The IRS headline measure of pay settlements stands at 3.5% in the three months to 31 July 2008.

Pay and Benefits Bulletin looks at the recommendations of the Review Body on Senior Salaries and parliamentary pay, as well as the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body supplementary report on the defence medical services.

Reward specialists at IRS present their twice-monthly settlement summary table, together with detailed reports of recent pay reviews.

Albion Chemicals Group refocused its training activity in order to integrate with its new parent company, while maintaining and developing its local customer service infrastructure.

Employer branding is a marketing concept, rather than a mainstream HR process, denoting the attributes that make an employer special and worth working for, and is attracting increasing interest as a way of improving the quality and diversity of job applicants.

IRS research into internal communications policies and practice finds that despite the rise in employee representative bodies, team meetings and one-to-ones with line managers are widely considered to be the most effective ways to encourage a dialogue with employees.

Recent years have seen a rise in shareholder class actions brought by institutional investors in the US, and European investment funds are now becoming involved. Occupational Health explains how class actions work and considers the pros and cons of participating for UK pension funds.

Following the Department for Work and Pensions' announcement of additional funding for a series of pensions education projects, Occupational Pensions looks at how some of the less well-known ones are operating.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that, where discrimination is alleged to have occurred in Paris and later London, the employment tribunal's jurisdiction is limited to the discriminatory acts that took place in London.

We provide a round-up of case reports added to XpertHR this week, covering age discrimination.

Sending an employee overseas can be a great opportunity for all involved, but, without the right preparation, can cost an organisation dearly.

International specialists at IRS round up employment developments from across Europe, including: European Commission proposals to revise the European Works Councils Directive; a French national agreement on work-related stress; and forthcoming German legislation to set minimum pay rates in low-paid sectors.

In July 2008, the European Commission published its long-awaited proposals for revision of the 1994 EU Directive on European Works Councils, aimed at making their information and consultation rights more effective. The draft Directive must now be agreed by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has considered transferees' liability for equal pay claims made by transferred employees following a TUPE transfer.

Pay deals are proving difficult and budgets have been slashed, but there are still ways to reward your staff despite the credit crunch.

Christopher Davies, professional support lawyer at Halliwells, explains the importance of having clear rules in place about expenses.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that the removal of an employee from the payroll while he was suspended and negotiating a compromise agreement did not terminate his employment.

The Independent Safeguarding Authority will be charged with vetting staff who work with children and vulnerable adults from October 2009. What will this mean for HR in the public and charity sectors?

Pay awards in the manufacturing sector are higher than a year ago, but tougher trading conditions are likely to have a negative impact on pay deals in the year ahead.

The finance sector is at the epicentre of the credit crunch, yet the median merit paybill increase has risen to 4%, according to the latest annual round-up of finance sector reward trends from IRS.