HR Zone Briefing #293 – Off the Record: Employment Law Explained
================================================================ HR Briefing Issue 293 – 27 April 2006 http://www.hrzone.co.uk ================================================================ *********************** Featured Sponsors ********************** Just how important is talent management? – Free paper download http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/oracle12a.html Time off for sporting events? http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/croneri7a.html Building a rewarding business case with Benefex http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/benefex1a.html Putting the great into integration http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/frontier2a.html **************************************************************** Editor’s Note ============= We’ve got some complex employment […]
Colborn’s Corner: Green HR?
With campaigning for the local elections hotting up, Colborn’s Corner addresses one of the issues that appears to be coming to the fore – the environment. It’s strange to think that with the current debate on the Health Service, Iraq and so on the key issues emerging for the local elections seems to be that […]
What’s the answer? Maternity leave and redundancy… continued
Helen Badger, employment law expert, Browne JacobsonThere is no specified period for which an employee has to work for her employer after maternity leave before an employer can dismiss on the grounds of redundancy. However, an employee on maternity leave or due to return from maternity leave does have some additional protection over and above […]
What’s the answer? Maternity leave and redundancy
An HR Zone member gets legal guidance this week from Vanessa Di Cuffa, Solicitor at Mills & Reeve and Helen Badger, employment law expert, Browne Jacobson on whether it is legal to make an employee redundant whilst on maternity leave. The question:“We have a marketing administrator going on maternity leave at the end of May. […]
Sickness absence and disability: Time for new thinking?
Paul Avis questions the way that sickness, absence and disability management is being de-medicalised and asks what this means for traditional and more innovative Occupational Health programmes. To start this article I will attempt to appease the clinicians in the membership. I will never run a sickness absence and disability management programme without routine referral […]
Negotiation: The skill you can’t afford to neglect
As reality TV show The Apprentice has painfully shown, whilst sales people may think they are natural born negotiators, many fail to get the best deal when under pressure. Few people are willing to acknowledge, however, that negotiation affects not just sales but every facet of a business, from the shop floor to the boardroom. […]
Sickness absence and disability: Time for new thinking? … continued
Widening the context:Whilst this model has been our justification for the management style we adopt, the academic OH community has also been active about the need to engage stakeholders. In the OH guidelines for the management of lower back pain (LBP) (Waddell & Burton, 2000) the report was clear in determining that clinical interventions were […]
Reviewer profile: John Pope
John Pope, a management consultant for 40 years, has worked with organisations on improving the performance of their business and the effectiveness of their management and organisation. He has advised chief executives and senior managers on their personal development and the effectiveness of their teams. He has helped them to lead their businesses more effectively, […]
Book review: Developing strategic leadership skills
Reviewer John Pope finds the concept of strategic leadership "rather vague", yet gives the book top marks for helpfulness – despite it diluting any suggestion that this strategy is "somehow special". Title: Developing Strategic Leadership SkillsEditor: John Potter and Alan HooperPublisher: CIPDISBN: 1 84398 107-6Price: £300Reviewer: John Pope This workbook is aimed at trainers, facilitators […]
Off the record: Navigating pregnancy discrimination rules … continued
It is important that you observe these rights and do not place any pressure on employees who plan to take maternity leave to return sooner then they intend to. To help you to cope with temporary loss of an employee, you may consider arranging maternity cover or sharing work around any remaining members of staff. […]
Off the record: Navigating pregnancy discrimination rules
Are there any ways around the laws that make it unlawful to discriminate against women on the grounds of pregnancy? Can bosses that would like to take on women of childbearing age but fear the costs associated with maternity pay and leave get round the problem? Find out what the experts say. There are no […]
HR Tip: Custom and practice
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: “Although our contracts of employment require people to work nine to five Monday to Friday they leave at about 4.00 pm on Fridays. Can we bring them back to a 5.00 pm […]
Member’s tip: Withdrawing a job offer
An employer makes a job offer, the contract is signed (but not returned) and salary negotiations are underway. Suddenly, the company retracts the offer. Do verbal and written agreements constitute a solid deal? Two HR Zone members offer very different advice. Read on… Kam Bains says the retraction is legal:It seems doubtful that a binding […]
News in Brief: Mid-market firms push people issues aside … continued
Government must pay to secure IT skillsThe UK will face an IT ‘skills crunch’ by 2012 if the government does not offer employers incentives to train staff, a new report claims.Tax and national insurance breaks for companies with staff on full-time IT training courses would reduce skills shortages, according to IT body Imis.The UK is […]
News in Brief: Mid-market firms push people issues aside
Catch up on the week in HR including factory workers dominate shift working culture, NHS job cuts anger Unions and staff, one in seven may skip work to watch World Cup, BBC joins list of employers slashing final salary pensions, Nelson firm sunk by pensions crisis and much more. W/C 17/4/06Mid-market firms push people issues […]
What happened next? Sickness and disciplinary. By Sarah Fletcher
Claiming sickness, an employee mysteriously disappears. Unable to contact him for weeks, Fiona Fritz is just about to hit him with a disciplinary when he gets rushed to hospital with a serious infection. As she can’t really chase after the operating table waving a grievance notice at him, what’s the next step? Find out What […]
How Did I Get Here? Tom Russell, Director of Strategic Resourcing and Reward, Cancer Research UK …continued
Tom Russell explains why HR may be held back by a fear of disrupting the status quo, and reveals an urge to make his favourite artist paint for his supper. 9. What are the key issues preventing HR professionals from getting a seat on the board? Frozen beliefs about the value of HR at this […]
What happened next? Sickness and disciplinary…continued. By Sarah Fletcher
Keep reading What Happened Next when HR Zone member Fiona Fritz suspected an employee’s sickness claim was nothing more than a bad case of sloth. Was the outcome satisfactory for all parties?Not really – if the disciplinary had been carried out on the original date the issue would have been clear cut and the result […]
How Did I Get Here? Tom Russell, Director of Strategic Resourcing and Reward, Cancer Research UK
Tom Russell, Director of Strategic Resourcing and Reward at Cancer Research UK, talks “fluffy” personnel, liaising with world class scientists … and 1980s pop. 1. How strategic is your current role and what does it involve?My role is responsible for leading the organisation’s strategy for attracting and retaining high quality people. This primarily involves the […]
Flexible benefits: The self-service way … continued
HR Zone Q8: Are cafeteria-style reward schemes ethical? If an employee selects lifestyle options over pensions contributions for example is that right?Boyle: At the end of the day, the reason for introducing flexible benefits is to enable employees to choose a benefits package which best suits their lifestyle. However, we feel that employers do have […]
