Budget headlines for HR professionals
The Budget introduces several employment and training initiatives affecting HR professionals, including £170m for worker training costs, tighter benefit rules for the long-term unemployed, support for lone parents, and plans to expand regional job schemes and the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme.
Community feature: Introducing…
HR Zone launches a new community feature highlighting the careers of its 17,000 members. This week, we profile Isabella Montgomery, HR Officer at a Glasgow housing association, who shares her unconventional path into HR—from bar work to NHS admin roles—and offers insights on career evolution in human resources.
Equal pay legislation ‘may challenge workplace taboos’
New equal pay legislation could force companies to disclose salary information and challenge workplace pay secrecy, potentially increasing successful equal pay claims against employers with non-transparent pay structures.
People-related issues gain importance, but who’s measuring?
Executives increasingly recognize people-related issues as critical to business success, yet most fail to adequately measure HR and training initiatives’ impact. Accenture’s research reveals significant gaps in tracking staff retention, satisfaction, and productivity despite acknowledging heightened importance of human factors.
Is your company ready for coaching?
Learn whether your organization is ready for coaching by understanding coaching culture versus command-and-control management styles. Discover why coaching improves employee motivation, job satisfaction, and learning retention, and how it differs from mentoring.
Flexible working rules could disadvantage women, finds research
New flexible working regulations introduced in 2003 could disadvantage women in hiring, according to research showing 60% of HR professionals believe employers may hesitate to recruit women due to these new rights.
How to make self-service HR functions work for you
Self-service HR systems can deliver cost and time savings, but success depends on workforce engagement. Organizations must address access barriers, usability concerns, and employee resistance by ensuring all staff can use the system, providing adequate training, and demonstrating how accurate data benefits managers and decision-making.
Advertising feature: Hela – Making HR Managers Wellbeing Champions
Hela Zone offers corporate stress relief through massage chairs and relaxation music, helping HR managers champion workplace wellbeing. With over 1,500 installations across Europe and major UK clients including Microsoft and Apple, the solution costs £149 monthly and reduces stress-related absenteeism and health costs.
The flexible benefits marketplace examined
Flexible benefits marketplaces allow employees to trade benefits for cash or vice versa, addressing diverse workforce needs across age groups and organizational change. Since 1996, approximately 200 schemes have been established, with modern technology making administration simpler and more cost-effective than earlier iterations.
Advertising feature: Focus on potential, skills and ability… NOT age
Employers should evaluate candidates based on potential, skills, and ability rather than age. The Code of Practice on Age Diversity in Employment provides guidance to help organizations build age-diverse workforces that benefit from improved retention, lower costs, and higher productivity.
Community feature: Introducing…
HR Zone launches a new community feature interviewing members about their careers in human resources. This week, we profile Iain Young, Head of HR at Cofathec Heatsave, who shares his journey from military personnel management to leading HR strategy in the private sector.
Flexible working legislation will make things more complicated, say employers
New flexible working legislation set to take effect in April will require over half of employers to revise their procedures and implement formal appeals processes, according to research by Linklaters and Parents at Work. While most organizations already have flexible working policies, the new rules granting statutory rights to parents of young or disabled children will necessitate more bureaucratic processes than current informal practices.
Managing absence in the workplace – featured article
Effective workplace absence management requires clear policies, early intervention, and manager support. Companies should establish trigger points on day one and at three weeks to catch emerging issues like stress or injury before short-term absences become long-term problems, while ensuring line managers have proper training and access to support resources.
Advertising feature: PTP Software Ltd – helping you get to grips with P11D
PTP Software Ltd offers easy-to-use solutions for completing P11D forms, which employers must submit to report expenses and benefits for certain employees. Their TaxExpense software helps calculate Class 1A National Insurance contributions and simplifies year-end tax compliance tasks for over 4,500 firms.
Flexible working legislation – a summary
The Employment Act 2002 introduces significant changes to UK employment law effective April 6, including extended maternity leave to 26 weeks, new paternity leave rights, and flexible working protections for parents of young children. The legislation also strengthens disciplinary procedures, adds religious and sexual orientation discrimination protections, and increases unfair dismissal compensation limits.
Employees want to choose benefits packages – research
A majority of employees prefer customizable benefits packages over fixed offerings, with 70% wanting choice and 63% seeking more control over their benefits. The demand varies significantly by age, location, and lifestyle needs, with London workers showing the highest preference for flexible benefits options.
Light at the end of the tunnel for HR
HR departments are increasingly adopting employee self-service systems and intranet solutions to shift from administrative tasks to strategic roles. This B2E technology allows employees to manage their own HR information online, reducing paperwork and freeing HR professionals to focus on organizational effectiveness.
Work-life balance awards offer chance to be ’employer of the year’
The Parents at Work Employer of the Year Awards recognize organizations with innovative work-life balance initiatives. Employers of all sizes can enter by May 16 to compete for awards including Driving Diversity, Family Friendly, and Scottish Employer of the Year categories, with winners announced in November.
Tax fails to dent company car popularity, finds survey
Recent tax changes have had minimal impact on company car popularity, with nearly 60% of firms now viewing them as essential for recruitment and retention. While most companies have informed employees of the new regulations, interest in low-emission vehicles has noticeably increased.
Employers paying more than just lip service to equal ops monitoring, finds research
Three out of four large organizations actively monitor equal opportunities across recruitment, employment, and exit stages, according to new research. The study reveals that while most employers track gender and race demographics, fewer than half monitor age—reflecting gaps in compliance with planned legislation.
