Default retirement age: what you need to know
The law on age and retirement is changing. The Government is phasing out the default retirement age (DRA) from April 2011. This guide will help you understand what you need to know. How will the phasing out affect both employers and agencies? From 6 April 2011, subject to Parliamentary procedures, employers will no longer be […]
Delayed Bribery act to be enforced despite scarce resources
Although the UK’s anti-corruption watchdog has branded official guidance to the Bribery Act as a “deplorable” handbook for evasion, the head of the Serious Fraud Office has pledged to take a tough stance on enforcement. The Act, which passed into law last April, is now due to come into force in July. The delay of […]
Paternity leave additions explained
Parents of children born on or after 3 April this year will have more flexibility in relation to their childcare arrangements as the father will be able to take more time off work as additional paternity leave. This will give fathers more opportunity to share the responsibility of childcare with mothers. The new right to […]
Ask the expert: Pay grade – has this employee got a case?
This time the experts, Esther Smith and Adam Partington advise on whether an employee could take action against the employer for effectively down-grading them. The question: Pay grade – has this employee got a case? Last year (May 2010) we went into consultation where the role was split into two roles where the current employee […]
Mediation and wellbeing: An all-weather strategy
Conflict in the workplace is as common as a rainy day in the UK. And, like a miserable wet day, workplace disputes have a negative effect on our wellbeing in the workplace. Whilst we can prepare for rain, with stylish wellies and colourful umbrellas, most HR professionals and line managers feel ill-equipped and lack the […]
Will the new paternity leave rights benefit you?
Two out of five new fathers will not take advantage of new paternity leave rights because they cannot afford it, they fear that their career will suffer or they are afraid of losing their jobs. The coalition government introduced new regulations yesterday enabling new fathers to take up to six months paternity […]
Ignore the Bribery Act at your peril, says law firm
Law firm, Prettys, warns companies not to ignore Bribery Act as strict new rules spread to the wider business community. Although implementation of The Act has been delayed, it looks likely to come into force later this year and could extend to normal business conduct that many companies do not realise will be affected. Penalties […]
IBM settles out of court for bribery campaign
IBM has agreed to pay $10 million to US regulators in order to settle accusations of a decade-long campaign of bribery in China and South Korea out-of-court. The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that the world’s largest computer company had given cash and gifts, which included travel and entertainment, to Chinese and South Korean officials […]
Health and safety cuts will put employees at risk
Cuts of a third to the number of automatic health and safety inspections from April will put employees at risk and inevitably lead to more workplace injuries and deaths, lawyers have warned. The Work and Pensions Minister Chris Grayling announced yesterday that automatic inspections would now take place only at high risk installations such as […]
Ask the expert: Accusations – how do we handle bad mouthing of the company?
This time the experts, Esther Smith and Martin Brewer give their advice on what to do about an employee bad mouthing the company at social events in front of clients. The question: Accusations – how do we handle bad mouthing of the company? I’m investigating an accusation by one of our senior staff against a […]
Budget Britain: Save money, banish employee rights…
Balancing the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees is a trite phrase in the HR world. Recent political change coupled with the challenging economic backdrop has shifted this balance, generally, in the favour of employers. Whether the latest government proposals go too far in their fight against the “enemies of enterprise”, depends on your […]
Prepare for childcare tax changes
How is your organisation going to be affected by changes to the tax system in regards to childcare? Expert Rebecca Benneyworth gives her advice. Employers operating childcare voucher and similar schemes will have their work cut out after 5 April if new employees join the scheme. Changes brought forward to reduce the cost of the […]
Government plans to drop maternity for SMEs and weaken bribery act revealed
Controversial proposals by the coalition government to exempt some foreign companies from prosecution under the Bribery Act and drop maternity and paternity regulations for small businesses could bring it into conflict with other administrations. Draft guidance being drawn up by the Minister of Justice and seen by the Guardian appears to indicate that foreign companies […]
Ask the expert: HR reviews – do we need to consult?
This time the experts, Esther Smith and Adam Partington advise on whether a consultation period is required before an HR review. The question: HR reviews – do we need to consult? We are an organisation that has grown quite organically. It started with one staff member in 2002 and we now have eight currently employed […]
HR can do complicance but struggles with strategy, says survey
Although HR professionals are performing well in dealing with tactical statutory compliance issues, they are failing miserably in more strategic areas such as mapping and managing staff competencies. These are the key findings of a survey among HR directors and board members in 53 organisations across Europe undertaken by HR services provider Aon Hewitt. The […]
Recruiters suggest NI holiday to boost job creation
Recruiters have called for a year-long national insurance holiday to support hiring by small businesses in order to tackle rising youth joblessness as the TUC warned of an imminent female employment crisis. The Report on Jobs published by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and management consultancy KPMG revealed that, even though demand for staff […]
Tribunal system broken: time for overhaul says CIPD
The employment tribunal systems must be radically overhauled as it is now “broken” and no longer offers value for money, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. A survey undertaken by the HR body revealed that just under seven out of 10 employers believe they have no effective protection against employees taking unjustifiable […]
Ask the expert: Redundancy of backfilled post
This time the experts, Esther Smith and Martin Brewer give their advice on what to do in the case of making this backfilled post redundant. The question: Redundancy of backfilled post We have a seconded employee whose post may be made redundant – given that he has been in this post for 11 months and […]
Default retirement age amendments announced
As official figures showed that the number of people aged 65 or over who work has doubled over the last 10 years, the coalition government moved to amend controversial draft regulations governing the end of the default retirement age. The initial version of the draft regulations laid before Parliament on 16 February had indicated that […]
Ask the expert: Discriminatory comments to pregnant employee
This week the experts, Adam Partington and Esther Smith advise on what to do about discriminatory comments made about a pregnant employee. The question: Discriminatory comments to pregnant employee We have heard that a manager within our small company has made some discriminatory comments to a pregnant employee – along the lines that […]