News: Sheila Lawlor – Scrap “family-unfriendly” maternity leave

The UK should scrap paid maternity leave because it creates a “perverse incentive” for women to return to work and replace it with an unpaid career break instead, the head of a right-wing think tank has said. Sheila Lawlor, director of Politeia who will chair the organisation’s fringe ‘Women in The Boardroom’ event at the […]

Ask the Expert: What to do about a serious staff/manager rift?

The question   Within the business, we have an employee and a line manager whose working relationship has completely broken down. The line manager has been with us for 20 years and has an unblemished record. The employee has been in post for three months, but has had no previous employment issues and her references […]

Dragon’s Den’s Dupsy Abiola on internships

On Sunday (7 October), Dupsy Abiola, founder of InternAvenue.com, became the first participant in the BBC’s Dragon’s Den TV programme to succeed in pitching a recruitment business. Her website enables employers to connect with student and graduate internship candidates online.   Here she speaks to HRZone about her views on the market and how HR […]

Working prisons: A new source of affordable labour?

Even though only 20% of employers have knowingly recruited an ex-prisoner, most bosses report that they work as hard, if not harder, than those with no convictions. But employing offenders and ex-offenders isn’t just good for business. It also contributes to creating a safer society.    So rather than offshore their operations, we’re calling on […]

News: Fear of fitness-to-work test driving disabled to suicide

Fear of fitness-to-work tests are driving some disabled people to suicide and causing others mental health problems, according to the latest research among GPs. A survey of more than 1,000 family doctors in the UK revealed that more than four out of five had patients who had developed mental health issues such as stress, anxiety […]

Legal Insight: How to deal with social media defamation

As proved by the viral take-off last week on Twitter of Keiran Allen’s very public resignation email, there are three fundamental concerns that employers should have about social media. These are: It’s a very fast moving environment – things happen in real time Postings are permanent – most of the time (with very few exceptions), […]

News: Impact of AWR 1 year on? Depends who you talk to

Research on the impact of the Agency Worker Regulations a year after their introduction has thrown up some deeply contradictory findings about the desire of employers to take on temps. One survey indicated that fewer agency personnel have been taken on as a result of the legislation, while another found that it had made no […]

News: Bereaved parents call for corporate manslaughter charges against G4S

The parents of a private security guard have called for his employer, G4S, to be charged with corporate manslaughter after their son was killed by a colleague described by an alleged whistleblower as a “violent criminal”. According to a BBC documentary entitled ‘Britain’s Private War’, which is due to be screened on BBC Two Scotland […]

Legal Insight: How to avoid employment tribunal claims

In an already difficult economy, employers face substantial costs in trying to deal with employee conflict and actual and threatened claims.  Employment tribunal statistics for 2011-12 show that of the 186,300 claims brought last year, the vast majority were either settled or dismissed prior to the final hearing.    Given that HR professionals and employment […]

Ask the Expert: How can we best handle a complex restructure?

The challenge Our company is restructuring several departments in order to create a combined service to boost efficiency and customer focus.   The restructure will create vacancies, so there will be a position for everyone involved.   Essentially, there are five teams. Two of the teams are staying as they are (A&B). A further two […]

Blog: The reservist issue – Why employers are not “despicable”

Last year’s Defence Review makes clear that by 2018, the trained strength of our Reserve Forces must grow by 50 per cent, meaning numbers in the Territorial Army will have to rise to 30,000, and that of the Royal Navy and Royal Marine Reserves to 3,100 and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, to 1,800. The […]

Blog: HR, it’s time to show bullies the exit

“As I opened the door, I saw her with her back turned and shoulders slumped. When she turned around, I could see that she had been crying. I felt bad but it made me realize that I am not the only one who gets verbally abused. The kicker was that she was a senior level […]

Legal Insight: Employment tribunal proposals – Beware the silent killers

The government recently announced proposals to streamline employment law and the employment tribunal system, which could roughly be split into three categories: flag waving, old wine in new bottles and silent killers. The proposals themselves stem from the view that there has been significant growth in the number of complex employment tribunal claims, which are […]

News: Viral resignation email proves ‘money isn’t enough for disgruntled staff’

“Throwing money” at disgruntled employees rarely works into the long-term as Kieran Allen’s very public resignation email, which went viral after being posted on Twitter, has proved, according to a marketing recruiter. Allen, a senior account manager at UK media planning and buying agency, MEC Global, which is part of the WPP Group, sent the […]

News: Former TA chief: UK employers’ discrimination in hiring “despicable”

 The former head of the Territorial Army has called for financial incentives and the tightening of UK legislation in a bid to prevent employers from routinely discriminating against reservists during the recruitment process. In an interview with the Telegraph, the Duke of Westminister, one of the country’s richest men and a two-star major general who […]

Ask the Expert: Can staff change the goalposts over maternity leave?

The question I have a staff member who has taken all of her Ordinary Maternity Leave and is now into Additional Maternity Leave.   Prior to the leave starting, she notified us that she wished to return during her AML (to come back in September), but would take an additional period of holiday so that […]

News: Employers believe ‘protected conversations’ will lead to bullying

A worrying two thirds of employers believe that the government’s ‘protected conversation’ proposals will lead to abuse, acting as a smokescreen for threats and bullying that would otherwise constitute a breach of contract. However, a mere 13% of those questioned in a survey undertaken by law firm Pannone said that they would refrain from taking […]

Ask the Expert: What legal issues do well-being initiatives generate?

The question  I have been asked to introduce some health and well-being initiatives into our workplace. Where should I start and are there any particular legal issues/pitfalls that I need to be aware of?     The legal verdict   Esther Smith, a partner at Thomas Eggar   Where to start indeed! There is pretty […]

News: Lawyers disagree over impact of tribunal “shake-up” proposals

Vince Cable’s so-called tribunal system “shake up” has sparked disagreement among lawyers as to how significant the impact on employers is likely to be. The Business Secretary confirmed today that the controversial ‘no fault dismissal’ proposals made in a Downing Street-commissioned report by venture capitalist, Adrian Beecroft, were being dropped due to a lack of […]

Legal Insight: National Minumum Wage – How to avoid being named and shamed

The first employer was outed this month under a “naming and shaming” scheme designed to highlight breaches of the National Minimum Wage Act. Norman Lamb, who until the recent government reshuffle was minister for employment relations, named the afore-mentioned employer as Leicester-based Rita Patel.   Following an investigation by HM Revenue & Customs, Patel, who […]