HR Tip: Issuing contracts of employment to employee with no contract on record
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: "An employee who has been with us for several years is now demanding his contract of employment. We almost certainly issued one when he joined us but we have no record. How […]
Pensions turmoil continues for government
For the second time in less than a month the government has suffered a partial defeat in a pensions case.This time round four pensioners – Henry Bradley, Andrew Parr, Rob Duncan and Tom Waugh – took the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to the High Court in a judicial review of its decision to […]
Employee benefits: Fit the person to the perk
“There’s an abundance of incentives out there to inspire employees to go that extra mile or to reward someone for a job well done. However choosing an appropriate staff reward is not that simple, given the range of incentives and varying requirements of employees. It is important to know what makes an employee tick so […]
How CSR can boost HR: an interview with TomDunn by Sarah Fletcher
Recruitment business TomDunn is an excellent example of how a company’s values can drive the business and improve the profile of HR. Sarah Fletcher spoke to Stuart Thomas, head of HR at TomDunn, on why CSR can move HR from an administration function to a strategic player and why social responsibility is key to the […]
Colborn’s corner: Empowerment – Who’s kidding who?
Shopping can be a very mixed activity; some will embrace it and see the expedition as true retail therapy, while for others it can be a necessary evil. A recent shopping trip has led Quentin to consider the freedom we give our staff and whether organisations live out the values they espouse. Mentioning no names […]
Why a learning and development function is key
William Doherty, a senior consultant with OnTrack International, explains why a learning and development department is a key function of any business. The question, why have a learning and development (L&D) department, comes up year after year. The answer is straightforward: “To develop the people so they can increase the competitive advantage and value of […]
Don’t forget sexual orientation when reviewing equal opps policies
Employers have been warned to review their equal opportunities policies after a gay man who was called a ‘wee poof’ by his boss was awarded a record pay-out of nearly £120,000.Law firm DWF says the case shows that firms who breach the rules could face potentially crippling penalties, since there is no upper limit on […]
Consultation on protecting agency workers
The government has launched a consultation on its plans to protect vulnerable agency workers and clamp down on rogue companies.Measures set out in the consultation document include: Giving workers a clear right to withdraw from accommodation, transport or other services provided by an agency without suffering any detriment Plans to alert potential migrant workers to […]
Long hours not the real workplace issue
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has hit out at the TUC’s work your proper hours day, which takes place on Friday, saying that by concentrating on long hours it misses the point.It argues that for UK employers, the real challenge is reducing stress and pressure in the workplace, which are usually down […]
Employers confident about managing religious issues in the workplace
Most employers are fairly confident about their ability to manage work-related issues arising from employees’ religion or belief – but only one in three has an explicit policy for doing so.But research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) indicates that while two thirds of organisations support people in meeting religious dress codes, […]
Ask the expert: Can they do this at interview?
Can a senior member of staff tell a job candidate that their attitude stinks? Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner and employment law specialist at Mills and Reeve, offer legal advice. The question:A candidate has recently applied for a post you have advertised and has gone through the interview and testing […]
Change Management – Why is it so difficult to get right? By Bettina Pickering
To welcome change, we need to understand why we will benefit from the development and how to manage it. Bettina Pickering of PA Consulting Group explains the key factors of change management. Change is the one thing we can be sure of constantly happening in our lives, so shouldn’t we be used to it by […]
Employee wellbeing: Teaching from the top. By Annie Lawler
To be treated seriously and to deliver the desired positive outcomes, employee wellbeing has to become part of company culture and the example must start at the top, argues Annie Lawler in the next of her series looking at stress. Take breaks for example. We currently have a culture which encourages us to be on […]
So your middle managers aren’t performing? What have you been doing?
The poor performance of middle managers costs the UK £220 billion a year, but who’s to blame? Management consultant John Pope investigates. According to a survey of directors and senior managers on the quality of their middle managers, poor middle manager performance costs the UK economy some £220 billion a year. And 40 percent of […]
Age ruling bad news for Heyday
An opinion by an advocate general from European Court of Justice (ECJ) in a Spanish case could be bad news for the legal action being taken against the UK government by campaigning group Heyday.Advocate general Jan Mazak’s opinion in the case of Félix Palacios de la Villa v Cortefiel Servicios SA is that age discrimination […]
Forget expired written warnings in dismissal cases
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that expired written warnings can never be taken into account when deciding to dismiss someone for misconduct.Four employees were found watching TV when not on a break, only one was dismissed for the misconduct and the only difference between the four was that he had received a written warning […]
When’s best for innovative thinking?
Is there a time of day when workers in your organisation are at their most innovative and creative?That was the question economic agency Cornwall Enterprise set out to answer when the county became a magnet for inward migration from individuals and businesses working in fast-growth sectors like media, healthcare and environmental technology.And the answer was […]
Pay increases at eight-year high
The average pay increase is now 3.5 per cent – up 0.5 per cent on the previous quarter and at their highest since November 1998 – according to two quarterly reports.Both pay specialists Industrial Relations Services (IRS) and the Labour Market Outlook survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and KPMG are […]
Feeling fat? You’ll pay for it. By Sarah Fletcher
By February, the guilt of gorging on the local supermarket’s entire confectionary aisle over Christmas has usually passed. If you faced the New Year as fat as a small elephant, by now you’ve probably given up on dieting or exercise and have resigned yourself to another year of chubbiness. However, this could be an expensive […]
HR Tip: Unfair and wrongful dismissal
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: "Are unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal the same thing? We tend to use the terms interchangeably." HR Tip: They are quite different. Unfair dismissal relates to the "why?", the reason for dismissal. Dismissal […]
