Satirist’s spot: Head office
In the first of an exclusive series which takes a wry look at the business world, the apparently corrupted principles of Head Office come in for the chop. Located an uncomfortable 10 minutes’ walk in the rain, snow or scorching summer sun from any tube station or bus stop, the group headquarters are nevertheless a […]
Ask the expert: Disciplinary for not attending a disciplinary?
Can you discipline an employee for failing to attend a disciplinary hearing? Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner and employment law specialist at Mills and Reeve, offer legal advice. The question:How would deal with a situation where an employee has been investigated and then invited to a disciplinary (not for gross […]
Bill on agency workers rights fails
The private member’s bill on equal treatment for agency workers failed to make it through its second reading in the House of Commons on Friday due to government opposition.Introduced by MP Paul Farrelly and backed by unions including Amicus, the bill aimed to give equal treatment to agency workers and permanent employees from day one.But […]
Tread carefully with offshoring says CIPD
Following the decision of Lloyds TSB to close its call centre in Mumbai and bring the work back to the UK, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is urging organisation to consider the people management challenges and potential pitfalls of offshoring.The CIPD’s offshoring survey reveals that 15 per cent of organisations with experience […]
Ethnic minorities face barriers to employment
Hot on the heels of the Equalities Review comes research from the Department for Work and Pensions confirming that people from ethnic minorities – particularly Muslim woman – continue to face employment gaps.The research, Persistent Employment Disadvantage, analyses the probability of being in employment based on different combinations of ethnic and religious group. The report […]
Everybody’s going surfing…
New research has revealed that 80 per cent of employees admit to surfing the web or answering personal email while they’re at work – and it’s not just a matter of a few minutes: the average time spent surfing is more than four hours a week.The research was carried out by Peninsula BusinessWise which was […]
TUC and CIPD combine to offer age advice
The TUC and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) have joined forces to produce a guide which offers useful advice to both employers and employees on the age discrimination regulations.The guide Managing age: A guide to good employment practice, covers recruitment; selection and promotion; pay; retirement; benefits and pensions; health and safety; redundancy, […]
HR Tip: Implied terms of contract
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: "What are "implied terms" in a contract of employment?" HR Tip:They are terms that have not been expressed orally or in writing but nevertheless form part of the contract of employment. Some […]
Getting managers to develop their staff. By John Pope
In the second of this new series on HR strategy, management consultant John Pope explains why managerial involvement in development programmes is crucial and he outlines how to achieve this. Losing good people? People losing their ‘edge’? You lost a very competent and high potential manager recently. At the exit interview you asked why she […]
Making international benefits work. By Lucie Benson
Benefits packages offered to employees are usually based on employee demands, local taxation and legislation, amongst other factors. In multinational organisations, however, HR can be faced with the task of taking these local issues into account, whilst at the same time remaining market competitive around the world. Lucie Benson looks into what types of international […]
Guidance on what makes a worker
Although all employees are workers, not all workers are employees and there’s no easy legal definition of a worker. Among other rights, workers are entitled to protection against discrimination and the national minimum wage but if you can’t define a worker, then who does the legislation apply to?Now the employment appeal tribunal (EAT) has set […]
What is good work?
The health benefits of good work have been trumpeted – but what, exactly, is good work?That’s the question that Department of Work and Pensions minister Lord McKenzie has called on businesses, charities and government to answer in a series of four events, the first of which was hosted by the Work Foundation earlier this week.Lord […]
Equalities Review publishes final report
Equality isn’t just a minority issue – the Equalities Review’s final report Fairness and Freedom reveals that women with children under the age of 11 are more than 40 per cent more likely to be out of work than men, not all of which is by choice.The finding that motherhood is the biggest barrier to […]
Age discrimination – Tackling transition
“From 2007, enlightened employers must start to design and implement radical new age management strategies if they want to generate real business benefits from the ‘demographic time bomb’ and retain engaged, healthy and productive mature workers,” argues Richard Ciechan, managing director of age legislation consultancy In My Prime. 2006 was the year of Age Discrimination […]
Absence policies and line management training: what if they don’t work?
“The UK is now leading the world in absence management and integrated, total, comprehensive healthcare solutions. The problem is that employers do not routinely seem to want to engage with such solutions, however good,” argues consultant Paul Avis. Employers still remain blissfully unaware of the implications of when a line manager fails to properly enforce […]
HR tips 2006
All our HR tips from 2006: click on the links to read any of the HR tips. December 2006Resignation and referencesDifferent disciplinary offences November 2006Behaviour outside workFirst in, last out redundancy selectionStaff appraisalsDisabilitySubmitting grievances October 2006Probation periods and continuous serviceMultiple sclerosisAppeal against Employment Tribunal decisionRefusal to accept written particulars September 2006Providing prescription spectaclesRacially based nicknamesFoster parents and flexible […]
How’s your parrot? Why ‘shemail’ could harm your career. By Sarah Fletcher
If you want to be taken seriously at work, cut the fluff. Women risk being ignored as serious business minds because their email style is flowery and ambles around the point before reaching the real reason for contact, new research claims. According to Drs Monica Seeley and Niki Panteli in Gender and Communication at Work, […]
Ask the expert: Reversing appeal decisions
Can an appeal manager dismiss an employee after verbally agreeing to overturn the decision? Martin Brewer, partner and employment law specialist at Mills and Reeve, and Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, offer legal advice. The question:If an appeal manager gives a decision to overturn dismissal verbally to the employee but then overnight reflects that […]
Why use training needs analysis? By Matt Henkes
Unfortunately, most people are familiar with that heavy feeling that occurs in some poor soul undertaking a training course which they feel is utterly unnecessary. The resulting malaise is fruitless for the employee and pointlessly expensive for the employer. What is needed is well sourced training which is so watertight in its application and relevance […]
EOC takes government to court over ‘unclear’ law
The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has started judicial review proceedings over the way the government has implemented the European Equal Treatment Amendment Directive. Although welcoming the directive, the EOC argues that the regulations the government has introduced to implement it don’t go far enough and could mean the loss of rights which have been given […]
