Ask the Expert: Do staff accrue holiday while on unpaid leave?

The question   We have a part-time employee who has asked to take two periods of unpaid leave during the next calendar year so that she can go travelling. We are happy to grant her these periods of unpaid leave, but the question is, will she continue to accrue holiday leave entitlement during this period […]

Update: Government pension proposals not enough to stop industrial action

Coalition Government concessions on public sector pension changes have not proved enough for the unions to call off their proposed day of action at the end of this month. The point was rammed home earlier today when members of Unison, the UK’s largest union, voted overwhelmingly in favour of striking by 245,359 for to 70,253 […]

HMRC staff balloted for action over call centre privatisation plans

A union representing more than 21,000 Revenue and Customs staff is threatening to stage regular walk-outs over the government agency’s plans to use private sector providers in order to answer taxpayers’ phone calls.   At the end of last week, the Public and Commercial Services union began a two-week ballot of 12,000 of its members […]

News Analysis: Two thirds of workers suffering high stress levels

Two thirds of all workers are suffering from high levels of stress and are having to take time off work as a result. These are the key findings of a survey among employees at 1,500 companies worldwide undertaken by employee assistance programme provider, ComPsych, to coincide with National Stress Awareness Day today.   The poll […]

UK lags behind rest of OECD in management skills

An influential HR body has called on the Coalition Government to find ways of encouraging UK employers to fill damaging gaps in current management and leadership skills profiles. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has published a Work Horizons report entitled ‘Good Management – A New (Old) Driver for Growth’, ahead of next month’s governmental […]

Tube drivers to start industrial action on Friday

Tube train drivers are to begin industrial action on Friday morning in a move likely to cause delays and disruption to the capital’s underground network. The action was agreed by a margin of four to one by members of the UK’s largest transport union, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, in a row with London […]

Axing unfair dismissal rights “not beneficial” for employers or staff, warn experts

Radical proposals to allow employers to sack unproductive workers without explanation would “not be beneficial” to themselves, their staff or the economy, experts have warned. A leaked final draft report, commissioned by the Prime Minister and written by Adrian Beecroft, a venture capitalist and Conservative Party donor, suggests that UK workers should be banned from […]

Employers lose top talent due to neglect not pay, says study

Low trust levels in senior management, job dissatisfaction and excessive amounts of daily stress are the key reasons why employers lose top talent. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s quarterly Employee Outlook survey, staff are, unsurprisingly, much more likely to position themselves among the 22% currently looking for a new job if […]

Clegg promises yet more employment law change this autumn

The Coalition Government plans to introduce a “major package” of employment law changes this autumn, which includes “significant reforms” to the tribunal system. This morning, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told a meeting of small business leaders gathered at the Shoreditch offices of Holition, which creates augmented reality marketing software, that the aim of implementing […]

Unions mount legal challenge to Government pension changes

A new front will open up tomorrow in the ongoing battle over public sector pensions between unions and the Coalition Government when a judicial review hearing kicks off in the High Court. The aim of the legal challenge, which has been mounted by the UK’s six largest public sector unions, is to question the lawfulness […]

Staff education and training are critical to corporate security

Earlier this year, a security firm called RSA was embarrassed by a major breach that led to information about its user authentication token technology leaking out. The company not only faced a huge bill to physically replace its offerings, which were now useless, but also attracted unwanted column inches from press around the world. Just […]

Ask the Expert: How can I legally sack an employee with a disability?

The question We have a member of staff who is bi-polar (declared and fully supported since November 2009). Recently, however, there have been changes to his mood and behaviour. He suffers from depression, feelings of self-harm, hallucinations.   On occasion, the staff member has also sent inappropriate and racist emails to some colleagues and demonstrated […]

MoD spends £9m on armed forces recruitment as redundancies mount

The Ministry of Defence has spent £9 million on recruitment advertising for the armed forces despite being in the process of laying off thousands of troops over the next four years. According to figures revealed in a written Parliamentary answer to shadow defence minister Kevan Jones, the government department has forked out £5.19 million in […]

Public sector job cuts hindering not helping deficit reduction, warns CIPD

Chancellor George Osborne has been urged to postpone continuing public sector job cuts because they are a “false economy” that is hindering rather than helping deficit reduction plans.   The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development today warned that the Coalition Government was cutting too far, too fast, after a survey by the organisation revealed […]

Legal Insight: How to tackle a Tevez

These days, it seems that footballer Carlos Tevez is never far from the latest controversy. During a recent Champion’s League match against Bayern Munich, the Manchester City player apparently refused to come on as a substitute, ignoring his manager’s request to do so (although he put it down to a misunderstanding).   While his antics […]

Ask the Expert: Is nicking something from the fridge corporate theft?

The question This is a bit of an odd situation that I’ve not come across before.   Employees have been commenting for a while that food has been going missing from the fridge in the staff room. In fact, one member of staff stuck a note on a tub of salad saying ‘if you like […]

Tory Conference: Fujitsu strike called off at eleventh hour

This week’s Tory party conference proceeded untroubled by pickets from unhappy Fujitsu employees amid union promises that further action would also be suspended for the time being. Workers at public sector ICT supplier Fujitsu in Manchester had voted to go on strike and to demonstrate during a presentation at the party conference by the supplier’s […]

Stress now most common cause of sickness absence at work

Stress is now the biggest cause of long-term absence among UK workers across all sectors, overtaking cancer as the main reason for taking time off due to sickness. But according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and private health insurance provider, Simplyhealth, staff absence in the public sector have rocketed […]

Two new enterprise zones created to help BAE jobless

The coalition Government is to create two new enterprise zones in the areas where BAE Systems’ workers are being made redundant. Chancellor George Osborne said the zones, which give tax breaks to businesses that set up within them, will be created near Warton and Samlesbury in Lancashire and Brough in East Yorkshire, home to the […]

Ask the Expert: Is it OK for staff to smoke e-cigs in the workplace?

The Question  ‘E-cigs’ are electronic cigarettes. Basically, they look like cigarettes but work by heating a solution that contains nicotine.   This produces an odourless vapour that is inhaled. The user inhales this and gets their nicotine hit. When they exhale, you see a ‘vapour’, which looks like smoke. In fact, the units look just […]