Bosses told to ‘plan ahead’ for smoking ban
Employers are being urged to plan ahead for next summer’s smoking ban after research revealed unsuspecting bosses could be walking into a legal minefield.Croner research conducted earlier this year showed that up to a quarter of businesses misunderstood the basic intentions of the Health Bill, leaving them liable for prosecution when the Bill becomes law.Current […]
HR Zone Briefing #308 – Benefits: What’s the alternative?
================================================================ HR Briefing Issue 308 – 10 August 2006 http://www.hrzone.co.uk ================================================================ ********************** Featured Sponsors *********************** Managing risks – Free report http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/hewitt3a.html Dentistry – Complimentary white paper http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/healthsure2a.html **************************************************************** Editor’s Note ============= From Honda’s race-finishing position bonus to HSA’s save to buy property scheme, employers are becoming ever more inventive in the rewards they offer to […]
Young workers claim age discrimination too
Young workers are more likely to feel their progression has been hindered because of their age compared to their older counterparts.The finding comes in new research by YouGov for insurers Royal & Sun Alliance (R&SA).A seventh (14 per cent) of young people, under 25 years old, felt discriminated against in the workplace due to their […]
Benefits: What’s the alternative? By Annie Hayes
With a tight labour market in our midst and fierce competition for key talent burgeoning, organisations are being forced into being ever more inventive with their benefits; in this feature Annie Hayes, HR Zone Editor reports on the range of ‘alternative’ schemes on offer in UK plc. Engaging the workforce:Charles Cotton, reward adviser at the […]
No price for failure at Whitehall
Top civil servants feel they are not held accountable for poor performance and that Parliamentary scrutiny of them is ineffective, according to new research published by the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr).Researchers were given unprecedented access to ten permanent secretaries and eight ministers in a year-long programme.A survey of senior civil servants obtained by […]
Two thirds of top civil servants unqualified
Just two per cent of top civil servants hold professional HR qualifications and only one in three hold professional qualifications of any description.The findings come from Cabinet Office data revealed in a new report, to be published by the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr).It shows that the number of top civil servants holding professional […]
Are your employee benefits cost effective?
Can you measure the return on your benefits investment? How much is it costing you? Alan Fergusson, Director of the Employee Benefits Division of Kudos Independent Financial Services has the answers. Twenty to thirty per cent of an employer’s total outgoings can be spent on employee benefits. According to Alan Fergusson, Director of Employee Benefits […]
HR Practitioner’s Diary: Feeling the heat
HR consultant, Sue Kingston shares her latest HR antics including dress-code battles during the heatwave, ways to navigate the Investors in People assessment and coaching for the over-50s; read on to catch-up with all her news plus more of those vital boyfriend and diet revelations. Month: July 2006 Wow, what a heatwave we’ve […]
Landmark judgment in disability sick pay case
An employment appeal tribunal (EAT) has ruled that employers do not have a duty to give full pay to disabled employees on long-term sick leave.The EAT found that HM Revenue & Customs did not breach the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) by offering Mrs K O’Hanlon six months standard pay followed by six months half-pay.Mrs O’Hanlon, […]
Psychometrics spotlight: The Benchmarks Questionnaire
In the latest of our series putting the range of psychometric tests under the spotlight we look at the Benchmarks questionnaire. The further up the organisational hierarchy an individual progresses, the harder they can find it to receive honest feedback on their performance. This is however an essential aspect of individual development, particularly for business […]
HR Zone Members Newswire #163 – Employee E-abuse: A Major Business Concern?
================================================================ HR Zone Members Newswire Issue 163 8 August 2006 www.hrzone.co.uk ================================================================ ********************** Featured Sponsors *********************** Free ePolicy handbook – how to avoid employee internet misuse http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/stbernard_a.html Bullying factsheet http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/croner20a.html **************************************************************** Editor’s note ============= Creeping levels of employee email and internet use for personal purposes could, arguably, be the payoff for longer working hours. But […]
Employee e-abuse: A major business concern? By Sarah Fletcher
Sarah Fletcher asked HR Zone members whether a lenient approach to employees’ use of company email and internet facilities is a sound business move. As the global use of email and the internet grows, so does the potential for electronically sending and receiving arguably offensive content. Cases involving employees being dismissed for viewing pornography online […]
HR Tip: Jury service
These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications. Q: “One of our supervisors has been called up for jury service. What are our rights in this matter as his employer?” A: You must not prevent the employee from attending otherwise you […]
TUC paves way for employee snooping
The TUC has launched a new service which enables employees to uncover facts about the company they work for.All the information is already in the public domain – usually in annual reports filed at Companies House – but the TUC has brought details of shareholders, profits and losses, directors’ pay and staff pay and pensions […]
EU signals way forward for discrimination against smokers
The EU might be known for its keenness to pass anti-discrimination legislation – but its equality policies don’t extend to smokers.In a written answer – vetted by EU lawyers – commissioner Vladimir Spidla said that anti-discrimination laws only “prohibits discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, disability, age, sexual orientation and religion and […]
Employers fail to take bullying at work seriously
Just days after former company secretary Helen Green won more than £800,000 after her employers failed to stop office bullies, a new survey shows just how widespread the problem of bullying is.The results from Peninsula’s survey indicate that 81 per cent of employees had been bullied at work – and 74 per cent would not […]
Any Answers: Maternity leave and working for a second employer
Understanding the finer points of maternity leave regulations can be complicated; in this feature HR Zone member and HR Consultant Kathryn Aldred responds to an Any Answers posting about the legalities of working for a second employer whilst on additional maternity leave. Firstly, there is a two week period of leave called compulsory leave, which […]
What’s the answer? Appearance as a selection criteria at interview
Sam Swinstead gets legal guidance this week from Helen Badger, employment law expert at Browne Jacobson and Martin Brewer, a Partner with the employment team of Mills & Reeve on whether it’s valid to select on the basis of looks. The question:A colleague and I are having a debate about the validity/fairness of assessing candidates […]
Off the record: How do I deal with a flexible working request that I don’t wish to grant?
Daniel Isaac, principal in the employment team at City law firm, Withers explains how to stay on the right side of the law. When the right to apply for flexible working was introduced in 2002, many lawyers saw it as a charter for refusal. The grounds on which employers could refuse applications seemed all encompassing […]
Colborn’s Corner: HR as Brand Managers
For many, HR has become a fairly traditional role with pretty well defined responsibilities, but do we have wider responsibilities than those typically associated with the function? In the latest edition of his column Quentin Colborn argues that we all have a marketing role to play – albeit that the product is not necessarily as […]
