What’s the answer? Docking pay/paying late … continued

Martin Brewer, is a Partner with the employment team of Mills & ReeveIn the first case the employee is protected by section 13 of the Employment rights Act 1996 (ERA). This states that any deductions from a workers wages is unlawful unless authorised by the contract or by the workers written agreement to the deduction. […]
What’s the answer? Docking pay/paying late

Michelle M 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 law regarding pay. The question:“Can an employer dock an employees pay by £5 for turning in their timesheet late? “Also, can the employee be […]
Epic Learning Consultant selected for DTI US Global Mission

Alec Keith, Senior Learning Consultant with Epic Multimedia, has been selected by the DTI to participate in the ‘Beyond e-learning’ Global Watch mission to the US. Comprising a small group of content and technology developers, corporate users and academics, the mission will exchange information with leading US developers, technologists and experts.Steve Barden, Epic’s Head of […]
Learning DNA

Epic Consulting is using the HRD show to introduce its new ’Learning DNA’ methodology which is designed to facilitate the delivery of a modern learning strategy. ’Learning DNA’ captures and focuses the breadth of experience of our consulting team and responds to how today’s Learning & Development functions have ever greater demands on them being […]
PGC E-learning

Two Epic staff are currently on their way to completing a Post-Graduate Certificate in e-learning, part of the first cohort to take this new course delivered jointly by Sussex and Brighton Universities. The course is designed to provide an insight into the development of e-learning over the last 50 years and how it compares with […]
Employee Benefits: Do rewards win respect? By Sarah Fletcher

Can you create a dynamic, driven team without plying staff with perks? Sarah Fletcher asked experts from Cancer Research UK and Clarks Shoes whether employee retention rests upon a generous benefits policy, or if a strong company culture builds loyalty that lasts. Elaine Bergin, Compensation and Benefits Manager, Clarks Shoes What part do benefits play […]
The top ten pitfalls of online performance management solutions

Read onto find out the truth about e-performance management systems. Computer says yesPerformance management can be made much easier, more effective and more motivating by the use of technology. Unfortunately this can mean that the performance management process is driven by technology rather than the performance needs of the organisation and the development needs of […]
Depression: Working your way out of it

With the costs of depression to the UK economy increasing, many employers are beginning to ask what they can do to tackle an issue that is still hidden and taboo. To coincide with National Depression Week (17 – 23 April), HR Zone looked at one potential solution – using work as part of rehabilitation. Given […]
Member’s Tip: Employee referral schemes

HR Zone member Peter Duckitt explains the considerations of sourcing new employees through existing staff – do personal recommendations really work? Introducing a scheme where a current employee recommends friends as new recruits can be a useful source of additional candidates. I would not use it as your only candidate resource because there could be […]
News in Brief: DTI confirms illegality of rolled up holiday pay … continued

Education providers must improve partnership with businessEmployers and education providers must form better partnerships to reduce the UK skills gap, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). President of the BCC, Bill Midgley said that further education (FE) organisations should be utilised more fully and effectively by business. Janet Rogers, head of employee engagement […]
News in Brief: DTI confirms illegality of rolled up holiday pay

Catch up on the week in HR including DTI confirms illegality of rolled up holiday pay, CIPD reveals changing attitudes to training, UK firms feel economic squeeze, Learning and Skills Council staff vote for strike action, employers cautious about recruitment and non-white women face 'double discrimination'. W/C 10/4/06DTI confirms illegality of rolled up holiday payMinisters […]
HR Tip: Sex discrimination

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: “A man has applied for a job. If he gets it he will be the only man in a workroom of forty women. This seems hardly fair. What should we do?” A: […]
How Did I Get Here? Sue Schoormans, Managing Director, Complete People Management Ltd…continued

Sue Schoormans, Managing Director of HR consultancy Complete People Management, reveals the problems of firing blameless employees. 7. What’s the new skill set of HR?Strategic business partner – the issue has to be forced in if it is not already in existence within your company, for without doing so HR will always be seen as […]
How Did I Get Here? Sue Schoormans, Managing Director, Complete People Management Ltd

Managing Director Sue Schoormans reveals why enforcing policies that are biased towards women may be the only way to get HR to board level. 1. How strategic is your current role and what does it involve?I am the Managing Director of my own HR consultancy company, founded in 2003. At present I am the business […]
Bad behaviour in the workplace: nature or nurture?

Why do many charming interviewees turn into nightmare employees once they are in the job? Are some staff difficult because of deep-seated psychological flaws? Or is it the culture of the employer itself that turns employees bad and creates the awkward squad? Either way, what can businesses do to avoid recruiting or creating employees who […]
Colborn’s Corner: Is that a strike I see?

The recent news that the local authority workers’ strike over pensions was the biggest stoppage since the General Strike of 1926 may have come as something of a surprise to those who regularly keep watch over industrial relations. So how do we view strikes these days? Are they merely an anachronism from the bad old […]
What’s the answer? Pay during probation … continued

Martin Brewer, is a Partner with the employment team of Mills & ReeveThis is a wholly contractual issue. Unless you have a very carefully drafted contract which says something to the contrary, you must pay employees the wages you have set out in the contract. It would be possible to create a contract which enables […]
What’s the answer? Pay during probation

Rameni Caussy 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 law regarding the obligation to pay an employee dismissed while in the early stages of their probationary period. The question:“We have a situation where […]
Opinion: HR’s role in change management … continued

1. HR should be involved in the initial discussions on the change objectives and processes. The change has to have a coherent, communicable vision. HR should buy into this, as they will be out there selling the vision along with the change agents. These discussions are at top level, involving the senior management team and […]
Opinion: HR’s role in change management

It is unbelievable that anyone, who has been working anywhere in the last fifty years, has escaped a succession of organisation change interventions. The rapid growth of international competition, the impact of IT and the rise of demanding mass consumerism have all fed this beast; Stephen Walker of Motivation Matters offers his opinion. To see […]