Blog: The disciplinary power of slapping someone’s legs with a wet fish
Disciplinary stages: 1 – verbal warning. 2 – written warning. 3 – a slap round the back of the legs with a wet fish. 4 – final written warning. Well, not really, but I’m sure I’m not the only one to have fantasised about having an additional, more impactful sanction somewhere along the line! […]
News: Olympus whistleblower hearing gets under way
Former Olympus chief executive Michael Woodford is expected to seek up to $60 million in compensation this week from his former employer, after he blew the cover on a $1.7bn accounting scandal. The five-day hearing gets underway today at an employment tribunal in east London and will shed light on why Woodford was sacked after […]
Legal Insight: Homeworking during the Olympics
So your company has decided that over the course of the Olympics period, it will allow staff to work from home. Great news – the business carries on as normal and employees don’t have to suffer the hassle of commuting. But it’s not just a simple case of plugging in a laptop. There are […]
Ask the Expert: What is the holiday situation for sick workers going through redundancy?
The question An employee of ours has been on long-term sick leave since May 2011 until the current time. We have just confirmed her redundancy. But she has now asked a holiday-related question about which I would like clarification. She did not take any holidays last year (the holiday year is from January […]
Legal Insight: Pre-Olympic casual worker considerations
With the start of the Olympic Games coming ever closer, many businesses are looking to engage casual workers in order to meet the growing demands that they face as a result. It is routine for casual workers to be used in industries where the work is seasonal or varies from week-to-week and month-to-month. But as […]
News: Half of pubic sector workers got zilch in April pay settlement
As the April pay bargaining round in the public sector gets into full swing, it appears that just over half of all workers can expect to get nothing this year. The latest figures from online resource, XpertHR, based on 29 pay reviews that came into force last month, indicated that in 55.2% of cases, staff […]
News: Stringfellows’ dancer goes back to tribunal
The epic case of topless dancer Nadine Quashie will be heading back to the employment tribunals after a judge ruled that she had been an employee at the Stringfellows club in London. Quashie, a former accountancy student, lost her unfair dismissal case at an employment tribunal in late 2010, which found that she was self-employed. […]
News: Cable blasts Beecroft Report as “complete nonsense”
The Business Secretary has blasted plans to make it easier for firms to sack under-performing staff as “complete nonsense”, warning that they would leave a “dead hand of fear” hanging over workers’ heads. Vince Cable told the BBC that it was not the job of government to “scare the wits” out of people by introducing […]
Blog: Social media – Opportunity or danger?
And so it was that recently I took part in the People Managements webinar entitled Social Media: Opportunity or Danger? expertly facilitated by PM‘s Editor in chief Rob McLaughlan and Digital Marketing Manager Zoe Bearne. I was one of three ‘speakers’, the other two being Al Shah, Social Media Demand Manager for GlaxoSmithKline and Lucy Turner, […]
Ask the Expert: When can restrictive covenants be enforced – or not?
800×600 Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The question I think that I am familiar with the general issues surrounding the enforcement of restrictive covenants, but would welcome advice on this specific matter: If the covenant is part of an employment contract that an employer has unlawfully breached (for example, where a […]
Give & Gain Day: Lloyds’ talent director Richard Buxton on volunteering
Thousands of employees from across the UK – and throughout the world – are donating time to the communities in which they live or work today by taking part in the world’s only national day for employee volunteering – Give & Gain Day 2012. Now in its fifth year, Give & Gain Day is run […]
The HR Headmistress: How to select candidates for redundancy pools
In a redundancy situation, it is really important to implement a fair process in order to avoid unfair dismissal claims. Part of this activity involves identifying an appropriate redundancy pool and ensuring that the selection criteria used are not tainted by discrimination. 1. Defining a redundancy pool There are no set rules about […]
News: Female Network Rail staff to fight for equal pay
Network Rail bosses were accused today of treating women like “second class citizens” after research revealed that they were being paid on average £4,500 per year less than their male colleagues. The findings of the survey of more than 2,000 workers will result in some 34 female middle managers launching an initial claim for […]
CEO Insight: Briggs Equipment’s Richard Close on how to work effectively with unions
Disputes between trade unions and employers have flooded the news in recent weeks, not least due to the threat of a tanker driver strike that would have had a severe impact across the country. Strike action is often seen as a last resort by employees when negotiating with their employers, but it is nonetheless likely […]
News: Calls for ‘competency card’ after employer convicted of manslaughter
Health and safety experts have called for a mandatory proof-of-competence card to be introduced for agriculture workers after a pig farm became among the first organisations to be convicted under the Corporate Manslaughter Act. JMW Farms was fined a record £187,000 plus £13,000 in costs at Belfast Crown Court last Tuesday, following the death of […]
News: Petrol tanker strike averted as drivers accept deal
The threat of a national fuel strike has been averted after tanker drivers narrowly voted to accept a deal aimed at ending a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. Unite said that 51% of its 2,000 members, who worked for a total of seven distribution companies, backed the deal despite a recommendation to reject it. […]
Ask the Expert: Is recorded third party evidence admissable for use at a tribunal?
The question While trying to sort out an employee dispute between a client and his employee (I know, stupid me!), the employee recorded the conversation that took place between us ie myself and the staff member. I was only acting as an intermediary to try and solve the dispute. But now the employee has […]
Five principles to ensure successful conflict resolution
The hidden cost of conflict is underestimated in many organisations. Indeed, one recent survey by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution put the cost of conflict at £40 billion each year. Grievance probes that are handled by inexperienced or poorly trained investigators can also lead to a spiral of appeals and reinvestigation, but the […]
News: Government brands public sector pensions strike as “futile”
Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers took part in demonstrations and 24-hour strike action today, staging a protest over pension changes that the Cabinet Office minister has branded “futile”. The walk-out follows last November’s nationwide stoppage by more than one-and-a-half million public servants, but was fuelled by statements in the Queen’s Speech yesterday confirming […]
Legal Insight: Positive discrimination – A trap for the well intentioned?
Recent publicity on the use of positive action in recruitment or promotion in tiebreak situations has left HR directors with a dilemma. Should positive action be used to improve diversity either in the organisation generally or to help women and members of ethnic minorities break through “glass ceilings” into management? Section 159 of the […]
