 days or more […]
New law expected in 2007. By Charles Price
Barrister Charles Price details the new legislation expected in 2007. Smokers forced into the open As the law stands there is no specific provision requiring or preventing employers from banning or allowing smoking at work. This changes in England on 1 July 2007 when smokers will find that virtually all substantially enclosed public places and […]
Gender Equality Duty now in force
It’s been described as the biggest change to sex discrimination law for 30 years – and it came into force last Friday.The Gender Equality Duty places the onus on public authorities to promote sex equality and end sex discrimination – and effective plans to achieve this must be in place by the end of this […]
Age discrimination regulations have little impact
Six months after the age discrimination regulations came into force, research reveals they are yet to have an impact – with 20 per cent of Brits saying that age has stood in the way of them getting a job.And the biggest problems are faced by younger people – with 27 per cent of 16-24 year-olds […]
Jobs at the touch of a button
With just a touch of a button, digital TV viewers will have access to a national job search engine thanks to a partnership between Jobcentre Plus and Looking Local, the local government digital TV portal.Jobseekers will be able to search the 400,000 vacancies that Jobcentres across the country are advertising by postcode.Employment minister Jim Murphy […]
Ask the expert: Employee unwilling to work notice period
An employee resigns but refuses to work their notice period. Can they be fired for breach of contract? Martin Brewer, partner and employment law specialist at Mills & Reeve, and Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, offer legal advice. The question:An employee in a sales position, who has been with us for less than six […]
Are you passionate enough for HR?
Being passionate about the business you work in is crucial to success as an HR professional, argues Steve Foster, HR business strategy manager of consultancy Northgate HR. We shouldn't underestimate the power of passion in business – it's what drives people to perform at their best and leads to high levels of energy, commitment and […]
Spelling mistakes on application forms
Your interesting article: ‘Poor literacy spells disaster for job hunters’ struck a chord with me. I work as the Press officer for ‘The Simplified Spelling Society’, an educational reform group set up in 1908 who campaign for spelling reform. The Simplified Spelling Society’s main motivation is to make things easier, and fairer for the 1 […]
Colborn’s corner: Smoking ban – Just hot air?
This week legislation came into force prohibiting smoking in public places in Wales, with similar legislation coming into play in Northern Ireland and England later in the year. Should this bother us as HR professionals? What impact will this have on contracts of employment? More basically, what does the law mean? There are a few […]
HR Tip: Disclosing employees’ birthdays
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: “If someone asks for the date of birth of a colleague and says that it is because they want to send a birthday card we give them the day and month but […]
Resolving disputes in the workplace. By Lucie Benson
Resolving workplace disputes at an early stage is obviously critical if you want to avoid considerable stress for both employer and employee, as well as save valuable time and money. But what happens when the people concerned have discussed their issues in an informal environment and still can’t come to a mutually-agreeable conclusion? Lucie Benson […]
Promotion: Get it right. By John Pope
When selecting an employee for promotion, an organisation needs to think carefully about how this will affect and challenge the business. Management consultant John Pope reveals the factors to take into consideration when moving staff up the career ladder. Organisations do not always think carefully enough when choosing someone to be promoted. Most of us […]
On your marks for all-change Friday
Tomorrow is the commencement date for a range of employment legislation, including new family-friendly policies and consultation duties.But according to a survey by Peninsula BusinessWise, many organisations don’t realise the scope of the new legislation.And although a survey by CIPD/KPMG is more optimistic when it comes to the state of preparedness, it reveals that only […]
Names can really hurt me
Name-calling, bullying and harassment have been at the heart of complaints under the both the sexual orientation and the religion or belief regulations, according to research by Acas.Both sets of regulations came into force in December 2003. The Acas research looked at cases brought between January 2004 and September 2006. During that time, 470 individuals […]
Government helps fund senior part-time posts
The government has announced it’s to spend nearly £500,000 on helping organisations create more quality part-time jobs at senior level in a bid to reduce the gender pay gap.Successful bidders for funds from the Quality Part Time Work Fund include Kelloggs, Tescos, Royal Mail, Durham Constabulary, three local authorities and four voluntary sector organisations.Supporting employers […]
Snakes on a workplace blog
Google offers a lot of interesting staff benefits – taking pets to work being one of them. But when a 3ft ball python escaped in the company’s New York office last weekend, the first thing the company had to do was persuade staff it wasn’t an April fool.It seems that the claims that bringing pets […]
TUC urges English employers to beat the smoking ban
The TUC is urging English employers to get their act together to beat the smoking ban, which comes into force on 1 July. The call follows the start of the smoking ban in Wales on 2 April.Every year around 700 workers die as a result of second-hand smoke inhaled at their place of work, and […]
The onus on the bonus: managing team rewards. By Rob Lewis
Since the publication of John Makinson’s “Incentives for Change” report in 2000, the public sector has been busy trying to implement reward systems that concentrate on the team, and not just the individual. The private sector has been playing catch-up ever since. But is that how the real world works? Rob Lewis wonders if businesses […]
Ask the expert: absence management and salary review
Is it legal to introduce a policy which denies pay rises based on the absenteeism rate over the previous year? Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner and employment law specialist at Mills & Reeve, give their advice. The question:My company has implemented a new absence management procedure, which started in November […]
