Fujitsu workers agree to end long-running dispute

A long-running dispute over pensions, pay and overtime between Unite and Fujitsu has ended after union members accepted a new offer from the IT services supplier. The UK’s largest union called off its industrial action on Friday, 20 January, after members welcomed the agreement, ending a long running dispute that has affected sites in Crewe […]

Is homophobia still an issue in the workplace?

When discrimination at work against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people was finally outlawed in the UK in 2003, few predicted how rapidly full LGBT rights would come to be seen as the norm. Even in 2007 when discrimination outside the workplace was likewise banned, homophobia and transphobia still seemed very live issues.   This […]

Trends 2012: Employment law

With so many new legislative proposals around at the moment, this summary sets out details of what is coming into force and when in order to help you plan for the changes over the year ahead and beyond. 1 February 2012   The annual increase to Employment Tribunal limits will take place. The maximum compensatory […]

PC to appeal dismissal for having sex on the job

A police constable plans to appeal against his dismissal for gross misconduct after a probe found that he had sex with five different women while on duty. Troy Van-Eda, who claimed he was separated from his wife, was sacked without notice from the Greater Manchester Police. The move followed an 18-month-long internal investigation undertaken by […]

Analysis: Increasingly fragile UK jobs market set to get “much worse”

The latest official figures paint a picture of “increasing fragility” in the UK jobs market, which is set to get “much worse” over the year ahead. According to the Office for National Statistics, unemployment rose by 118,000 in the three months to November, accounting for 2.69 million or 8.4% of the total workforce, up from […]

Update: Unilever workers start 11 days of strikes

Thousands of staff at Unilever are starting 11 days of strike action in a dispute over plans to close their final salary pension scheme later this year. Some 2,500 mostly factory-floor staff – out of a total workforce of 7,000 – took part in the first national strike at the company in December following an […]

Talent Spot: Darren Hockaday, HR director at London Overground

“I’ve made it my business to get as close to the business and operations as possible. As an HR director, it’s not desirable, it’s essential that I know every role in the organisation and that I’m out there speaking to people and knowing how things are done,” says Darren Hockaday, HR director at London Overground […]

1000s of private sector jobs ‘at risk’ across all industries

As the Ministry of Defence revealed plans for a second round of redundancies in the armed forces, thousands of jobs also appeared to be at risk across the private sector. The government department announced that 2,900 personnel were to go in the Army, along with up to 1,000 RAF jobs and up to 300 positions […]

HMRC staff stage series of lightning strikes

Around 20,000 HMRC call centre staff and enquiry officers held a half-hour walkout this morning over alleged moves towards privatisation – a charge strongly denied by HM Revenue & Customs. Tax officers did the same this afternoon at 4.30pm and those on late shifts plan to leave half an hour prior to their usual 7pm finish. […]

Update: PCS threatens further strikes and legal action over pensions

Leaders of the biggest civil service union, the PCS, have warned about the possibility of more strikes and court action if the Government goes ahead with its threat to exclude it from more pension talks. The news came as the GMB, along with 10 other unions, said that they would appeal the High Court’s ruling […]

BMW negotiates with unions over agency worker get-out clause

BMW has entered into negotiations with unions over its use of a legal get-out clause to the Agency Worker Regulations, which would result in it not having to pay temp workers the same as permanent ones. The luxury car manufacturer had intended to employ the so-called ‘Swedish derogation’, which enables recruitment agencies to employ temps […]

Blog: The art of communication in tough economic times

We all felt it. The incredible desire to get 2012 off to a great start, this Olympic year that’s full of hope, only to be confronted with headlines indicating that the next 12 months could in fact be far worse in terms of the economy and employment market than the ones that have passed. Not […]

Cleaning manager hangs himself at Heathrow over job security fears

The manager of a cleaning sub-contractor for the major airlines hung himself at Heathrow Airport over fears about the security of his job. Keith Stone, who was 50 years old, was found hanging from a de-icing vehicle at Terminal 5 in full view of passengers taking off and landing. According to the Sun, the father […]

Capita plans to offshore TV Licensing jobs branded as “callous”

Hundreds of TV Licensing jobs are at risk of redundancy under plans by outsourcer Capita to relocate – and partly offshore – work from Bristol.   Capita is proposing to move 350 jobs from its office in the city to alternative sites in Lancashire and India.   The Communication Workers Union branded the move as […]

Ask the Expert: Can we sack someone for performing badly?

The question   An operations manager recently contacted me and requested that we terminate the employment contract of a member of his team for poor performance. The employee has 13 months service with the firm.   I advised him that we should manage the employee’s performance through the company performance management procedures, but he insists […]

Analysis: Did the public sector pensions battle really need to be fought?

The Treasury is attempting to play down suggestions that proposed changes to public sector pensions, which led to the biggest walkout in a generation six weeks ago, are a poor deal for taxpayers. According to pensions consultant John Ralfe, the fight to get public servants to accept a later retirement age was at the very […]

Communication key to morale in face of ongoing pay restraint, advises CIPD

With 2012 set to be marked by constrained and frozen pay, employers must find more effective ways to communicate the rationale behind their decisions to staff in order to keep them motivated, an HR body has warned. According to a survey among 3,056 working adults across all sectors undertaken by the Chartered Institute of Personnel […]

Credit union membership opened up for staff and employers

Changes to the legislation surrounding credit unions will open up membership to employers and geographically-dispersed workers for the first time, enabling them to compete more effectively with banks. The news came to light as a survey published by a housing charity, Shelter, revealed that nearly one million Britons had taken out an emergency ‘payday’ loan […]

Public sector disillusion widespread, warns recruiter

Public sector employees are currently so disillusioned that just over half of those looking for work would be prepared to sacrifice a better pension for perceived higher job security in the private sector. These are the findings of an online poll among 1,380 public and private sector employees and 955 employers undertaken by recruitment firm […]

Blog: Can HR devise rules that stimulate not stifle innovation?

When you look at their end products, service and reputation, you can’t help but associate words like innovation and creativity with the US technology firm, Apple. Having revolutionised mobile phone technology, the business has transformed the way we communicate and managed to wrap all kinds of inventions and creations into one handheld device.   So […]