Vince Cable to announce consultation into exec banking pay
Vince Cable is expected to announce a ‘wide-ranging’ consultation into banking executives’ pay today, following warnings that the industry could be heading for a “train crash” if it continues to award staff huge bonuses while refusing to lend money to businesses. On the closing day of the Liberal Democrat party conference in Liverpool, the Business […]
Exec pay on ice
The time of executive salaries increasing far in excess of inflation are now over, with more than half of FTSE 350 companies choosing not to boost the salaries of executive directors this year. This situation equates to a two-year salary freeze for many as over two thirds received no increment last year either. Where wage […]
HR is going into the war for talent unarmed
Employers across both the public and private sector fear that they are no longer able to offer the pay and benefits packages required to attract and retain key skills, an HR body has warned. Number two on the list of concerns relates to the ability of line managers to administer such rewards, while the number […]
‘Equal pay’ firms target ‘unenforceable’ pay secrecy clauses
Private sector employers should brace themselves for a wave of mass discrimination lawsuits following the abolition of a pay secrecy clause in the Equality Act. According to law firm Pannone, when the Act comes into force in October, pay secrecy clauses will become unenforceable and organisations will be unable to prevent staff from disclosing salary […]
2/3 public sector ‘would take pay cut’
With unemployment predicted to breach 10% outside of London and the South of England, nearly two thirds of public sector workers would now be prepared to take pay cuts to save their jobs. According to a survey of 1,600 public sector jobseekers by recruitment web site Totaljobs.com, a quarter said they would stomach a salary […]
Equal pay for women in HR 107 years away
The average female manager in the UK faces a wait of 57 years for their salary to be on a par with male counterparts, while equal pay for women HR bosses is a mind-blowing 107 years away. These are the findings of the ‘2010 National Management Salary Survey’ undertaken among 43,000 managers in 200 organisations […]
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 […]