Heads or veils? Tread carefully. By Matt Henkes
This year saw the issue of religious dress at work thrust unceremoniously into the limelight for all to discuss. The subject constitutes a potato of truly thermonuclear proportions, with the easily offended seemingly poised on all sides, their outrage cannons carefully loaded. With only a few souls brave enough to venture into the fray, some […]
Feeling lazy? Blame it on the office. By Sarah Fletcher
Is your office killing your ability to work? If you have a tendency to gaze vacantly out of the window for hours, forget to reply to emails and be distracted by your colleagues discussing last night's tv, don't feel guilty; it turns out it's not your fault after all. Apparently we're suffering from a condition […]
Sexism at work on the increase
Workplace sexism is rising, with almost three quarters (72 per cent) of women claiming they have been bullied because of their gender. Women in 2006 feel more bullied at work than they did in 2002, legal services company Peninsula reports. The survey of 2,067 female staff found the amount of women feeling bullied at work […]
HR Practitioner’s Diary: Feeling the heat
HR consultant, Sue Kingston shares her latest HR antics including dress-code battles during the heatwave, ways to navigate the Investors in People assessment and coaching for the over-50s; read on to catch-up with all her news plus more of those vital boyfriend and diet revelations. Month: July 2006 Wow, what a heatwave we’ve […]
Dress codes – all tied up?
A male civil servant who wore Hawaiian shirts with clashing ties – one patterned with condoms – has lost his claim for sexual harassment and unfair dismissal. Raymond Akers, who worked for JobCentre Plus in Weymouth, said that a requirement for men to wear a collar and tie in the office was discriminatory and unnecessary, […]
Companies increasingly make employees face the music
Large corporations increasingly use hip pop music to develop loyal, hard-working employees, and encourage workers, literally, to sing from the same hymn sheet, according to new research. Company songs, from IBM's rehash of a US fighting song to NCR's rendition of the Beatle's 'Back in the USSR', are being used to reinforce corporate culture and […]
Unequal pay spreads discontent
Women regard lack of parity in pay scales as a major form of sexual discrimination. In a recent survey by Alexander Lloyd of women in accountancy, insurance and general business occupations, almost half the women interviewed working in the general business sector cited lower pay or pay scales for women as a major issue for […]
Friday is jeans for genes day!
Friday is Jeans for Genes day. Go to work in jeans or casual clothes, and donate £1 to research into genetic disorders. The event is organised by four national charities, to raise funds for research into serious and often life-threatening genetic disorders affecting thousands of children. Funds also help to fund valuable advice and support […]
Rise in second jobs
In the last eighteen years the number of people with second jobs has risen by 68 per cent, according to the Office of National Statistics. In the same period the number of people in employment rose 18 per cent.The number of peole with second jobs has been higher, in the mid-1990s. Not too surprisingly, people […]
No more ‘sickies’ – it’s ‘duvet days’ to the rescue!
After the struggle to get back to work we reported on yesterday, several newspapers are today highlighting the American practice of allocating 'duvet days', which could soon see off the British tradition of 'throwing a sickie'. In the latest idea in employee benefits from the US, employees are given up to four days off a […]
