HR tip: Analysing poor performance – is it misconduct or incapability?

These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications. Question: "I understand that Misconduct and Incapability both are fair reasons for dismissal. Which do we use if the problem is one of poor performance?" HR Tip: You need to have a discussion with […]

HR Tip: Bullying boss with no HR officer

These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications. Question: "Our boss is a bully. He makes some employees cry by shouting at them, he bawls people out publicly, and he is forever sarcastic. Can anything be done? We do not have […]

Breaking up fights: Doing it better. By Dan Martin

Following the launch of a government review of the UK's employment dispute resolution procedures, HR Zone business editor Dan Martin asks experts what needs to be done to improve the process. The rules More workplace disputes should be resolved internally within organisations, the government claimed in October 2004 as it unveiled a range of measures […]

Unions going too far, warns CBI

The CBI has warned the government that it must resist calls from the TUC that would turn the clock back on improved workplace relations. According to key findings in the latest annual CBI-Pertemps Employment Trends Survey, published this week, employers are working with employees on the issues that matter to them. Flexible working is being […]

HR Tip: Withdrawing notice

These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications. Q: “One of our employees told his manager to "stuff his job" and went home before normal finishing time. We took this to mean that he had resigned with immediate effect. However the […]

What happened next? Conflict resolution. By Sarah Fletcher

Setting up a boxing ring in the office may seem a good way to resolve employee in-fighting, but what’s the solution when a short sharp smack can’t resolve the dispute? Find out What Happened Next when HR Zone member Kirsa Edwards sought advice from the Any Answers forum about problematic staff squabbles. By Sarah Fletcher […]

HR Tip: Dismissal settlements

These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications. Q: “We wish to dismiss an employee but do not want to go through a lengthy process. Neither does he. He will accept a sum of money that we have agreed. How can […]

HR Tip: Lateness caused by industrial action

These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications. Q: To what extent should I take into account industrial action on the railways when dealing with lateness? A: In case of industrial action affecting the means of transport, employees should take all […]

The Couch?! Life’s a Beach

Summertime and the living is easy… Ah the Couch?! team loves this time of year. Long sunny days, warm sultry evenings and best of all the prospect of a bucket shop flight somewhere altogether more exotic than commutersville and the concrete jungle we flit between the rest of the year 'round. A fortnight without meetings, […]

Yawning European pay gap closes in

According to a report published by the Federation of European Employers (FedEE) the pay gap across Europe is narrowing. FedEE point to a number of contributory reasons: EU members are increasingly developing a more coherent labour market as people are enabled to move and work in different countries more easily. Western European countries are struggling […]

Dissatisfaction grows among older workers

Older workers, and women, tradiationally some of the most contented workers, are now much more critical of the conditions attached to their work and are particularly unhappy with their working hours, says the new 'Working in Britain' survey within the Future of Work Programme funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. In the early […]

Employees and board members are ignorant of each other – research

Only two in 10 office workers in the UK can name the board members of their company, while 87% of workers are unable to state the exact number of people on the board according to latest research from Office Angels. The research was conducted among 1,000 office workers in order to gauge the levels of […]

Management-union partnership eases difficult market conditions

Partnership between management and unions can have a beneficial impact on companies' financial performance where the workplace faces a declining or turbulent market, according to new research published today. The finding comes from research undertaken by the independent Policy Studies Institute commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry. The study – Collective Bargaining and Workplace Performance – […]

New law means FE and HE have to monitor race relations

Further and Higher Education establishments will be among the public bodies required to monitor the recruitment and progress of staff by racial group under new race laws coming into effect this year, Angela Eagle Race Relations Minister said today. Speaking about the implementation of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 at the 'Race Equality for […]

Online resource library of the history of working people to come from £175,000 grant

The University of North London has been awarded a £175,000 grant from the New Opportunities Fund to create an online library of resources, which illustrate the history of working people and the Trade Union movement. The project is a University/Trade Union Congress (TUC) Partnership Initiative entitled TUC History On-line and will be based on documents […]

FE Colleges face biggest strike in a decade

Tuesday will see the biggest strike experienced in Further Education colleges for over a decade as lecturers begin industrial action over pay. For a Labour government in the throws of election campaigning and whose battle cry as it began its first term was, 'Education, education, education' the timing cannot be seen as helpful. No doubt […]

Government Race Relations Consultation

An invitation to help shape the implementation of new race equality legislation was issued to public bodies and others by Home Secretary Jack Straw today as he launched a consultation document on the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. The provisions in the 2000 Act, which outlaws race discrimination in public functions not previously covered by […]

Organise 2000, New Ways to Win

Identifying new ways that trade unions can appeal to new members, particularly young people and women, is one of the subjects up for discussion at Organise 2000 next weekend (Saturday 18th). London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, is the key speaker at the event that will look at how trade unions can make the most of recent […]

TUC challenges employer “red tape” campaign

In an open letter to Britain's employers, released as the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) national conference opens, TUC General Secretary John Monks has told them to stop exaggerating the effects of red tape and instead tackle the real problems challenging the economy – productivity and skills. The letter says that employers ran the same […]

High job security undermines shareholder value

An overly-comfortable working environment with low levels of employee turnover may actually drain a company's shareholder value, according to a study of over 200 European employers by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, the global actuarial, benefits and human resources consulting firm. The study shows that a paternalistic working environment has a significant negative impact on shareholder value. […]