Legal briefing: Notice of termination
It seems that there is some uncertainty about an employer’s obligations when dismissing, writes Peter Done, managing director of Peninsula. With the relatively rare exception of gross misconduct dismissals, all dismissals require the employer to give notice of the ending of the contract. (This does not currently apply where an employee retires on the normal […]
Opinion: Blackhole three times deeper than previously thought
James Fraser, head of LEK Consulting’s financial services practice, warned in the Financial Times on 9 January that the pension deficit facing the largest companies in the UK might be three times bigger than the sum they have estimated it to be using FRS 17. It has been generally agreed that the pension deficit calculated […]
What’s the answer? Sex discrimination
Lorraine Whale gets legal guidance this week on how to quash a potentially explosive sex discrimination claim. The question:One of our employees asked to shorten their working hours so she could leave early on a Monday to collect her child from an after school club that closed at 5pm. Someone who should have known better […]
What can HR learn from: Media moguls
Kick-starting a new series looking at what can HR learn from other functions and skill sets is George Dearsley, a senior tutor at Television and Radio Techniques who explains why sacking by text message is akin to business suicide. When Mark Langford’s company The Accident Group collapsed three years ago 2,400 workers learned they were […]
Opinion: Psychometrics and people decisions
Open any tabloid and the chances are there will be several stories based on getting ‘people decisions’ badly wrong; ‘paroled prisoner kills again’, ‘betrayal by trusted royal aide’, ‘attack by care in the community patient’ – so how can psychometrics help to prevent crass hiring errors such as these from occurring? These decisions will have […]
Case Study: Investing in staff retention
Frimley Park NHS Trust, employers of 2,500 staff undertook the Investors in People journey in an attempt to reconcile retention difficulties; read on to see if it worked. The challenge:A key motivator for Frimley Park NHS Trust Hospital in Surrey in achieving Investors in People status was improving retention and attraction of staff. The area […]
Change management: Where did it all go wrong?
Peter A Hunter author of Breaking the Mould looks at the irony of crass management practices within a centre for learning and excellence and explains why even business experts can get it wrong. I witnessed some interesting behaviour from one of our premier management schools this summer. A behaviour that I have since discovered is […]
HR Tip: National Insurance Numbers
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: What can be done to minimise the problem of missing NI numbers? A: Most employers have difficulty in obtaining a National Insurance (NI) number for every employee. Some new employees are just […]
Bite-size learning: Age discrimination – ’10 year’s experience required’
In the final part of this five-part, bite-sized series, Lucy Lewis, associate in the employment and incentives department of Lewis Silkin spells out just what employers can and cannot say in recruitment advertisements. Age Discrimination legislation comes into force on 1 October 2006. Following the introduction of the legislation it will be unlawful to discriminate […]
HR Zone Members Newswire #132 How to Become an Employer of Choice
================================================================ HR Zone Members Newswire Issue 132 10 January 2006 www.hrzone.co.uk ================================================================ Editor’s note ============= Standing out from the crowd is the stuff of HR dreams. So how do you become an employer of choice? Nadine Maggi of Hallmark would like to find out. Please add your tips and guidance and we’ll report back on […]
Life Coach at Large: Living in the ‘now’
Coach, Emma Ranson Bellamy helps a hapless single get his floundering career and personal life back on track with a few home truths and some basic planning. Rory came to life coaching via a friend who suggested it might be a way of getting his career back on track which after a promising start had […]
How Did I Get Here? Sue Morrison, HR Director, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home
Sue Morrison explains how she fostered a workable and purposeful HR function in an environment where people come second to the animals cared for. 1. How strategic is your role?Five years ago, when I joined the Home, there wasn’t a personnel function; since then we have grown into a small team of three, which now […]
Review: Time To Think: Listening to ignite the human mind
Title: Time to Think: Listening to ignite the human mindAuthor: Nancy KlinePublisher: Cassell IllustratedISBN: 0706377451Price: £9.99Reviewer: Jacky Pratt, Accredited Practitioner CoachTime to Think is a book that changes behaviour. It has a simple, but powerful message, which is that the quality of our thinking depends upon the quality of another person’s attention when listening to […]
Editor’s Comment: Glass half empty?
Clean sheets, fresh starts, renewed enthusiasm – this is the stuff new years are supposed to be made of so why is the glass seemingly half empty? We’re supposed to re-join the world of work with a spring in our step akin to the enthusiasm enjoyed by the likes of Julie Andrews in the Sound […]
The Couch?! Celebrity Big Brother house
They say variety is the spice of life and it certainly is in the celebrity Big Brother house. The Couch?! team feel disappointed with this years culmination of Z list celebrities. Although the series is strangely compelling and addictive we feel the producers could have done better in the selection process. So that got us […]
News in Brief: The week in HR – Workers do it for free
In this our first news round-up of 2006 HR Zone reports on revelations over unpaid overtime, why women must wait 200 years for equality and the reasons behind the jobs creation slowdown. W/C 3/1/06Workers do it for freeLast year almost five million employees worked one day a week for free. This is the claim of […]
Employment law: Case round-up
Alison Wallace, head of employment practice at Steptoe & Johnson solicitors rounds-up the latest employment case law including the case of a verbal promise to raise an employee’s salary made at a Christmas party. 1. Contractual promise made at Christmas PartyJudge v Crown Leisure LimitedA promise made by an employer at a Christmas party that […]
What’s the answer? Re-employment following dismissal
Douglas King gets legal guidance this week on the legal considerations of re-employing a worker dismissed six years previously; read on to find out what the experts say. The question:“Is there any reason an employer should/could not re-employ a person after they have been dismissed for Gross Misconduct? The misconduct happened six years ago. They […]
Colborn’s Corner: Should HR make New Year resolutions?
Seasoned HR consultant, Quentin Colborn goes cold turkey on the annual HR detox and looks at whether we should indeed be resolving to do better and be better. It’s that time of year isn’t it? Diets, shorter working hours, better work/life balance etc. We go back o the office and either make well intentioned resolutions […]
HR Zone Briefing #277 – The HR Detox
================================================================ HR Briefing Issue 277 – 5 January 2006 http://www.hrzone.co.uk ================================================================ Editor’s note ============= We’re delighted to bring you the first 2006 edition of the HR Briefing – your weekly round-up of news and features. We’ve got a special focus on HR resolutions and predictions for the year ahead. HR Consultant, Quentin Colborn takes the […]
