Bonus loophole puts Cantor Fitzgerald in the dock
A recent case ruling puts discretionary bonus schemes under doubt.Mr Horkulak worked for Cantor Fitzgerald in a senior management position working on interest rate swaps in the money markets.Horkulak successfully claimed that he had been both constructively and wrongfully dismissed following claims of continued bullying and abusive behaviour from the President of the business.Seeking compensation […]
Feature: Developing a value-adding HR function
By Simon Court, CEO Value PartnershipThe Human Resources function should play a central part in value creation, yet all too often it fails to make this contribution effectively. The issues facing businesses today (globalisation, competition, opportunities using technology, the imperative to create value) all mean that people in the organisation are more central to sustained […]
Oracle fires PeopleSoft executives
Oracle has effectively taken control of its ERP rival PeopleSoft after 75% of its shareholders accepted the company’s $10.3bn bid.Just before Christmas, PeopleSoft founder David Duffield resigned as CEO and chairman, anticipating Oracle’s announcment that it had taken control of 75% of PeopleSoft stock after an 18 months dogfight. Duffield had taken over as chief […]
Minimum wage outstrips cost of living
Rate hikes in the statutory minimum wage have risen faster than the cost of living across Europe.At the start of the year, the wage rose by an average 9.2% across Europe – more than 50% above living cost increases in the countries concerned.Almost half of the 26 countries that operate the legal minimum rates revised […]
SME skill shortages bite
Almost half of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have accused UK employees of having poor standards of education and training; these are the findings from a survey on staff recruitment, conducted by NOP World for the Tenon Forum.The survey, published in December, shows that 43% of SMEs blamed recruiting difficulties on inadequate levels of […]
Unions empowered to ban extremists
From the beginning of the new year, trade unions are now permitted to exclude “political extremists” from membership. The new rules, part of the Employment Relations Act 2004, “widen the ability of trade unions to exclude and expel individuals for political activities which are contrary to their rules or objectives.”Previously, unions attempting to exclude extremists […]
Top health tips from the Chief Medical Officer
Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer for England, has presented his top ten tips for better health in the New Year. Sir Liam said:“At the start of the New Year, people often make resolutions about how to improve their lives. Following any or all of the tips above will help you to improve your health.”The […]
How Did I Get Here? Susan Stevens, Toshiba Information Systems
All the previous career profiles can also be seen in the special How Did I Get Here? page.1. Current job titleHead of HR2. Describe your initial training within the professionFollowing completion of my degree in Psychology, I was fortunate enough to obtain a temporary role at British Gas Headquarters analysing manpower data. I very quickly […]
Leaked report reveals plans to axe Fire Service jobs
The Government is planning to close 46 fire service control centres in England, slashing staffing levels from 1500 to just 600 according to a leaked report; the Fire Brigades Union has damned the proposals saying the project will end in ‘total failure’.The leaked report to the union, marked restricted and confidential is alleged to unveil […]
Captains of Industry displayed school leadership
A new report claims that pupils that display leadership qualities at school go on to be business leaders in later life.The Leading Edge, a report based on research among British Captains of Industry by MORI for HR consultancy DDI reports that of 100 business leaders interviewed: 70% had been a school prefect 50% had captained […]
Job hoppers plan New Year get away
Conditions are rife for job hoppers with latest official statistics showing a tight labour market fuelling competitive recruitment but according to management consultancy Woodhurst employers can hang onto staff by showing flexibility.According to the latest Manpower recruitment survey, of the nine industry sectors surveyed eight are planning to take on staff in this quarter while […]
Tsunami disaster: Gift Aid reminder
The Inland Revenue has published a reminder, for taxpayers donating to help victims of the Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster, that using the Gift Aid scheme will increase the value of their gift to the relief agency.An announcement on the Revenue’s What’s New page said:“Using Gift Aid means that every pound donated is worth £1.28 to […]
Women struggle to make it to the top
Sex and power: who runs Britain? 2005 published by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) argues that a need for a total overhaul of family policies is essential if Britain is to stop losing out on women’s talent. The EOC say that improvements to date don’t go far enough. The body has called on the government […]
IOD Chief calls for renewed pension effort
Miles Templeman, Director General of the Institute of Directors has told members in a New Year address that solving the pensions crisis has to be a top priority for 2005.In October, Chairman of the Pensions Commission, Adair Turner unveiled a report that revealed a pensions gap of £57 billion a year.Templeman, said: “Pensions are now […]
FPB call for Government to improve the climate for SMEs
The Forum of Private Business has called on the Government to make improving the climate for small businesses its number one New Year’s resolution for 2005. The FPB said a number of key issues needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency if the burden on small businesses is to be relieved. Its chief […]
TUC join forces with IDS to launch salary checker
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) and Incomes Data Services (IDS) have launched a new tool to check salaries.The organisations say that many workers are in the dark about pay expectations. The online service www.paywizard.org aims to provide wage transparency.PayWizard claims that candidates can find out what they can earn in other careers, benchmark salaries and […]
Feature: Did you know? HRDPS present their top ten 2004 HR tips
Each year HRDPS deals with thousands of questions which are put to us by delegates on our public and in-company courses and come to us through our consultancy channels. This year we thought we would publish some of them for members of HRZone, so here are the ten most common issues raised by our clients. […]
The Way I See It… The Future for Coaching
Coaching is predicted to become worth $2billion globally in the coming year. Matt Tobutt of HumanTechnics looks at whether the growth in executive coaching is sustainable, and if the bubble is about to burst. A couple of weeks ago I read an article in the Economist entitled ‘Corporate Therapy – Having an executive coach is […]
Action needed to rescue pensions’ shortfall
Human resources services firm, Hewitt Associates urge companies to adopt a broad-ranging action plan to address pension funding shortfalls.Hewitt, say that FTSE100 pension schemes have suffered from a financially stagnant year with estimated combined deficits, measured on the company accounting standard FRS17, thought to be around the £50-60 billion mark for most of 2004. The […]
CIPD forecast tough 2005 for HR
Professional body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) are predicting a tight labour market and upward wage pressures in 2005.Review highlights of 2004: Employers have experienced significant problems recruiting suitably qualified and/or experienced candidates to fill vacancies in 2004 – 85% of employers reported such difficulties. The proportion of employers experiencing problems retaining […]
