Public sector employers not liable for asbestos claims, rules Supreme Court

Public sector employers no longer risk having to shell out hundreds of thousands of pounds for asbestos-related claims after the Supreme Court finally settled a long-running dispute between insurers over liability. The ruling in the landmark case centred on the question of who was responsible for paying compensation for claims relating to invariably fatal asbestos-induced […]

Employers and unions spat over extent of public-private sector pay gap

Employers and unions were at odds today over official government figures showing that public sector workers are paid on average 8% more than their private sector colleagues. The spat came about after the Office of National Statistics published its latest snapshot details of UK Plc’s employment profile.   Apart from telling us that the number […]

Olympian Insight: Steve Backley and Roger Black on what HR can learn from sport

Ahead of former Olympic medal winner (javelin throwing) Steve Backley’s keynote speech at learning and development conference TrainingZone Live on 15 May, we caught up with him and his business partner, fellow Olympian (400 meters sprint) Roger Black, to talk training, leadership and the upcoming Games. 1. What are the main leadership lessons that businesses can […]

Public sector jobs cull to lead to “tectonic shift” in UK labour market

More than one in seven public sector jobs will be lost as a result of coalition government budget cuts, leading to "a tectonic shift" in the nature of the UK labour market, according to the CIPD. The organisation cited the Office for Budget Responsibility‘s latest employment projections, which indicate that the public sector workforce is […]

Public sector jobs cull will jump to 730,000 by 2017, forecasts OBR

A huge 20,000 more public sector workers than expected will lose their jobs over the next four years, taking the total cull to 730,000, the government’s independent forecasters revealed yesterday. In November, the Office for Budget Responsibility had forecast that the number of public servants being axed would be 310,000 higher than the 400,000 predicted […]

Budget 2012: Local pay deals ‘could expose public sector to discrimination claims’

The public sector will need to tread carefully when negotiating local pay deals or risk opening itself up to discrimination claims, a law firm has warned. As expected, the Chancellor announced in his Budget speech today that he was looking to see whether he could “make public sector pay more responsive to local pay rates”. […]

PCS union to push for 2nd national pension strike in April

Thought public sector pension strikes had all blown over? Not a chance. The Public and Commercial Services Union may have confirmed that it will not join with members of the University and Colleges Union and the National Union of Teachers in a one-day stoppage and demonstration in London next Wednesday (28 March).   But it […]

Will the Olympic torch pass by your workplace?

Do you want to know if you’ll be able to watch the Olympic torch pass your workplace or home? Now you can, as the street-by-street route that the Summer London Olympics torch relay will take around the UK has been published.   The names of the majority of the 8,000 people who will carry the […]

Budget 2012: The dismantling of national pay bargaining begins

The Chancellor will announce in his Budget speech on Wednesday that he is bringing forward plans to allow a handful of central government departments to set their own local employee pay rates. In a move that could lead to further strike action among unions already angry over proposed changes to staff pensions, three departments are […]

The Apprentice 2012: The candidates unmasked

The BBC has revealed the latest crop of wannabe executives to compete in The Apprentice. Here are the contestants appearing in the new series of the show which starts on BBC One on 21 March.   Meet the girls   Bilyana ApostolovaAge: 25Occupation: Risk analystLives: London, UK   Bulgarian born Bilyana started off her career […]

Case Study: Herts Council’s ‘Transformation’ programme slashes sickness absence

Hertfordshire County Council provides local services to more than a million people in the area and employs around 34,000 staff, of whom about 24,000 work in schools. Last year, it introduced a ‘Transformation’ programme – a new and radically different wellbeing strategy, aimed at reducing sickness absence and improving organisational performance.   And, while it […]

Nine out of 10 staff unaware of employer’s Olympics workforce policies

Although a huge four out of five employers claim to have devised workforce policies to help them cope with Olympics-related business disruption, almost nine out of ten employees have no idea what they are. To make matters worse, a worrying 55% of organisations attest that they have communicated their plans to staff, who should be […]

Dealing with an Olympian event

 Love them or loathe them, the Olympic and Paralympic Games are now mere months away. But worryingly, according to research by Olympic sponsor, BT, almost a third of organisations across the country have simply not made adequate enough preparations to cope, even though a huge 93% expect to be affected in some way – not […]

Workers making official Olympics sportswear are abused, claims charity

Workers in Bangladeshi sweatshops are being exploited and abused while making clothes for Olympic sponsors, Adidas, Nike and Puma, an anti-poverty charity has claimed. War on Want in its report entitled ‘Race to the Bottom’ attests that the lowest-paid staff in factories that supply Adidas, the Games’ official sportswear partner, are given just 9p an […]

Research puts migrant construction worker safety in the picture

Deaths and injury among migrant construction workers could be cut by up to 20% simply by including pictures in safety training, research has revealed. Statistics from the Health and Safety Executive show that migrants, who comprise 6% of the UK’s 2.3 million construction workers, are more likely to be fatally injured than native UK employees […]

Lincolnshire to see biggest ever transfer of police staff to private sector

An outsourcing deal allowing a private security company to design, build and run a police station in Lincolnshire is expected to result in the biggest ever single transfer of police staff to a commercial firm. The agreement between G4S and Lincolnshire Police is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK and […]

Whistleblower alleges former A4e staff are being made “scapegoats”

A whistleblower has claimed that four workers arrested on suspicion of fraud at government Work Programme contractor, A4e, are being made into “scapegoats”. Police officers carried out dawn raids on the home of two men and two women last month, but subsequently released them on bail until mid-March. Thames Valley Police visited the employment agency’s […]

London 2012: Planning for travel disruption

London is less than six months away from hosting the biggest sporting event in the world. During the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the country expects to play host to 90,000 athletes, media representatives and officials, along with hundreds of thousands of spectators who will attend venues across the capital from 27 July to 14 […]

Tax workers strike over privatisation fears

In something of a reprieve for those workers struggling to file their income tax self assessments online, HM Revenue & Customs offices were closed today due to strikes over fears that its call centres are in the process of being privatised. The Public and Commercial Services Union dislikes plans to trial the use of private […]

Pension reforms will increase public/private sector gap, warns IFS

A think tank has added to comments made by an independent pension analyst last month that the coalition government’s rationale for changing public sector pensions may have a questionable basis. The Institute for Fiscal Studies is scheduled to release a study as part of its annual ‘Green Budget’ tomorrow, in which it claims that proposed […]