High Court rules in Government’s favour on pension change
The High Court has ruled in favour of the Coalition Government’s decision to link public sector pensions to a lower inflation measure than used to be the case up until April. Trade unions had brought a judicial review into the legality of the Government’s switch from using the Consumer Prices Index rather than the faster-growing […]
Update: PM dismisses national day of action as “damp squib”
The Prime Minister dismissed the biggest national walk-out since the 1970s as a “damp squib”, even though the majority of schools across the UK were shut, services were disrupted and demonstrations took place across the country. His statement at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday came only hours before Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, appearing on […]
Legal Insight: Limiting the cost of a national walk-out
The country is bracing itself for the biggest walk-out since the 1926 General Strike. This Wednesday, up to three million public sector workers are expected to take industrial action against changes to their pension scheme. A wide variety of institutions will be directly affected, including schools and colleges, courts and public offices, hospitals, airports […]
Blog: A two-minute guide to employer branding
So, you’re an employer. You have a Staff Handbook and have made sure that you are complying with basic employment law. You think that you’re an OK employer, and provide an OK place to work. But is OK enough? Why not be a great employer? If you’ve got the basics in place, don’t stop there […]
Christian worker sues after alleged bullying by Muslim colleagues
A Christian airport worker is suing her former employers for unfair dismissal after speaking out against what she claimed was a campaign of “race hate” by Muslim colleagues. According to the Telegraph, Nohad Halawi, who worked at Terminal three in Heathrow Airport, attested that she and other Christian colleagues were subjected to bullying and intimidation […]
Update: Auto-enrolment delayed for small businesses
Small businesses are to be given an extra year before they have to start enrolling their employees into workplace pension schemes. The move will apply to firms employing less than 50 staff and is being portrayed as a boost for business. More than 44% of the entire UK workforce – the equivalent of about four […]
Unions rubbish ministerial claims of £500m strike cost
Unions have dismissed ministerial claims that next week’s national day of action will cost the UK economy up to £500 million and lead to public sector job losses as “fantasy economics”. The Treasury arrived at its figure by totting up the potential impact on public sector output as well as the knock-on effect on the […]
HMRC staff vote for strike action over call centre privatisation plans
A majority of HM Revenue and Customs’ staff have voted to take strike action over plans to privatise two contact centres. Private contractors are scheduled, to take over the call centres, which deal with tax credits queries, from January next year as a trial exercise. Seven out of 10 members of the Public and […]
Should HR be regulated?
HR departments play an important role in ensuring that businesses comply with regulatory requirements. By monitoring conformance with industry-specific guidelines, guaranteeing adherence to legislation and keeping paper trails updated, HR professionals help organisations to avoid the penalties and fines that can damage or even destroy reputations. But what about regulation relating to the HR […]
‘Protected conversations’ will create business “nightmare”
Coalition Government proposals to introduce ‘protected conversations’ risk “creating a field day for employment lawyers and a nightmare for businesses”, experts have warned. Among a raft of proposed changes to UK employment law mooted by Business Secretary Vince Cable this morning, one of the most controversial was enabling employers to hold ‘protected conversations’ with staff […]
Government minister threatens strike law changes
The case for reforming strike laws will become “very pressing” if public sector workers press ahead with industrial action at the end of the month, a Coalition Government Minister has warned. Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude told BBC 1’s Andrew Marr show on Sunday that such legislation was kept “under review”, adding that a mass […]
Blog: The value of early intervention
Mary is an established member of her team, with good social and professional relationships with her co-workers. Her boss has managed the unit with a fair degree of success (neither perfect nor imperfect), and everyone knows where the boundaries are and what is expected of them. Boss moves on with fond farewells. New boss […]
Legal Insight: Qantas of solace – Would Oz’s dispute resolution model work in the UK?
Qantas’ unprecedented decision to ground its entire fleet of aeroplanes during a recent industrial dispute has provoked huge debate across both the country and the world. The clash, the response of the Australian national airline’s management to it and the subsequent decision of national workplace relations tribunal, Fair Work Australia, to order an end to […]
Update: UK worker loses race discrimination claim against Chinese telco
A UK worker has lost his case against a Chinese telecoms company that he sued for race discrimination after claiming that 49 workers in Basingstoke were axed and replaced with Chinese nationals. Judeson Peter, a customer support engineer who was paid £48,000 per annum by Huawei Technologies, accused the firm of making him redundant because […]
Unemployment at 17-year high – and worsening
The UK is suffering a “major jobs and pay crunch” after unemployment hit 2.6 million, a figure not matched in 17 years and higher than consensus forecasts for 2011 as a whole. According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of people out of work in the three months to September rose by 129,000, […]
Jobs market to suffer “slow, painful contraction”, warns CIPD
Private sector hiring plans are being overshadowed by public sector job losses and will lead to the employment market continuing to suffer a “slow, painful” contraction. This was the key message to come out of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s quarterly survey of 1,000 employers, which found that the extent of public sector […]
Legal Insight: How to tackle bullying in the workplace
Former England Rugby Union international, Ben Cohen, has called for people to make a stand against bullying in general and homphobia in particular. To this end, his Foundation is calling for the creation of an annual ‘Standup Day’ to take place on 14 November each year. Although the aim of the Day is to encourage […]
Employee resilience – whose responsibility is it anyway?
The concept of ‘developing resilience’ in employees is becoming increasingly popular as redundancies and talk of fresh economic downturns start to hit the headlines. But although it is intuitively understood that the term is linked to stress management, definitions of what it means in exact terms are often vague. Advocates tend to fall into […]
Regional Growth Fund to create 4,000 SME jobs
The Regional Growth Fund, which has been heavily criticised for only benefiting big companies, is to provide £500m in funding to small-to-medium enterprises, creating an estimated 4,000 jobs in the process. The Coalition Government’s flagship recession-busting scheme will allocate £95m to firms, while RBS, NatWest and HSBC banks will top up the rest of the […]
Seven secrets to staff engagement
The fundamental role of HR is to motivate the right people to do the right things at the right time. This situation puts the spotlight on how to boost employee engagement and ensure that workers are committed to the organisation. If you want staff to perform effectively, what are you going to give them in […]
