Daily News | News & Indicators | Strategy & Practice

CIPD predicts employment growth but intense competition for roles
Date: 13-05-2013
Employment will continue to grow in the second quarter of 2013, but applicants are set to face stiff competition in the jobs market, with 45 applicants chasing each low-skilled job.

Queen's Speech includes measures for employers
Date: 09-05-2013
The Queen's Speech has unveiled a number of announcements aimed at helping employers, including a National Insurance Contributions Bill and a "Deregulation Bill" which will set out to reduce excessive red tape for businesses.

TUC objectives target workplace issues
Date: 07-05-2013
General secretary of the TUC Frances O'Grady has outlined the organisation's priorities in the lead-up to the 2015 General Election, and has highlighted the TUC's focus on the labour market and the world of work.

Skills gap "hindering UK business growth", say CEOs
Date: 30-04-2013
Almost two-thirds (65%) of UK CEOs have said that a lack of skills is hampering the growth prospects of their organisations, according to a report published by consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Government announces employment law changes under new Act
Date: 30-04-2013
The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill received Royal Assent on 25 April 2013, making it the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 and opening the door for a number of employment law changes.

"Employers are from Mars, young people are from Venus", says CIPD
Date: 30-04-2013
A mismatch in expectations between employers and young people is contributing to high levels of youth unemployment, according to a report published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and Business in the Community.

UK unemployment rises by 70,000
Date: 18-04-2013
The number of unemployed people in the UK rose by 70,000 in the quarter from December to February, according to the latest labour market data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Half of employees "feel threatened by bosses"
Date: 18-04-2013
Almost half of employees (47%) say they feel threatened by leaders within their organisations, according to research published by development consultancy Head Heart + Brain.

Government committee publishes report on employee blacklisting
Date: 18-04-2013
Construction firms that engaged in the systematic blacklisting of workers are continuing to avoid full responsibility for their actions, according to the Government's Scottish Affairs Committee.

Report highlights slowdown in women's board-level appointments
Date: 11-04-2013
Research published Cranfield School of Management has shown that, while the proportion of female directors in FTSE companies has continued to increase in the past year, the rate of increase has slowed over the past six months.

Managers' failure to adapt leadership styles demotivates staff
Date: 11-04-2013
More than half of UK business leaders are creating demotivating working environments because they are struggling to cope with the pressures of the ongoing economic crisis.

Directors' pay continues to rise faster than executives'
Date: 11-04-2013
Company directors have enjoyed pay increases almost twice the size of the average UK executive over the past 12 months, according to salary data published by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and XpertHR.

BBC amends HR policy following suicide of employee
Date: 02-04-2013

Protection for NHS whistleblowers confirmed
Date: 20-03-2013
Compromise agreements in the NHS must clearly state that individuals are not prevented from whistleblowing, the Government has confirmed.

Small businesses RTI start date postponed
Date: 20-03-2013
HM Revenue and Customs has given small businesses a temporary exemption from real time information payroll requirements ahead of its introduction on 6 April.

Work "more stressful" than debt or health problems
Date: 19-03-2013
Life at work is now rated as being more stressful than debt or health problems in the UK. Excessive workloads, a lack of support from line managers and unrealistic targets have contributed to a stressed-out workforce, a survey has found.

Budget will plug offshore payroll national insurance loophole
Date: 19-03-2013
The latest Budget will close a loophole that currently allows businesses to use offshore payroll schemes to dodge £100 million annually in national insurance payments and denies employee rights such as statutory sick pay and maternity leave.

Impact of bad weather underestimated by UK businesses
Date: 18-03-2013
Severe weather has been revealed as the top cause of disruption to British businesses over the past 12 months, but managers appear to continue to underestimate it as a threat.

Employers to design their own apprenticeship schemes
Date: 14-03-2013
Employers will be able to design their own apprenticeship standards and qualifications, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will announce today.

Apprenticeships "poor relation" to university, working parents tell CIPD
Date: 11-03-2013
Careers advice should set out to challenge misconceptions about apprenticeships and promote them as a viable alternative to university education, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has said.

Apprenticeships to boost economy by £3.4 billion
Date: 11-03-2013
Between 2013-22, 3.8 million people will complete an apprenticeship, creating a £3.4 billion boost to the economy and an increase in business productivity ranging from between £268 and £414 per week, a research study has shown.

Majority of men would consider taking paternity leave
Date: 07-03-2013
Almost three-fifths of men in the UK would consider taking paternity leave, according to research released this week.

Millions giving up work to become carers
Date: 07-03-2013
More than 2.3 million adults have given up work to care for elderly, disabled or seriously ill relatives, and almost three million have reduced their working hours, a survey reveals today.

Commons and Lords clash over caste discrimination
Date: 05-03-2013
The House of Lords has voted to add "caste" to the definition of "race" in the Equality Act, but the Government has decided against any change to legislation preferring to implement an education programme.

New job opportunities "rise to record level"
Date: 04-03-2013
February saw a 12% monthly rise in job opportunities, marking the highest number advertised since 2009. This is according to the analysis of job advertisement trends throughout the UK, conducted by recruitment agency Reed.

Online apprenticeship applications increase by 41% in three months
Date: 28-02-2013
More than a quarter of a million people submitted an apprenticeship application online between November 2012 and January 2013, representing a 41% increase on the previous year, according to the latest figures from the National Apprenticeship Service.

EU plans to cap bankers' bonuses from 2014
Date: 28-02-2013
European Union officials have agreed plans to cap bankers' bonuses as part of reforms designed to help the banking industry withstand any future financial turmoil.

Organisations taking twice as long to fill jobs
Date: 27-02-2013
Employers are taking an average of five weeks and six days to recruit new employees, according to figures published by recruitment consultancy Randstad.

CIPD predicts further rise in employment despite stalling economy
Date: 18-02-2013
Employment will continue to grow during the first quarter of 2013, which will mark the fourth consecutive quarter of growth.

Whistleblowing amendment "could lead to a rise in spurious claims"
Date: 18-02-2013
The Government has issued an amendment to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, which removes the good-faith requirement for a protected disclosure.

January sees rise in job opportunities and salaries
Date: 08-02-2013
There was an increase on the number of people who found jobs in January, as well as a rise in the number of employers on the lookout for skilled staff, according to the latest Report on Jobs, published today by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG.

Government to challenge ruling over jobseekers' criminal convictions
Date: 30-01-2013
The Government is set to challenge a Court of Appeal ruling that it is a breach of human rights to require people to disclose criminal convictions to certain employers.

Government consults on reforms to payroll giving
Date: 24-01-2013
The Government has launched a consultation on proposals to reform payroll giving, in attempt to increase the amount donated to charity.

Workers lack support to achieve business goals
Date: 23-01-2013
Employers face a challenge in bridging the gap between the goals their staff want to achieve, and giving them the motivation to reach them.

Poor careers advice leading to skills mismatch, says CIPD
Date: 23-01-2013
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has urged the Government to improve careers advice for young people after a survey found more than half of employers said the advice available was "inadequate".

Planning your workforce in uncertain times
Date: 22-01-2013

Could apprenticeships be the answer to securing your business growth in 2013?
Date: 21-01-2013

Government launches consultation on TUPE changes
Date: 18-01-2013

OFT to probe workplace pensions market
Date: 17-01-2013
The Office of Fair Trading is to look at whether or not defined-contribution pension schemes deliver the best value for money for employees, it was announced today.

Graduate roles to increase in 2013, but work experience more important than ever
Date: 14-01-2013
Graduate vacancies are due to increase in 2013 following a subdued year, according to research published today.

Graduate roles to increase in 2013, but work experience more important than ever
Date: 14-01-2013

Government unveils Traineeships programme to boost youth skills
Date: 10-01-2013

Poor staff attitude and competence lead to more customer complaints
Date: 09-01-2013
Consumers are more likely to complain if they experience problems when buying products or services, with staff attitude and lack of competence the most common reason for complaints.

HR directors fear losing top performers in early 2013
Date: 08-01-2013
UK HR directors have admitted they are "very concerned" about the prospect of losing key staff in 2013, and said they expect one in five (22%) of their current employees to look for new roles as part of their new year's resolutions.

Employers given more support to offer apprenticeships
Date: 08-01-2013

Half of businesses "unaware of Bribery Act"
Date: 02-01-2013
Research released today has found that only half of UK employers are aware of the Bribery Act, despite the fact that the legislation has now been in place for more than a year.

Acas launches redundancy advice video
Date: 17-12-2012
A video guide has been launched by Acas to help managers tasked with delivering news of redundancies to their employees.

Employee Relations Institute formally launches
Date: 14-12-2012
The Employee Relations Institute has been formally launched, with the aim of improving relationships between employers and staff and help reduce the number of workplace disputes.

Mediocre managers "just as damaging as David Brent", says CIPD
Date: 14-12-2012
Managers who fail to take responsibility, pass on stress, panic over deadlines and tell staff what to do rather than consulting them while doing so unnoticed are just as damaging to organisations as managers with more obviously negative "David Brent-like" behaviours such as favouritism or inappropriate humour.

Lack of creativity in development "harms retention"
Date: 06-12-2012
Almost half of senior managers lack confidence in their ability to retain critical employees, despite significant investment in development programmes.

Job data points to strongest market since 2009
Date: 03-12-2012
The latest Job Index figures from recruiter Reed suggest that the final quarter of 2012 is set to be the strongest since the organisation began to compile the index in December 2009, with much of the growth driven by recruitment activity in London.

New Disclosure and Barring Service goes live
Date: 03-12-2012
A new organisation put in place to oversee criminal records checking, referral and barring has formally gone live.

Apprenticeships review calls for focus on employers
Date: 27-11-2012
The definition of apprenticeships has been "stretched too far", according to a government-commissioned review published today.

Poor female talent pipeline "costing £5 billion a year"
Date: 26-11-2012
Improving the talent pipeline of female leaders at work could benefit businesses to the tune of £5 billion a year, yet HR professionals neither recognise the potential returns nor the ambitions of female managers they employ, a report has found.

Government invites employers to bid for training funds
Date: 20-11-2012
Employers will be able to bid for a share of £150 million in training funding to deliver the specific skills they need, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) announced today.

Pressured workers "heading for burn-out"
Date: 19-11-2012
Long hours and pressure brought on by the economic downturn mean one in three employees faces excessive pressure at work, according to a survey by consultancy Towers Watson.

Employees regularly working extra hours and skipping leave
Date: 19-11-2012
Research released today suggests that British workers are failing to take their full leave entitlement and frequently work unpaid overtime - often due to pressures from colleagues or bosses at work.

Skills key to future economic success, says Cable
Date: 19-11-2012
Getting the skills system right will be crucial to the Government's industrial strategy in the future, according to business secretary Vince Cable.

Why you should use video in your recruitment communications
Date: 15-11-2012
Casual Films is a supporter of the 2013 RAD Awards, and the company is a keen advocate of using video in recruitment communications. Here, they tell us why it is so effective.

Top 100 apprenticeship employers revealed
Date: 15-11-2012
One hundred of the UK's leading employers of apprentices were honoured at The Skills Show in Birmingham last night at the launch of the second Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers list.

EC compromise on quotas with 40% objective for women on boards
Date: 14-11-2012
The European Commission has approved a proposal for there to be a 40% objective for female non-executive directors on the boards of listed companies by 2020. Justice commissioner Viviane Reding announced the news on Twitter this morning and an official announcement followed this afternoon.

Business groups welcome Clegg's parental leave proposals
Date: 13-11-2012
Business and employers' groups have welcomed proposals to overhaul the parental leave system and enable women to share maternity leave with their partners in order to help working families.

Positive employment outlook set to remain for the rest of 2012
Date: 12-11-2012
The employment outlook for the rest of the year is set to remain positive, according to the latest Labour Market Outlook report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Positive employment outlook set to remain for rest of 2012
Date: 12-11-2012
The employment outlook for the rest of the year is set to remain positive, according to the latest Labour Market Outlook report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Poor talent pipelines hampering growth
Date: 12-11-2012
Lack of talent is turning out to be the "single biggest obstacle to growth", according to a new report by Ernst & Young. The consultancy firm has warned that too few companies are adapting their management and talent identification systems to compete in the current business environment.

Employers urged to support growth in use of Army reservists
Date: 08-11-2012
The Ministry of Defence has announced plans to invest £1.8 billion over the next 10 years to double the size of the Army's reserve forces and increase their role in military operations - and the role of employers will be crucial to the success of this investment.

Two-fifths of graduates under-employed
Date: 07-11-2012
Forty per cent of graduates fail to get graduate-calibre roles two years after leaving university education, according to Futuretrack, a wide-ranging survey of graduate prospects.

Miliband reveals living wage proposals
Date: 05-11-2012
Opposition leader Ed Miliband has unveiled plans that would give millions of workers a "living wage" of at least £7.45 per hour should Labour win the next election.

Strikes down but union pressure continues, says CIPD
Date: 02-11-2012
Despite a fall in the number of days lost to industrial action, trade unions are finding alternative ways to exert pressure on employers. This is the chief finding of a new report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Managing Employee Relations in Difficult Times.

Workplace cyberbullying on the rise
Date: 02-11-2012
Cyberbullying has become as common in the workplace as "conventional" bullying, according to a study by academics from the University of Sheffield and Nottingham University.

Heseltine calls on employers to play education role
Date: 31-10-2012
A new report by former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Heseltine marks out a much greater role for employers in educating young people and making them ready for the workplace.

Upturn in graduate employment in 2011/12
Date: 25-10-2012
Almost eight thousand more of last year's graduates are in employment compared with the year before, according to the latest Graduate Market Trends report from the Higher Education Career Services Unit.

Employers increase investment in training budgets
Date: 25-10-2012
Today's news that the UK economy has emerged from recession came alongside encouraging research highlighting employers' investment in developing their staff.

Staff to work longer due to retirement fears
Date: 23-10-2012
Almost half (47%) of employees expect to work longer to ensure they have enough money after retiring, according to a survey by professional services company Towers Watson.

Corporate social responsibility schemes "should help long-term unemployed"
Date: 23-10-2012
Employers should focus their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes on getting more people into work rather than environmental initiatives, according to a report by welfare-to-work provider Working Links.

Changes to pensions auto-enrolment "will hit women hardest"
Date: 22-10-2012
Government proposals to raise the income trigger for pensions auto-enrolment will leave women worse off, Labour has warned.

DWP fired hundreds of staff for not turning up to work
Date: 19-10-2012
The Department for Work and Pensions dismissed 672 people last year for unsatisfactory attendance, a Freedom of Information Act request has revealed.

Changes to harassment law "will not benefit employers"
Date: 18-10-2012
Lawyers have criticised the Government's intention to "water down" discrimination law by removing legislation on third-party harassment, claiming the move is neither wanted nor needed by businesses.

Employers not ready for 2013 pensions auto-enrolment
Date: 17-10-2012
One-third (32%) of employers that are due to begin automatically enrolling staff into workplace pensions in early 2013 are still deciding on the design of their scheme, according to a new survey.

Public sector "needs new approach to attract staff"
Date: 17-10-2012
The public sector cannot continue to rely on pay and benefits packages to draw in new recruits, as better deals will soon be on offer in private-sector companies.

London bucks increased youth unemployment trend
Date: 16-10-2012
Long-term youth unemployment has fallen in London during the past two years, despite increases across the rest of the country.

HR "has wasted the past 20 years", says survey
Date: 15-10-2012
HR teams are failing to drive business growth because they are unable to cope with business needs, and are failing deliver a return on investment, according to a report published today by KPMG.

Recruiters ignoring pool of board-ready women
Date: 15-10-2012
Women from the voluntary sector are being overlooked for corporate board roles, despite having relevant skills and experience.

Government to review voluntary sector skills
Date: 15-10-2012
The Government will launch a review into leadership and skills in the voluntary sector to identify the challenges of developing talent in charities and social enterprises.

Shared parental leave reforms to be delayed
Date: 12-10-2012
Plans to allow parents to share maternity leave entitlement will be delayed until October 2015 due to fears over the impact that they will have on businesses.

A quarter of bosses have "destructive" leadership style
Date: 12-10-2012
One manager in four has a "catastrophically" bad style of leadership and could be damaging productivity in their teams, a study has warned.

Graduate employment "better than feared"
Date: 11-10-2012
The employment rate for new graduates has remained stable despite fears that the weakening economy and public-sector cuts might limit the number of roles available.

Majority of public reject Government's "owner-employee" proposals
Date: 11-10-2012
Nearly two-thirds of people think the Government's proposal to allow employers to offer staff tax-free shares for the removal of some employment rights is a bad idea.

Half a million apprenticeships taken up in last year
Date: 11-10-2012
More than 500,000 people started an apprenticeship in the year to July 2012, according to the latest government figures, with higher apprenticeships seeing the largest growth.

Wait before judging owner-employee proposals, says expert
Date: 10-10-2012
Those opposed to the new "owner-employee" contract should wait to see the full package of policies on employee ownership before criticising the Government's stance, according to the author of the Nuttall review.

Employees bring sickness to work as absence levels drop
Date: 09-10-2012
Falling absence levels may point to a rise in presenteeism rather than successful absence management strategies, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Government to clamp down on paid civil service union activity
Date: 08-10-2012
Civil servants are to face new restrictions on the amount of paid time they can spend on trade union activities, under proposals set out at the Conservative Party conference today.

Better pay and training "could have averted West Coast railway mistakes"
Date: 04-10-2012
A Labour MP and the former head of the civil service have claimed that skills shortages were behind mistakes made by civil servants in the bidding process for the West Coast Main Line.

Nine more years of pay squeezes, says TUC
Date: 04-10-2012
The value of take-home pay will not fully recover until 2021, with UK workers in the middle of a 12-year "wage dive", the TUC has claimed.

Business groups welcome Labour proposals on vocational training
Date: 03-10-2012
Proposals set out by Labour leader Ed Miliband to increase vocational training to help the "forgotten 50%" of young people who do not go to university have been welcomed by business groups.

Second teachers' union begins work-to-rule action
Date: 03-10-2012
Members of the National Union of Teachers will begin "action short of strike action" today, which will see them refusing to invigilate exams, undertake administrative work or cover for absent colleagues.

Pensions auto-enrolment hailed as a "game changer"
Date: 01-10-2012
Today's introduction of pensions auto-enrolment will enable millions of people to save for their retirement and will help to reverse "years of decline" in saving, according to the National Association of Pension Funds.

Employee-owned firms' shares outstrip FTSE companies
Date: 01-10-2012
Shares in companies part-owned by their employees continue to outperform the FTSE All-Share index, according to research published today.

Agency Workers Regulations not to blame for reduced use of temps, says REC
Date: 01-10-2012
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation has said that the Agency Workers Regulations have had a limited impact on the use of temporary workers, despite warnings elsewhere that they have been a "drag on job creation".

Let workers opt out of pensions in advance of auto-enrolment, say employers
Date: 24-09-2012
Two-fifths (41%) of employers want the pensions auto-enrolment duty to be changed so that workers can opt out in advance of its introduction, a survey has found.