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Perspectives on the changing workplace from the team behind IRS and XpertHR. This blog includes news, commentary and analysis on employment law, employee relations, recruitment, retention, reward and work organisation.

August 8, 2008

US workers pine for green workplaces

In contrast to the distinctly less-than-green stance held by the Bush administration these past eight years or so, it seems that environmental issues are being taken much more seriously by growing numbers of our friends across the pond. For example, environmentally-friendly workplaces are increasingly sought-after by US workers, according to new research.

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Michael Carty | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Employers supporting Olympic athletes and volunteers

With the Olympics getting underway, some employers are going to great lengths to support athletes and volunteers who are involved.

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Stephen Simpson | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 7, 2008

UK interest rates held at 5%

bankofengland.jpgThe Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announced (external website) at midday today its decision to hold UK interest rates at 5% for a fifth successive month.

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Michael Carty | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 6, 2008

Grim times for recruiters

Rexpicturesimage.GIFAnother day, another survey with dismal economic news: Latest research from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and consultants KPMG - as reported on XpertHR today (subscription required) - finds the UK recruitment market starting to succumb to the full brunt of the credit crunch.

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Michael Carty | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Union names: Unite and Advance with one Voice in Unison

Having now had the chance to browse through the Certification Officer's annual report, on which we reported some time ago, it is my sad duty to bring to your attention a serious issue relating to trade union matters.

Many companies and other bodies have over recent years fallen foul of the trend to re-brand themselves, removing helpful information which describes what they do and substituting inspirational if essentially meaningless names.

Continue reading "Union names: Unite and Advance with one Voice in Unison" »

Mark Crail | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

August 4, 2008

Why pay remains a serious business in the silly season

High summer traditionally corresponds with something of a slump in the UK news agenda, with the Parliamentary recess giving way to the traditional "silly season" (external website). But this year, the state of pay awards remain a potentially very serious matter, even as August gets into full swing.

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Union membership: what about the workers?

The long decline of the trade union movement continued over the past year, with new figures from the Office for National Statistics showing that just 28% of employees are now union members.

Although this figure is down only 0.3 percentage points on the previous year, the fall continues a trend which has been unabated by more than a decade of Labour government and some of the most union-friendly legislation enacted in generations.

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Mark Crail | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 3, 2008

This month's top 10 HR questions

One of the most frequently asked questions throughout July highlights the changes to rights during maternity leave affecting those with an expected week of childbirth on or after 5 October 2008 - the issue of payment of a car allowance during additional maternity leave. Other questions consider a requirement to take outstanding holiday during garden leave and dismissing an unsatisfactory probationer during the probation period.

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Joanna Stubbs | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 1, 2008

The benefits of going green

boris johnsonThe environmental agenda is rapidly becoming mainstream, giving rise to images that would have been unthinkable two decades back - such as cycling Tory leaders and mayors (external websites) - and manifested in major initiatives such as the Climate Change Bill (external website) and the renewable energy strategy (external website).

It's therefore only natural that the reward agenda should follow suit. And, as our profile of cutting-edge practice on green benefits (subscription required) at three employers demonstrates, such schemes are proving popular, with usage expected to escalate further as environmental awareness continues to spread.

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Michael Carty | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

CELRE gears up for Computer Staff Salary Survey

We held a user group meeting at our Sutton offices earlier this week for participants in the CELRE Computer Staff Salary Survey.

The meeting provided a useful opportunity to find out how reward specialists are using the pay data CELRE collects, and to outline our plans for CELRE's online Job Pricing service now that it has become part of the XpertHR Group.

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Mark Crail | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

July 31, 2008

An end to top-up tips

When you leave a tip, do you know where your money is going?

The government announced today that it intends to stop employers from using tips to top up staff pay to the national minimum wage. This issue was raised in the House of Commons in April.

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Rachel Sharp | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

July 29, 2008

Equal pay complaints overtake unfair dismissal complaints

The Acas annual report for 2007-08 shows a massive increase in the number of cases received for conciliation, with the number of equal pay complaints received outstripping the traditionally most popular complaint, unfair dismissal, by more than 15,000.

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Joanna Stubbs | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

July 28, 2008

EAT looks at justifying direct age discrimination

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has moved into the uncharted territory of considering the justification of direct discrimination, in a ruling on the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.

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Stephen Simpson | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

July 25, 2008

Flying pickets and green shop stewards - Labour's choices

gordon_brownAlthough it appears to be increasingly unlikely that the next government will be a Labour one, particularly in the wake of yesterday's Glasgow East by-election result, the policies that such an administration would follow are being thrashed out in Warwick today.

Four years ago, when Labour and trade union leaders met to agree the terms of the first Warwick Agreement, they came up with a series of promises which have helped shape government policy on workplace issues since the 2005 general election.

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Mark Crail | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gap between pay rises and inflation at its greatest since 1990

The latest research (subscription required) from Industrial Relations Services records a median basic pay rise of 3.2% in the three months to the end of June 2008.

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Sheila Attwood | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

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