XpertHR > Strategy & Practice > News & Indicators

Wages freeze by Royal Mail unlawful for CWU's work-to-contract campaign
Date: 05/09/2008
Royal Mail has been forced to pay dozens of postal workers who had their pay stopped "without good reason" last August.

Veterans blame Army for massed ranks of ex-soldiers in UK jails
Date: 05/09/2008
The British Army has come under fire from veterans' groups and senior officers for failing to help ex-servicemen find jobs after they leave the forces.

Glass ceiling for women replaced by reinforced concrete as progress stalls
Date: 04/09/2008
The so-called glass ceiling that prevents women progressing in the workplace is more like "reinforced concrete", the chief executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has warned.

Unhappy workers should be cause for concern warns TUC chief
Date: 04/09/2008
TUC chief Brendan Barber has warned employers there is "no room for complacency" after research showed that one in four employees was dissatisfied at work.

Civil service union PCS agrees job security deal with government
Date: 04/09/2008
Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) have overwhelmingly endorsed a national agreement on job security and privatisation.

Gangmasters Licensing Authority revokes licences of 22 employers
Date: 03/09/2008
An operation to curb the exploitation of workers in the agriculture and shellfish gathering industries has been deemed a success, after more than 20 employers had their licences revoked earlier this year.

Social care by voluntary sector suffers chronic underfunding by government
Date: 03/09/2008
The UK government has failed to tackle "chronic underfunding" in the social care sector despite a growing demand for services, research has foun

UK recruitment falls at fastest rate for almost seven years
Date: 03/09/2008
Demand for staff fell at its fastest rate for 80 months in August, according to figures from the latest Report on Jobs.

Dress and behaviour code at Norfolk Police
Date: 02/09/2008
Police have been banned from putting their hands in their pockets or using personal mobile phones in public as part of a new clampdown.

Pension payments for UK directors to deliver £200,000-plus per year
Date: 02/09/2008
Top bosses have amassed pension pots that average £3m each, providing an annual pension of more than £200,000, a survey has revealed.

RMT union calls for transport industry-wide zero tolerance policy
Date: 02/09/2008
Violence against transport workers has rocketed, prompting demands by transport union RMT for an industry-wide code of protection for workers in the rail, bus and ferry sectors.

Butlins joins with Chichester University to offer degrees
Date: 01/09/2008
Butlins' Redcoats will be able to train for a degree, it has emerged.

Final salary pension employer contributions will wane
Date: 01/09/2008
Two-thirds of companies will contribute less towards final salary pension scheme contributions next year, a survey has revealed.

Employee fraud rises as credit crunch hits
Date: 01/09/2008
Fraud experts and business groups have put employers on red alert as the economic downturn forces many workers to find extra cash dishonestly.

CIPD under pressure as HR professionals question its relevance
Date: 29/08/2008
Pressure has mounted on the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) after a branch secretary's attack attracted a groundswell of support from within the profession.

HR outsourcers confident government toolkits won’t hit business
Date: 29/08/2008
HR outsourcing firms have denied that their business will be hit by the government's campaign to provide free employment law advice.

New Agency Work Commission will help employers deal with change in the law
Date: 29/08/2008
An Agency Work Commission has been set up by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) to prepare for new agency workers legislation.

Redundancy fears for 14% of UK workers
Date: 28/08/2008
More than one in 10 workers fear they will lose their jobs in the next year, according to a survey released by the TUC.

Union launches TV channel to reach out to young workers
Date: 28/08/2008
Britain's first trade union television channel is to launch this weekend as the movement bids to woo young workers.

Fake NHS sicknotes for sale on website
Date: 28/08/2008
Fake sicknotes, which could end up costing UK employers millions of pounds a year, are being sold online.

John Lewis vows poor trading figures will not lead to job cuts
Date: 27/08/2008
John Lewis has vowed not to make any job cuts, despite the economic slowdown influencing poor trading results, Personnel Today has learned.

Pension scheme buy-outs set to double
Date: 27/08/2008
The number of pension schemes run by buy-out specialists is expected to double in the next four months.

Junior doctors still working more than 48 hours a week
Date: 27/08/2008
New figures showing that half of junior doctors are working in excess of 48 hours a week are "worrying", the British Medical Association has warned.

Helpline calls for redundancy advice increase as credit crunch continues
Date: 26/08/2008
Legal helplines have reported a record number of calls from businesses asking how to sack staff as the credit crunch takes hold, it has emerged.

Flexible working - consultation on extending rights begins
Date: 26/08/2008
The government is to explore ways to make dealing with flexible working requests easier for employers.

London bus workers to strike over pay
Date: 26/08/2008
Strikes are set to sweep across London from this Friday in a dispute that will affect the capital's bus services, trade union Unite has warned.

Equality Bill advisory group formed to assist government ministers
Date: 22/08/2008
A group of equality experts, business leaders and union chiefs has been formed to advise ministers on how best to implement the new Equality Bill.

British Retail Consortium puts minimum wage increase proposals to chancellor
Date: 22/08/2008
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has written to the chancellor to ask him to ensure national minimum wage increases never outstrip rises in average earnings.

Improper use of talent management schemes mean employers are losing out
Date: 22/08/2008
Talent management programmes aren't being used properly and it's costing recruitment efforts, research has found.

Extra bank holiday call renewed by TUC in bid to promote volunteering
Date: 22/08/2008
The TUC has renewed calls for an extra bank holiday in late October.

Absence management at Lancashire police takes the phone-back by line manager approach
Date: 21/08/2008
Police officers who phone in sick can expect a call from their sergeant asking them why they are not at work, it has emerged.

Equal pay guide launched as private firms urged to tackle issue
Date: 21/08/2008
A guide to equal pay legislation has been launched amid fresh warnings to private firms on the subject.

Police Federation questions £2.25m recruitment campaign for special officers
Date: 20/08/2008
A multi-million pound campaign to recruit thousands more volunteer police officers to the service has been met with caution by the Police Federation.

Scottish council workers in 24-hour strike over 2.5% pay offer
Date: 20/08/2008
Tens of thousands of council workers are on strike in Scotland today (20 August) in a row over pay.

Staff retention and productivity boosted by training
Date: 20/08/2008
Employers in the UK hospitality industry provide more training than any other sector, and it has helped their retention, research has shown.

Health and safety fine of £22,000 for hospital
Date: 19/08/2008
A hospital trust has been fined £22,000 after it allowed an employee to become exposed to a dangerous chemical while cleaning - despite no immediate harm caused to the individual.

Small business owners work 50-hour weeks
Date: 19/08/2008
UK small business owners are clocking up 50 working hours every week, according to a survey by Bank of Scotland Business Banking.

Eurostar staff set to strike over pay
Date: 19/08/2008
More than 100 Eurostar train cleaners are to strike on bank holiday monday in a bid to earn the London Living Wage.

MI5 recruits gay lobbyist Stonewall to target homosexual candidates for spying roles
Date: 18/08/2008
Intelligence service MI5 has teamed up with a gay lobby group to actively recruit more homosexual staff.

BCC paints doom and gloom for UK economy
Date: 18/08/2008
The UK is staring down the barrel of a "serious and prolonged recession", according to a gloomy report by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) this morning.

Unison chief vows strikes over public sector pay will continue
Date: 15/08/2008
The head of the UK's largest public sector union has vowed that protests against government pay policies will last at least another 12 months.

Outplacement improves retention rates, according to HR director survey
Date: 15/08/2008
Two-thirds of HR directors believe providing support for staff that are made redundant improves retention rates, according to research.

Train to Gain hinders social care skills, warns HR chief
Date: 15/08/2008
The government risks "stifling" the social care sector with the way its flagship Train to Gain service is structured, an HR chief has warned.

Unison chief pledges support for Gordon Brown amid rumours of union unrest
Date: 14/08/2008
A senior trade union official has pledged his support to Gordon Brown as speculation mounts that the prime minister will face a leadership challenge.

Government campaign aims to reduce employment law costs for businesses
Date: 14/08/2008
The government has launched a new campaign which aims to help employers save time and money on employment costs.

NHS Agenda for Change scheme cannot determine equal pay claims
Date: 14/08/2008
An equal pay judgement has confirmed that an NHS job evaluation scheme cannot be relied on for evidence of a role's previous value.

IT outsourcing the way forward to cut costs
Date: 13/08/2008
IT outsourcing will grow if the UK enters a recession, according to the HR chief at a provider that has boosted its takings this year.

Rising unemployment leads to trade union calls for ‘decisive action’
Date: 13/08/2008
Trade unions have called for "decisive action" from the government after new figures showed unemployment was growing at a rate of 20,000 people per month.

Online recruitment activity continues to fall
Date: 13/08/2008
Online recruitment activity continued to fall in July, according to the latest figures from the Monster Employment Index.

Final salary pension schemes face £24bn shortfall
Date: 12/08/2008
The UK's final salary pension schemes have fallen into deficit, according to an official report.

Acas staff in strike vote over delayed pay talks
Date: 12/08/2008
Staff at Acas have begun voting in a ballot which could see strike action hit the conciliation service.

More than 60% of midwives consider quitting
Date: 12/08/2008
Midwives are struggling to deal with the UK's rising population, and more than half have considered resigning, a survey has found.

Public sector staff paid more than private sector employees
Date: 11/08/2008
Public sector workers earn £210 per week more than those at private companies, according to research.

Executive brain drain accelerates as economic situation worsens
Date: 11/08/2008
Senior business people are increasingly looking abroad for work as the economic conditions dampen opportunities in the UK, according to research.

Unions warn against job cuts in troubled banks
Date: 11/08/2008
Unions have urged financial institutions not to make knee-jerk job cuts as mid-year results show a loss in trading.

Job prospects weaken as employers plan to cut head-count
Date: 11/08/2008
Job prospects are the weakest they have been since the Labour Market Outlook survey began in 2004, the latest report shows.

Tube Lines launches competition for staff with money-saving ideas
Date: 08/08/2008
Tube Lines has called on its employees to help improve the way it operates after one idea stands to save the company £1.3m.

Axa to cut 500 jobs in bid to save £80m
Date: 08/08/2008
Insurance giant Axa yesterday announced it would cut 500 jobs as part of a move to save £80m over three years.

Illegal criminal record checks on staff being carried out by employers
Date: 08/08/2008
Employers are making illegal criminal record checks on staff, amid calls for a review of the law.

Innovative graduate recruitment vital to future social care workforce
Date: 07/08/2008
The chief of HR at a social care charity has voiced serious concerns about the lack of people choosing to work in the sector, which could cause major staffing problems in 20 years' time.

TUC calls for apprentice entitlement to national minimum wage
Date: 07/08/2008
Trade union leaders have called for all apprentices to be legally entitled to the national minimum wage.

Sickness absence can be reduced with employers' help with rehabilitation
Date: 07/08/2008
The vast majority of workers with health problems can be helped back into employment with simple support, according to research.

UK managers still check e-mails despite being on holiday
Date: 06/08/2008
Line managers spend almost an entire working day of their holiday checking e-mails, according to a poll.

Balpa union faces strike action from its own employees over pensions
Date: 06/08/2008
Employees of the union that represents airline pilots will stage a 24-hour strike after talks to resolve a pensions dispute broke down.

UK skills chief wants your views to help shape national skills plan
Date: 06/08/2008
UK skills tsar Chris Humphries, chief executive of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), wants Personnel Today readers to help develop a national skills plan.

Skilled migrant forum threatens Home Office with second judicial review over unlawful HSMP changes
Date: 05/08/2008
Campaigners have given the government a 14-day deadline to make further changes to the controversial Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) - or face a second judicial review.

No new laws in crackdown on employers who abuse vulnerable workers
Date: 05/08/2008
Business leaders have breathed a sigh of relief after a crackdown on rogue employers of vulnerable workers announced this morning did not include new laws.

Counter-terrorism police unit publishes security guides for employers
Date: 05/08/2008
A specialist UK police unit has drawn up response plans for organisations likely to experience terrorist attacks, and has begun running training courses for employers.

Employees lose confidence in job security
Date: 04/08/2008
Workers are rapidly losing confidence in the security of their jobs, research has revealed.

Council chief denies failure to consult union over IBM deal
Date: 04/08/2008
Somerset County Council's HR chief has rubbished union claims that he failed to consult them fully before signing a controversial shared services deal with IBM.

Firms warned not to use credit crunch as excuse for job cuts
Date: 04/08/2008
A stern warning has been issued to employers tempted to make mass redundancies during the credit crunch despite facing no financial pressure to do so.

Second Warwick deal with unions sets Labour's 2010 agenda
Date: 01/08/2008
A senior business figure has hit out at employment policies that emerged from the Labour Party's work towards a manifesto for the next general election.

Police Service to launch graduate fast-track scheme to boost applicants for senior posts
Date: 01/08/2008
A graduate fast-track scheme may be launched in the Police Service for the first time to help drive up the number of applicants for senior officer posts, the government has revealed.

London Living Wage no risk to economy, says mayor
Date: 01/08/2008
London mayor Boris Johnson has insisted that employers in the capital would not be putting jobs or the economy at risk by bumping up low earners' salaries.

Equality practitioners’ professional body loses support
Date: 31/07/2008
Equality experts intent on setting up a new membership body to standardise the profession have admitted they may not join the association themselves.

TUC urges government to ‘restore trade union freedoms’
Date: 31/07/2008
Vociferous demands for action to further strengthen employment law pack the agenda for September's TUC annual congress.

Credit crunch pressures employers to award higher pay rises
Date: 31/07/2008
Employers are feeling pressured to give large pay rises to help staff cope with rising costs caused by the credit crunch, a survey has found.

Dyslexic student to launch discrimination claim against General Medical Council over multiple choice exams
Date: 30/07/2008
A dyslexic medical student will take legal action to stop multiple choice exams being used as part of doctors' training.

Teaching TV ad banned for misleading information on salaries
Date: 30/07/2008
A TV advert that suggested beginner teachers could earn £34,000 a year has been banned by the regulatory body.

Workplace wellbeing schemes prove their worth in tests
Date: 30/07/2008
A government-funded pilot scheme has found that employers can make significant improvements to the health of their staff.

Job cuts likely as credit crunch tightens
Date: 29/07/2008
More than half of UK employers will cut jobs over the next few months as they deal with the fall-out from the credit crunch, a report has revealed.

Equal pay court ruling opens way to more local government claims
Date: 29/07/2008
Thousands of new equal pay claims against local authorities and the NHS could be lodged in addition to those already in the system, thanks to a landmark court ruling.

Retirement savings: many workers not using pension schemes
Date: 29/07/2008
Almost one in five full-time employees is not contributing to a pension fund, although they say they are saving for retirement, research has found.

Future CEOs stand out from the crowd
Date: 28/07/2008
Future CEOs can be recognised by their high energy levels, a desire to be in charge, and the ability to cut through complexity, a survey has found.

Equality is high priority for most employers
Date: 28/07/2008
As the Equalities Bill starts its long ride through Parliament to become law, a study has found that currently most employers have policies that go beyond the statutory requirements.

Raft of summer legislation could be counter-productive
Date: 28/07/2008
The wave of employment legislation announced this summer could be counter-productive, a senior HR figure has warned.

Jobseekers in financial services face two-month wait for work
Date: 25/07/2008
Jobseekers in the financial services sector are taking almost two months to find new employment as opportunities continue to wane, research has found.

France scraps 35-hour working week limit
Date: 25/07/2008
French president Nicolas Sarkozy has successfully abolished the country's controversial 35-hour working week limit.

Trade union membership on the increase in 2007
Date: 25/07/2008
Trade union membership increased slightly last year despite a drop in the overall number of recognised union bodies, official figures have revealed.

Advertised salaries in London £11,000 higher than rest of UK
Date: 24/07/2008
London salaries are now £11,000 higher than elsewhere in the UK, according to analysis by a jobs site.

Skills training non-existent in 75% of north-east food and drink manufacturing companies
Date: 24/07/2008
The scale of the UK's skills challenge has been laid bare by a regional survey showing that three in four food and drink manufacturers in the North East have no training budget.

Energy efficiency has higher priority with employers than redundancies or other staff cost-cutting
Date: 24/07/2008
Employers now rank energy efficiency ahead of redundancies or cutting staff bonuses as a better way to save money, a study has found.

Wolseley UK replaces HR and managing directors and merges HR departments
Date: 23/07/2008
A FTSE 100 company's reshuffle has seen two senior members of its boardroom leave and its group and UK HR departments merged.

Passport staff begin three-day strike over pay offer and closure threats
Date: 23/07/2008
Passport workers have begun a three-day strike in protest at a sub-inflation pay offer and plans to close offices.

Black and minority ethnic candidates make up one-third of black cab applicants
Date: 23/07/2008
Almost one in three applications to drive London's iconic black cabs are now from black and minority ethnic (BME) background.

Councils struggle with chief executive recruitment
Date: 22/07/2008
Councils are increasingly poaching chief executives from rival local authorities, with little benefit to them and at much cost to the taxpayer, a report has found.

London mayor Boris Johnson rejects positive discrimination
Date: 22/07/2008
London mayor Boris Johnson has ruled out the use of positive discrimination to increase the number of black and minority ethnic (BME) officers in the Metropolitan Police Force.

More apprenticeships in public sector promised by draft Bill
Date: 22/07/2008
Public sector employers have been told to offer more apprenticeships in administration and management as the government struggles to meet its promise to offer vocational development schemes to all.

New public service contract demands anger employers
Date: 21/07/2008
Tensions are mounting between employer representatives after the government announced new demands on private firms bidding for public service contracts last week.

Staff morale at HMRC damaged by ongoing change programmes
Date: 21/07/2008
Staff morale at HM Revenue & Customs is at "a low ebb" because of ongoing change programmes, according to the government spending watchdog.