‘Cash bonus planning’: Draft regulations published
Avoidance of tax and national insurance contributions by means of employment-related securities continues to be “rife”, the Inland Revenue has said.The avoidance disclosure rules introduced in Finance Act 2004 have revealed “ever more complex and contrived” schemes, which the Revenue considers to be part of a “systematic attack” on the rules that tax employment-related securities […]
Review: Managing change across corporate cultures
Title: Managing Change Across Corporate CulturesAuthors: Fons Trompenaars and Peter Prud’hommePublisher: Capstone ISBN: 1-84112-578-4Price: £14.99Reviewed by: Sharon Cooper, HR Director EMEA, IPC Information SystemsTrompenaars is one of the foremost writers in the field of cross-cultural management and his co-author in this book is Peter Prud’homme who has been published extensively on business culture.“Managing Change Across […]
Feature: HRZone talks ‘pensions’ with Legal and General
Adrian Boulding is Legal and General’s Pensions Strategy Director; Annie Hayes spoke to him about policy, solving the pensions’ crisis and what HR can do to educate workers about saving for the future. How did it happen?Few will have missed October’s revelations. British workers face a pensions’ shortfall of £57 billion a year. I asked […]
Cupid’s arrow hits UK plc
Finding love at work is on the increase.This is the claim from employment law firm, Peninsula who found that almost eight in ten workers admitted to having had a workplace romance whilst a huge six in ten said they met their partner at work.The survey revealed that: 79% of all employees interviewed admitted to having […]
IT demand leaves public sector short
Public services could face greater IT skills shortages as evidence shows the City has overtaken the public sector to become the UK’s biggest employer of IT contractors. Research by recruitment specialist Giant Group plc, shows that 21.2% of IT contractors (19.9% six months ago) now work in financial services compared to 20.5% in the public […]
‘Null’ points for Switzerland in Euro managers pay chart
Pay research by Watson Wyatt shows that managers in Switzerland can expect the lowest pay rise this year while those in Greece will celebrate with top rewards.Watson Wyatt’s global 50 remuneration planning report shows that salary increases for Greek managers are projected to rise by 5% this year but by just 2% for managers in […]
CBI slams government ‘pension for all’
Employers’ organisation the CBI have warned that the UK cannot afford a flat rate citizens’ pension; one of the current government proposals designed to plug the UK’s yawning pensions gap.The proposed citizens’ pension would be much higher than the current basic state pension, paid to everyone regardless of their National Insurance contribution history and would […]
Editor’s Comment: The Darwinism of Trade Unions
By Annie Hayes, HRZone EditorThe Thatcher administration triumphed in its destruction of the power of the trade unions and for almost a generation it looked like the light had finally gone out but the tables it would seem have turned and the unions are rising from the ashes; Editor’s Comment looks at why they refuse […]
The Couch?! searches for Britain’s worst ‘boss’ idol
This week The Couch?! searches for Britain’s worst ‘boss idol’. How do you become an inspirational leader like David Brent? What makes a good ‘bad boss’? How do you make an employee cringe when you speak? Does it come naturally or can you learn how to be the worst ‘boss idol’? Is it essential to […]
Unions announce mother of all unions
The TGWU has announced that talks have opened on the creation of a new trade union, based on a merger of the Transport and General Workers Union, Amicus and the GMB.The union said its executive had “unanimously endorsed a proposal to open discussions with Amicus on the creation of the new union and to write […]
Business applauds incapacity benefit shift
This week’s announcement that the Government was moving to end the present incapacity benefit regime has, it seems, earned it copious brownie points with a full spectrum of business interests, from the Federation of Small Business to the Institute of Directors. The changes, says the Government, provide “enhanced financial security” for those genuinely unable to […]
Gangmasters exposed as serial exploiters of migrant labour
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) claim that migrant workers in the UK, including those with the right to work here are subjected to such high levels of exploitation that they meet the legal definition of ‘forced labour’.This time last year 19 Chinese Morecambe cockle pickers drowned when they were caught by the night tide. The […]
£7.5 million sex discrimination claimant goes back to court
Last December, Stephanie Villalba a former Merrill Lynch banker lost the biggest sexual discrimination claim in Britain, of £7.5 million.The £300,000 a year banker who could earn upto a million annually claimed that she was the victim of persistent sexual discrimination and bullying.On one occasion Ms Villalba claimed that she was made to sit in […]
Softworld preview: Selecting the best payroll software for your business
By Dennis Keeling Dennis Keeling, Chief Executive of the Business Application Software Developers Association, will be speaking at the Softworld HR & Payroll seminar ‘How to select and implement a business system effectively’ at 9am on Thursday 3 March. Here’s a snapshot of what he’ll be discussing … This year will see a number of […]
Scrap compulsory retirement, says IoD
Compulsory retirement on grounds of age should be scrapped, the Institute of Directors (IOD) said yesterday, claiming that the measure would “forestall the UK’s looming pensions crisis.”In a statement, the IoD said that an NOP survey of its members said they opposed staff being compulsory pensioned-off when they reached a certain age. The IoD added, […]
Accenture scoop 10-year BT HR deal
Telecom giant BT have signed a £306 million 10-year deal with consultants Accenture for human resource administration services and business process outsourcing.The contract, thought to be one of the largest renewals of an outsourcing contract for HR services in the world supersedes the previous five year contract.The service will be delivered via Accenture HR services […]
Staff keep ‘quiet’
A snapshot survey shows that although internal communication in UK plc is steadily improving, staff still feel unable to ‘speak up’.Sixty-four per cent of workers claim to be aware of their organisation’s long term goals. A figure that compares to just 52% when the same sentiments were tested in 1999.Kate Pritchard, pollster ORC International’s employee […]
UK tops Euro entrepreneur table
New research shows that the UK is Europe’s most entrepreneurial major economy, with almost 10% of the population planning to strike out on their own.The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2004, an international research group part funded by the Department of Trade and Industry, places the UK ahead of rivals Germany, France, Italy when it comes […]
Case Study: Sara Lee – Developing e-performance management systems
An old-fashioned paper-based system was putting the brakes on HR efficiency at 150,000 strong Sara Lee, global manufacturer and marketeer of consumer products so something had to be done. The challenge:As a global operator, consistently managing the performance and potential development of employees, operating in many different business environments is a challenge. Sara Lee had […]
Review: New Market Mavericks
Title: New Market Mavericks Author: Geoff Cutmore Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd ISBN: 047087046XPrice: £24.95Reviewer:Colin Eastaugh Cutmore’s book is a thoroughly entertaining tour of the investment industry in 2003. The author has interviewed eight individuals: four hedge fund managers, two technical traders, fund of funds manager and a stock market historian – all men […]
