Any Answers: Allocating holidays fairly
Paul Strickland advises how to allocate holidays without demoralising staff by hiring students as cost effective temporary cover.View the original post The main thing here is to keep your staff happy so don’t be too quick to dismiss holiday cover – even the smallest offices rely on cover for staff sickness, maternity leave and holidays.You […]
Date given for legal challenge to age laws
In a masterpiece of timing the High Court has set a date for the legal challenge to the regulations.The judicial review has been brought by Heyday, the membership organisation for people in or nearing retirement, and the hearing is set for December 6 – early in legal terms.And in another unusual move, the court is […]
Britannia allows staff to work until 70
Britannia Building Society has changed its HR policies to allow staff to work until the age of 70.The change was brought about by a review of HR policies and procedures in the light of the age discrimination legislation – the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations – which comes into force on October 1.From Sunday, Britannia employees […]
All change for Corporate Manslaughter Bill?
Unions defeated the Labour Party leadership in yesterday’s conference vote on the corporate manslaughter bill.After a 10-year gestation, the penalties in the corporate manslaughter bill are confined to company fines but delegates at the conference voted in favour of amending the bill so individual directors can be imprisoned for up to 14 years.The vote was […]
Briefing: New maternity and family friendly rules
With the spotlight being firmly on the introduction of age discrimination legislation, implemented as of 1 October 2006, the introduction of the Work & Families Act 2006 on the same day seems to have faded into the background. HR consultant Sandra Beale reports. This important piece of legislation brings some quite dramatic changes to existing […]
New legislation round-up
Age discrimination and family-friendly policies have been dominating the headlines but as one of the government’s two standard implementation dates for employment legislation, other changes are also taking place on Sunday.The first is the annual change to the National Minimum Wage (NMW). But as well as the new rates, there are also some changes to […]
Practical effects of age discrimination
What does the future hold for CVs and job titles once age discrimination rules come into force on Sunday?They are just two of the questions research by project management recruitment specialists Arras People has raised.The headline finding of a 40 per cent lack of awareness broadly supports the Employers Forum on Age’s findings earlier this […]
What’s the answer? Part-timers sick pay
Chris Burgess gets legal guidance this week from Helen Badger, employment law expert, Browne Jacobson and Martin Brewer, a Partner with the employment team of Mills & Reeve on sick payments for part-time staff. The question: We have a number of workers whose work is not time dependent and they can come into the office […]
Podcasts new weapon in graduate hunt
Cadbury Schweppes added podcasts to its armoury in its efforts to track down the graduate recruits it needs for 2007.Today’s graduates have a higher expectation of being able to use the internet as a primary source of information and communication. September 2005 saw the launch of the first graduate blog, offering an insight into a […]
Pay settlements hold steady
Pay settlements are holding steady as the current bargaining year draws to a close, according to pay specialists Industrial Relations Services (IRS).Analysis of the latest pay settlements reveals that basic pay awards are at an average 3 per cent in the three months to the end of August 2006. Of these, 64 per cent were […]
Half of working Brits unaware of age legislation
With just days to go before new anti-age discrimination regulations come into force new reserach reveals that half of working Brits aren’t even aware of the forthcoming changes.The shocking findings of the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) also revealed that ageist attitudes are ‘alive and kicking’. When asked to identify the ‘perfect age group’ for […]
HR Tip: Attitude problems
HRD & Payroll Solutions continues to bring HR Zone members a range of HR and payroll tips in 2006. A market leader in the provision of HR and Payroll training and nationally recognised professional qualifications, HRD & Payroll Solutions are highly experienced in teaching about common HR and payroll problems. A wide selection of tips, […]
Age discrimination – Is your business ready? By Rebecca Benneyworth
Most employers are aware that new age discrimination rules come into effect this weekend, but how many know the wide reaching effects of the changes and how much work will be needed to satisfy the new rules? By Rebecca Benneyworth.The age discrimination legislation comes into force on 1 October, and effectively bans all forms of […]
HR directors more age discriminatory than public
A survey by BUPA has revealed that HR directors and managers are more likely to discriminate on the grounds of age than the general public.Two-thirds of the 200 senior HR personnel interviewed believed the retirement age should be 65, whereas three-quarters of the general public believe that people should carry on working for as long […]
E-help service offers new hope for working fathers
As new family-friendly legislation comes into force next week, so the work-life balance charity Working Families has secured lottery funding to launch an e-help service via text and email.The service is particularly aimed at dads because research has shown that men prefer texting and email to phone lines.The service will allow ‘callers’ to email or […]
New HR research centre opened
Manpower and the London School of Economics have teamed up to launch a new research centre for HR.The Manpower HR Lab aims to establish a leading centre for the study and analysis of the impact of human resource and labour market decisions and trends on productivity at corporate, national and global levels. To do this, […]
Off the record: Temp claims unfair dismissal
I recently received an employment tribunal claim from someone we employed on a temporary contract. At the end of the contract, we did not renew his contract and he is claiming unfair dismissal saying that we are in breach of regulations specifically designed to protect employees on fixed-term contracts. Has he got a case? Ranjit […]
Any Answers: Fun ways to achieve the diversity challenge
In response to an Any Answers posting on how to do it, Skye Mackie of Skills Boosters LIVE shares her tips on how to create a diversity course that is interactive, informative and fun. Designing courses that are interactive, informative and enjoyable is a key ingredient for all successful training initiatives. And there’s no reason […]
Employers need support if pension reforms are to work
The director general of the CBI told a fringe meeting at the Labour party conference today that employers will need a comprehensive support package from government if its pension white paper proposals are to succeed.Richard Lambert warned that the proposed legislation, which includes automatic pension scheme enrolment and compulsory company contributions, will be hard for […]
Gloucestershire police discriminated against white men
The boundary between illegal positive discrimination and legal positive action can be difficult to judge – as Gloucestershire police have found.A tribunal awarded £2,500 for injury to feelings to Matt Powell, who had applied to the force but then received a letter saying he had been ‘randomly deselected’ from the process. The BBC reports that […]
