Company of the week: Mills & Reeve
Annie Hayes spoke to Sandy Boyle, Mills & Reeve’s HR Director about why flex is best. *Benefits stats*Benefits offered: Pension – group stakeholder plan. Permanent health insurance. Life assurance. Private medical assurance. Holidays – 25 days plus an extra day at Christmas. Enhanced maternity/paternity leave. Company Doctor. Employee assistance scheme. Wedding leave. Moving leave. Residential […]
What’s the answer? Right to part time work
Kirsa Edwards 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 the right to request flexible working. The question:Help, I think I may have messed up! We have an employee who has requested to work part […]
Unemployment at highest rate for six years
New government figures show that unemployment in May had risen to 5.4 per cent, its highest rate for six years.The Office of National Statistics (ONS) said unemployment rose by 90,000 during the three months to May to stand at 1.65 million. The claimant count – the number of people claiming unemployment benefit – rose by […]
Law lords make employers responsible for bullying
Five law lords have upheld a Court of Appeal decision that makes employers liable for bullying in the workplace.The landmark decision means that employees who are the victims of bullying can take legal action under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. This means that they no longer have to prove that the bullying caused an […]
A Quarter of Managers Back Mandatory Human Capital Reporting
According to research from Investors in People, a quarter of all managers believe that reporting on human capital management (HCM) should be mandatory.The finding follows the Government’s decision last year to scrap the Operating and Financial Review, which would have encouraged companies publicly to report information about their employees.The survey, conducted by Investors in People […]
Opinion: The inspirational art of motivation management
There is a world of difference between the “administration of things” and the “management of people”. The management of people’s motivation is to make them more willing to behave in a way that supports the organisation. It is about the performance of the organisation; Stephen Walker of Motivation Matters offers his opinion. Good motivation management […]
Research Launched into Future Learning Patterns
Academics have proposed launching a long-term research project to discover how we will learn in the future.The proposal was made at Grand Challenges 2006, a conference held to consider how computing will evolve over the next 15 years.The learning for life challenge researchers want to find out how learning environments and opportunities will manifest in […]
DTI pays out over whistleblowing report
A long-running dispute between the DTI and the charity Public Concern at Work over whistleblowing legislation has ended with the DTI paying compensation of more than £130,000 for time-wasting.The dispute centres around a high court ruling that the public had a right to know about whistleblowing issues in claims that were brought under the Public […]
The great pensions debate: What’s the way forward? By Annie Hayes
The slow, lingering death of final salary pension schemes triggered by an ever-present pensions’ blackhole has concerned many workers and pundits alike; Annie Hayes, HR Zone Editor talked to the experts about the way forward and HR’s role in the pensions mix. What’s the general state of pensions play in the UK?In October 2004, Adair […]
Psychometrics spotlight: The ABLE series
In the fourth of a new series putting the range of psychometric tests under the spotlight we look at the ABLE series. The ABLE (Aptitude for Business Learning Exercises) series is a set of exercises used for ability testing for both selection and development purposes. Rather than focusing on the more traditional skills such as […]
New body to help ethnic minorities find work
The Department for Work and Pensions has announced the launch of a new body to help ethnic minorities find work.The Ethnic Minority Advisory Group (EMAG), which is made up of twenty two representatives from across the ethnic community, has been set up as part of the Government’s welfare reform agenda to boost employment opportunities for […]
£41k compensation in religious discrimination case
A Muslim hospital worker has been awarded more than £41,000 by an employment tribunal after he was sacked following a year of harassment.West Herts Hospital Trust was ordered to pay £41,300 to Mohammed Ben-Khaled for religious and sex discrimination and unfair dismissal.Mr Ben-Khaled, originally from Algeria, had worked at the Mount Vernon Hospital in Northwood […]
HR Tip: Withdrawing notice
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 employees told his manager to "stuff his job" and went home before normal finishing time. We took this to mean that he had resigned with immediate effect. However the […]
HR Zone Members Newswire #159 – Would You Hire An Ex-Criminal?
================================================================ HR Zone Members Newswire Issue 159 11 July 2006 www.hrzone.co.uk ================================================================ ********************** Featured Sponsors *********************** Is your compliance training dry and boring? http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/brightwave1a.html Transforming an industry – Free whitepaper http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/cccom1a.html **************************************************************** Editor’s note ============= Persons with spent convictions should not be discriminated against for the purposes of work, promotion or training. That is the […]
Recruiting ex-offenders. By Sarah Fletcher
A recent report from ex-offender charity NACRO reveals a widespread trend among UK businesses to dismiss or reject an applicant due to a criminal conviction. Is the employer’s decision to exclude ex-offenders from certain jobs determined in the best interests of the business or because the recruiter holds strong personal views about the crime? Where […]
Both parties aim to appeal £5m sexual orientation case
HSBC and Peter Lewis say they will both appeal against the findings of an employment tribunal in one of the first – and the biggest – cases to be brought under the 2003 sexual orientation regulations. Peter Lewis, former head of HSBC’s global equity trading, brought a £5 million lawsuit against the bank after he […]
Poor English skills means UK misses out on migrants’ skills
The UK economy could be missing out on the skills of thousands of migrants because of their lack of English language skills according to a new report.The report Learning and Skills Planning and provision for migrants from the accession states, by the Learning and Skills Network says the majority of migrants from the eight EU […]
Europe beats UK for flexible working
New research has poured cold water on the idea that the UK labour market has a competitive advantage by being more flexible than its European counterparts.On the contrary, only 48 per cent of UK organisations offer flexitime to their employees compared to 90 per cent in Germany, 94 per cent in Sweden and 92 per […]
Company of the week: The Penguin Group. By Annie Hayes
Annie Hayes spoke to Helena Peacock, Penguin’s HR Director about why their benefits make this publisher an employer of choice. *Benefits stats*Benefits offered: Pensions. Medical insurance. Holidays ranging from 25 to 30 days per annum. Enhanced maternity pay for those with at least one year’s service. Enhanced paternity and parental leave. Flexible working: including part-time, […]
Time to get IT switched on to data protection?
Almost half of senior IT decision makers admitting to being only vaguely familiar with the Data Protection Act, and 44 per cent of IT departments use live data to test systems, says a new survey by Compuware.The Data Protection Act forbids the use of customer data for any purpose other than the one for which […]
