Union urges BT employees with damaged hearing to claim
Only days after the Communications Workers Union voted to accept BT’s pay deal worth 9.3% over three years, it is urging engineers suffering from tinnitus and deafness to seek compensation from the telco for potential negligence. Compensation claims are currently being looked at in Cardiff County Court, which has asked the solicitors involved to consider […]
Antisocial hours still need equal pay
A ruling that female workers at an NHS Trust in Merseyside are entitled to the same level of payment for working antisocial hours as men could open the way to similar claims elsewhere. The women, who were employed by St Helen’s and Knowsley NHS Trust in roles ranging from healthcare assistants, domestic supervisors and receptionists, […]
Recession over but pay still low
Employers are having to find new ways to retain staff as more than three quarters have failed to reinstate pay cuts that were introduced to avoid redundancies during the recession. According to research undertaken among 1,000 workers by recruitment consultants Badenoch & Clark, a huge 77% of the 8.7 million employees that took a pay […]
Apprenticeships appreciated at awards
Sellafield won the top accolade at last night’s Apprenticeship Awards ceremony in London for making the most effective use of its trainees in order to meet the needs of both its business and the local community. The nuclear power provider, which was awarded the title of Macro Employer of the Year, has taken on apprentices […]
Avoiding ‘December syndrome’
It’s the height of summer and the UK’s workforce is working flat out. With concerns over public sector spending cuts and pay freezes to the fore and ‘knock-on’ effects expected across the private sector, employees are striving to hit targets and perform to the best of their ability. But towards the end of the year, […]
Employers fear backlash of bonus cuts
The coalition government is considering whether to introduce a second tax on bankers’ remuneration and profits and proposes to start a consultation on whether to make employers disclose their pay rates. The news came as research undertaken by recruitment agency Badenock & Clark revealed that, while nearly half of financial services organisations had committed to […]
Interns need ‘training wage’ says CIPD
The CIPD says all employers should be obliged to pay interns a guaranteed ‘Training Wage’ to prevent exploitation. A policy paper entitled ‘Internships: To Pay or Not to Pay?’ published today by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) proposed that all interns regardless of their occupation or industry sector be paid £2.50 per […]
National Minimum wage may ‘harm competitiveness’
The Low Pay Commission has been told to focus on monitoring the impact of the National Minimum Wage on small firms and the employment prospects of young people in order to understand whether it is harming their competiveness. The coalition government wrote to the Commission with its new requirements yesterday in a move that casts […]
Public sector HR braces for storms ahead
Public sector HR managers could face difficult times ahead if current debates being played out in the media over potentially radical changes to pay and pensions come to fruition. Only a day after Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg branded public sector pensions “unaffordable”, signalling possible future cuts, and 10 days after Prime Minister David Cameron […]
Now is not the time for employers to short-change staff over outplacement support
With its recent decision to take its outplacement support in-house, RBS is missing an opportunity, says Richard Alberg. Replacing the cost of external expertise in this way may appear more cost-effective but I fear they are in fact short changing ex-employees. It is difficult to criticise any employer that is making an effort to assist […]
Ask the expert: Do we need to pay the extra salary?
Do we need to pay the acting up salary if the employee has resigned? Adam Partington and Esther Smith advise. The question: Do we need to pay the extra salary? A colleague has taken on additional responsibilities with the understanding that there will be a pay uplift at the end of a […]
Bonus backlash: Setting the record straight
With ‘bonuses’ out of fashion in the tabloids, how do you communicate and justify using bonuses as rewards in your organisation? Engagement has a part to play, says Dona Roche-Tarry. Whilst it may be some consolation to recession-struck workers that new research shows that overall boardroom pay across the FTSE 350 has fallen "significantly from […]
Creating and communicating a total reward culture
The statistics say it all – 65% of employees admit to not fully understanding the value of their employee benefits. This is commercial madness when you consider organisations across the UK spend millions in developing and offering employee benefits. However there is a simple solution to this problem. Here Andy Philpott outlines the reasons for […]
Jobs up but wages fall, claims job index
Although the number of posts being advertised may be on the up, wages are continuing to drop – unless you happen to be a senior HR director in Whitehall. According to the latest Reed Job Index, which is based on data from reed.co.uk, the UK’s largest jobs board, demand among employers for new staff increased […]
It’s the way I tell ’em: keep up the benefit conversation
Pay and benefits… Frank Carson… bear with me, I can explain. (For those of you who are now asking yourself or a colleague "who on earth is Frank Carson?" you’ll have to doodle it on your i-berry). It is pretty much universally accepted by employers of today that you need to offer your employees a […]
Extraordinary energy – the ultimate reward
How often to do we hear the phrase ‘there are just not enough hours in the day?’ A common complaint in the world we live in with ever more increasing demands on our time, focus, roles and commitments. How much time and investment do organisations place into time management programmes, effective delegation, work life balance […]
The real cost of employee benefits
The outlook is still bleak for employees with regards to their pay. With employers continuing to err on the side of prudence rather than open their purse strings, wages are unlikely to rise in the foreseeable future. How can benefit packages give ROI and prove valuable? Employee benefits packages have always played an important role […]
We need a fresh approach – better benefits on a budget
In this feature with a difference, eavesdrop on these team conversations and learn about benefits on a budget. Meet the team (an entirely fictional team, but each with a foot firmly in reality…well it’s my reality so I’m setting the rules here). John: 62 – Finance DirectorJohn is a Newcastle fan because everything is black […]
Containing labour costs key priority for business
The majority of employers are keen to keep a lid on pay rises this year as containing labour costs remains one of their top priorities. But following an unprecedented year when many staff accepted curbs on pay and changes to working patterns to protect jobs during the recession, seven out of ten bosses appreciate […]
Will public sector pay freeze be good for UK or just cause misery?
Business leaders have called for an immediate two-year freeze on public sector workers’ pay to help cut the UK’s budget deficit despite union protests that such a move would cause “misery” as inflation hits 5.3%. Richard Lambert, director general of employers’ lobby group claimed that selected public sector pay and recruitment freezes could save £18 […]
