What your CEO is thinking and may not be telling you
How well do you know your customers? How well do you know the competition? The answers to those questions can have a significant impact on how your CEO perceives you and your department and how much stock he/she puts into your recommendations. According to a recent CareerBuilder.co.uk survey of 194 UK business leaders, 30% of […]
Charity alliance to push Government over forced labour convention
An alliance of charities and unions is to launch a high profile campaign to try and persuade the coalition government to change its mind about backing an international convention on domestic workers rights. The UK was one of only a handful of member countries at the International Labour Organization’s conference in Geneva yesterday to refuse […]
‘Sticky’ skilled workers create talent gaps
Despite high levels of unemployment, shortages of managerial, specialist and technical skills are resulting in a renewed talent war as individuals remain reluctant to change jobs due to the ongoing economic uncertainty. These are the findings of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s annual Resourcing and Talent Planning survey, which is produced in conjunction […]
Teaching unions vote to strike
Up to 750,000 public sector workers could take co-ordinated industrial action on 30 June after two teaching unions voted to strike yesterday and a third union is expected to follow suit today. The Public and Commercial Services Union has said it anticipates that the vote will come down overwhelmingly in favour of strike action when […]
Calls for government to engage with unions to avoid unrest
Rather than making threats against the unions, the coalition government would do better to actively engage with public sector staff if it wants to avoid mass industrial action this autumn, employment experts have warned. The recommendations came after business secretary Vince Cable was booed and heckled at the GMB union’s annual conference in Brighton yesterday, […]
Council off shoring move leads to Union anger
Unions warned that Birmingham City Council’s plans to offshore 100 IT roles to India were only the “tip of the iceberg” as members began voting on strike action over job cuts and changes to pay and conditions. In what the Local Government Association said was the first move by a local authority to outsource […]
Employees need holiday every 60 days
UK workers need to take a holiday every 60 days if they are to stay fresh, focused and avoid feeling stressed, according to research. A survey among 2,000 adults undertaken by Post Office Travel Insurance revealed that one in four felt the need to take a break from work every two months, with 20% feeling […]
BA strikes peace deal
A peace deal has been reached in the 18-month dispute between British Airways and its cabin crew, only days before the next wave of industrial action was due to take place. The settlement, agreed between the airline and Unite, was backed at a mass meeting near Heathrow airport of nearly 2,000 members of the trade […]
Secret talks lead to tube strike cancellation
A series of crippling London tube strikes due to start next Monday have been suspended following secret talks between Transport for London boss Mike Brown and union officials. The RMT transport union had threatened to bring the Underground to a standstill in six separate walkouts planned for May and June following the dismissal of two […]
1/3 of unionised workplaces expect a strike over next year
Just over three quarters of employers believe the UK is moving into a new and more unstable era of industrial relations, with a third of those that recognise a union expecting their workers to go on strike over the next 12 months. According to an online poll among 371 HR practitioners undertaken by the Chartered […]
HP boss wins breathing space over sexual harrassment letter
A letter detailing sexual harassment allegations against former Hewlett-Packard boss Mark Hurd will not be unsealed until September as revealing its contents before he has a chance to plead his case could cause him “irreparable harm”. The letter, written by celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred on behalf of former HP contractor Jodie Fisher, triggered a chain […]
Coaching ‘vital’ to laid off managers
Coaching can play a “vital” role in helping older managers cope with finding themselves unexpectedly on the job market again after being laid off, research has found. The two-year study undertaken jointly by academics at the Universities of Surrey and Bath among senior managers aged 49 to 62, who lost their jobs in acrimonious circumstances, […]
Training budgets continue to be squeezed
The trend towards shifting increasing amounts of training provision in-house to cope with budget cuts seems unlikely to change over the year ahead, with two out of five organisations anticipating further squeezes. According to a survey among 600 private and public sector organisations undertaken by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, some 43% saw […]
Taskforce set up to increase employee engagement
A government-sponsored taskforce has been set up to try and tackle the staff engagement issues identified in the MacLeod Review in order to boost the productivity and competitiveness of UK organisations. The taskforce, which includes representatives from both the public and private sector, will be chaired by David MacLeod himself, who wrote […]
Lecturers strike over pay and pensions
Tens of thousands of lecturers will today take part in their first nationwide strike for five years as part of a worsening row over changes to pay and pensions. Members of the University and College Union will walk out of 500 further education colleges, older universities and former polytechnics across the country and mount picket […]
One in four have no respect for manager
Just over a quarter of UK workers have no respect for their managers, while just under half fail to find them motivational, with staff in the North East of England being most disillusioned. These are the findings of a survey undertaken among 2,031 adults by pollster ICM on behalf of the People 1st Training Company, […]
Businesses relying on temps
The nature of the UK labour market is changing as a result of the ongoing difficult economic circumstances, with the use of temps and those working in “unsustainable, unconventional” ways on the increase. According to research from temp recruitment agency de Poel, the number of temporary staff hired by employers increased by 65% last month […]
Eight jobs removed from ‘skills shortage’ list
Senior care workers and migrant chefs from outside of the EU seeking employment in any restaurant that provides a takeaway service are among eight occupations to be banned from working in the UK. The coalition government plans to put the restrictions in place as part of a package of anti-immigration measures intended to cut the […]
Union fury at public sector pension plans
Unions were gearing up yesterday for a summer of discontent in protest at sweeping changes to public sector pensions proposed in Lord Hutton’s much anticipated report. The Independent Public Service Pension Commission’s final report recommended that pensions no longer be linked to final salaries but instead be tied to average career earnings in a move […]
Police may ‘take to streets’ over cuts
Police officers could take to the streets over proposed “cataclysmic” cuts to their take-home pay, after accusing the coalition government of bullying tactics and “unfair treatment”. The furious reaction followed a government-commissioned review by former rail regulator Tom Winsor, which called for the reduction in or abolition of a series of allowances and overtime payments […]