Pay inequality growing – and bad for business

Pay inequality is rocketing in the UK, with top private sector bosses set to earn a massive 214 times more than average wage earners by 2020, an investigation has found.  According to an interim report published by the High Pay Commission, which is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, executive renumeration is now “out […]

Fleet life: Tackling the fuel price problem

Despite experiencing “pump shock” from soaring fuel prices, businesses can take practical steps to minimise the pain at the pumps and strengthen the appeal of car benefits, says Paul Hollick of multi-marque car leasing company Alphabet. The sharp increase in pump prices – fuel prices have increased by 40% in real terms over the last […]

Public sector pay ‘better than in private sector’

Public sector hourly wages outstripped those of the private sector for the second year running in 2010 as the bottom 30% of private sector employees suffered “dramatic” pay cuts, a report has revealed.  The study undertaken by right-wing think tank the Policy Exchange and based on Office of National Statistics data revealed that, in every […]

FairPensions rally calls for living wage by top 100 companies

An advocacy group is writing to chief executives at the top 100 UK companies to demand that they pay workers a “living wage”, after holding a rally in London yesterday.  Two and a half thousand investors, philanthropists and religious leaders led by FairPensions, an organisation committed to promoting responsible investment, gathered at Westminster Central Hall […]

The guide to… rewarding staff when salary increases and promotion are frozen

Recent economic data has revealed low levels of wage inflation, indicating that many organisations are implementing low or no pay increases for the coming year. In addition, headcount freezes are reducing opportunities for promotion. Vincent Belliveau, EMEA General Manager for Cornerstone OnDemand, outlines how businesses can motivate their employees in this challenging environment. Pay raises […]

Ask the expert: Sickness and pay increases

This week the experts, Adam Partington and Esther Smith advise on whether to give a pay increase to an employee on sick pay.     The question: Sickness and pay increases I have an employee on long term sick, the SSP has long ended and we are approaching our financial end of year. The other […]

Bonus and salary review season

…is upon us and it’s time to consider retention, as well as the cost – where does HR stand and what should we do? Charlie Waters offers this advice. Old news!In the turmoil of the past three years, financial markets chaos has made employees more cautious and therefore less likely to leave their current employer. […]

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 […]

Lecturers strike over pay and pensions

Tens of thousands of lecturers will today take part in their first nationwide strike for five years as part of a worsening row over changes to pay and pensions.  Members of the University and College Union will walk out of 500 further education colleges, older universities and former polytechnics across the country and mount picket […]

Public sector pay should be linked to performance

Senior public sector managers’ pay should be performance-related but not subject to a cap at 20 times the salary of their lowest paid staff, an independent review has proposed.  The government-commissioned Fair Pay Review, led by Work Foundation head Will Hutton, the final version of which is published today, U-turned on initial recommendations made in […]

Sickness insurance could replace sick pay from employers

Employers could be required to take out income protection insurance for their staff rather than provide statutory sick pay in a bid to cut a sickness absence bill that currently costs them £8 billion a year.  This is a leading proposal before Lord Freud, the coalition government’s welfare reform minister, and is one of several […]

Event: Reward management in financial services – where do we go from here?

An upcoming financial services breakfast briefing hosted by Curo Compensation in association with HRzone.co.uk will explore the priorities and challenges for those impacted by the expansion of the FSA code on their reward strategy in 2011 and provide a networking opportunity for reward professionals in this sphere. HRzone readers are invited to attend this event […]

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 […]

Police may ‘take to streets’ over cuts

Police officers could take to the streets over proposed “cataclysmic” cuts to their take-home pay, after accusing the coalition government of bullying tactics and “unfair treatment”.  The furious reaction followed a government-commissioned review by former rail regulator Tom Winsor, which called for the reduction in or abolition of a series of allowances and overtime payments […]

Pay increases still lag behind inflation

Although average pay rises have jumped to the highest level for two years, they are still little more than half that of retail price inflation, the traditional benchmark for wage deals.  Figures from Incomes Data Service revealed that the median pay award for the three months to January had jumped to 2.8% from 2.2% in […]

HR bonuses higher than expected

Higher than expected bonuses for the UK’s 148,000 HR professionals saw pay-outs nearly double from £680 million to £1.5 billion last year, boosting their total renumeration by 12%.  The sharp increase followed a year of job creation in the sector, with the number of HR positions rising by 6.7% between the second quarters of 2009 […]

Scottish unions grapple with councils over redundancy and pay

Scottish trade unions have denied that a deal has been struck with the Scottish Government and local councils to protect public sector jobs in return for pay constraint.  The move followed reports that an agreement was close, but unions seeking more assurances over the deal accused the Scottish Government of “jumping the gun”.  Although a […]

Oakeshott resigns over coalition bonus cave-in

The Liberal Democrats’ Treasury spokesman in the House of Lords resigned last night in protest at what he saw as a cave-in by the coalition government on a deal over bankers’ salaries and bonuses.  Lord Oakeshott, who was a City fund manager for 35 years and advised Business Secretary Vince Cable when the Lib Dems […]

Reward management – where do we go from here?

Whether you are considering overhauling your reward structure or not, it’s clear that reward has changed. Could your remuneration strategy be more effective? Denis Crowe gives some tips.  How far is the culture of bonuses in banks to blame for the financial crisis? Vince Cable has gone on the record to say that: “there is […]

Healthcare unions hit out at two year pay freeze proposals

Health service unions have rejected “divisive” proposals to introduce a two-year freeze on increments for all staff in England from April in return for an “extremely limited” guarantee of no compulsory redundancies.  The British Medical Association joined The Royal College of Nursing and Unison in throwing out suggestions made by the NHS Employers body that […]