No smiles for the camera as Kodak shut factory
Kodak announced plans to axe 600 jobs in the UK and close its factory in Nottinghamshire yesterday; admitting that it was bowing out to consumer trends.Sales in digital photography are rising while film camera sales have witnessed a downward spiral. Forty million digital cameras were sold last year while film cameras came in second best […]
Workers in pensions gloom
Pensions worries are riding high according to latest findings from the Nationwide and despite slowing confidence in the property market most are pinning their hopes on bricks and mortar to plug the pensions shortfall.Four in every 10 (41%) people in the UK believe they will not have sufficient income for their retirement and a significant […]
Softworld Feature: E-HR at Devon County Council
John Thorndyke workforce planning and development manager at Devon County Council will be hosting a 9.00 breakfast briefing on Thursday 21 October at the forthcoming Softworld HR & Payroll event; read on for a preview taster of his experiences of streamlining learning and development through E-HR. How to manage the training and development needs of […]
UK job creation tops 20,000
Almost 23,000 jobs have been created across the 21 key UK industries in the past month, reports HRZONE’s sister site TrainingZONEThere was a rise in job creation within the energy sector with over 1000 jobs created compared to this time last year, according to the Mandis/Adecco Job Creation Index (JCI) for September. The hospitality sector […]
CIPD unveils new reward qualification
Professional body, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has launched a new advanced certificate in reward management in recognition of the growing specialised nature of reward within human resources management.The new qualification is applicable for professionals working in all sectors including public, private and not-for-profit.Charles Cotton, CIPD reward adviser commented: “Reward is becoming […]
Pay day hangovers trigger rising ‘sickies’
A new poll reveals that excess drinking is having an impact on rising absence figures.Eight out of ten respondents in a poll conducted by employment law firm Peninsula and Portfolio Payroll admit to pulling a ‘sickie’ on a Monday morning following a weekend of boozing.The problem was found to escalate following pay day with 80% […]
Women struggle to get into the boardroom
Just 3% of executive directors and 8% of non-executive directors are women says a report by Deloitte; but says women’s network Aurora women are getting more savvy and are dismissing complacent employers who may block their path to the top.The news comes despite findings that 70% of FTSE 350 companies have made changes to their […]
Call centre employment swells
Latest findings show that employment levels in UK call centres continues to rise.According to the survey by Incomes Data Services of 107 organisations employing around 92,000 call centre staff just over half of respondents (58%) report to a year long hiring drive with expectations of more recruitment in the coming year.Traditional perceptions of high-staff turnover […]
Self-employed denied basic employment rights
The National Group on Homeworking and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) are urging the government to close an existing legal loophole which continues to deny self-employed workers access to basic employment rights.Supporting their call for an employment status review; the two organisations have released details of a case which illustrates the extent of the problem.Nine […]
Maternity regulations get a battering in court
Trainee midwives Clare Fletcher, Tracey Parkes and Shelley Wilkinson continued their fight against maternity pay rules yesterday escalating their case to an Employment Appeal Tribunal following a defeat earlier this year. The three women all had their bursary payments stopped when they took leave to have their babies during their midwife training.They claim that the […]
Workers daydream about sex during meetings
A third of workers admit to daydreaming about sex during office meetings; research by YouGov reveals.The survey of 1,980 employees was conducted on behalf of online meetings company WebEx Communications to mark National Meetings Week taking place between 4 – 8 October.Men were found to be three times more likely than women to dream about […]
Feature: Managing sickness absence
By Dr Gill MacLeod at Rood Lane Medical GroupWith sickness absence rates up in 2003 for the first time in five years and average cost per employee running at £475 equivalent to a national cost of £11.6 billion; absence management is one of the biggest issues facing companies and it is on everyone’s lips as […]
Civil service job cuts trigger strike vote
The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) is balloting for strike action against controversial government plans to axe over 100,000 civil and public service jobs.The biggest strike ballot in a generation would signal industrial action to be held on 5 November, if members vote to strike.290,000 members are being asked to cast their vote.Voters are […]
IoD welcomes new Director General
Miles Templeman joins the Institute of Directors (IoD) today with over 30 years business experience.The employers’ organisation representing 55,000 members welcomes Templeman today as the new Director General.Templeman commented: “I will seek to establish the IoD not only as the centre of excellence for good corporate governance in the UK, but also to broaden our […]
Pressure on boards to justify fat cat pay
Accountancy firm, KPMG has revealed that FTSE 100 chief executives were in receipt of an average pay packet of £1.5 million last year; a climb of 8% on the year before and 4% ahead of the average UK-wide increase of the same figure.According to the report, the findings highlight the yawning pay gap between boardroom […]
Surveyors and accountants lead the Christmas party revellers
Chartered surveyors and accountants are the wildest party goers according to research by Christmas party organiser West End Events.Antics including dancing on tables, and singing rugby songs were just some of the things that singled them out as the most spirited Christmas party revellers. Young workers in their 20s were found to head straight for […]
‘Red tape day’ launched
Today witnessed the first ‘red tape day’ in which new legislation was scheduled for introduction with a common commencement date.Under the system, new regulations will be implemented on just two days a year, 1 October and 6 April. Previously legislation has been introduced in an arbitrary fashion causing unaware businesses much confusion. Most business groups […]
Editor’s Comment: The changing face of conflict at work
By Annie Hayes, HRZone EditorThe new dispute regulations come into force today (1 October 2004) introducing a three-step disciplinary and grievance procedure for managing workplace disputes; Editor’s Comment looks at the role of ‘conflict’ at work, its place in the employment relationship and the new methods for managing it. Findings from the Chartered Institute of […]
Disability legislation extends to SMEs
Exemptions for small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) to the Disability Discrimination Act were removed today; many more businesses will now need to abide by the rules.As of 1 October 2004, organisations of any size will be expected to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to their premises as well as their employment, recruitment and dismissal procedures. FirstAssist, […]
Office clowns out of favour
Workers rank reliability as the ultimate quality in a co-worker; according to new research.The findings released by recruitment giant Manpower shows that nearly 40% of workers cite reliability at their most preferred characteristic for a colleague.Friendly co-workers who regularly offer to make tea, coffee and share sugary treats would surprisingly only be chosen by 1% […]
