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R for Recovery, Not for Redundancy
According to recent surveys, not only are fewer employers expecting to make staff redundant but the scale of planned redundancies has also reduced. It may be early days but when you watch the news all the reporters are talking about is this means an end to recession.
On a cautionary note 9560 employees in Hampshire lost their jobs in the first six months of the year, three times the level seen last year. Measures to save jobs such as shorter working weeks and pay freezes may have just delayed redundancies rather than limited them and the Bank of Enlgand's quarterly inflation report last week found the recession had grown deeper than expected, with the pace of recovery likely to be slow. |
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Job application lies on the rise
Regular watchers of The Apprentice will have seen occasions in the last two series where candidates have been caught out. Now a survey has revealed that 20% of applications in the Financial Services sector contain lies and that the largest increase in untruthful applicants was in the under-21 age range.
Our advice is not to believe everything you read in a CV or application but also disbelive it as well. The CV and application are tools in the recuritment process but it is in the selection process where you should test candidates to identify who is the most appropraite on to offer the position to.
For details on our recruitment services click here. |
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Should I give a redundant employee the right of appeal?
April saw the Dispute Resolution Regulations repealed but did the need for granting an appeal in cases of redundancy go with them? There is no longer and explicit obligation to provide a right to appeal against redundancy dismissals but it amy help to rectify procedural errors at dismissal stage. Our friends at ACAS recommend offering appeals against redundancy dismissal. Using senior managers, or a management/employee committee to review redundancy decisions could allow potential disputes to be resolved internally without recourse to a tribunal. In a nutshell lets take it as a yes until and employment tribunal says otherwise. |
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Public and private sector absence gap widens
A decline in employee absence in the private sector has seen the gap between private and public sector absence widen. While private sector absence has fallen from 7.2 days to 6.4 days per employee per year, public sector absence has remained at an average of 9.7 days. The main causes of short-term absence are minor illnesses such as colds and flu, stress and musculoskeletal conditions, while the main casues of long term absence are acute medical conditions, stress, mental health conditions, musculoskeletal conditions and back pain. Apparently reducing public sector absence to the level now managed in private sector services would cut the annual cost of public sector absence from £4.5bn to £3.8bn - saving taxpayers £0.7bn per year.
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Planning for the impact of swine flu
Whilst it has been all over the news, Swine Flu is likley to become a greater threat to business as we move into late Autumn - a time when flu is much more prevalent. Some businesses could be unable to run if they have not developed robust contingency plans to deal with swine flu, the CIPD has warned. The Chartered Management Institute revelaed that 38% of organisations have no ocntinuity plans and 19% have plans that are weak. Planning needs to focus as much on continuity and using templorary labour as processes around handling the staff sickness. |
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High heels at work to be debated
A motion on the safety and appropriateness of women wearing high heals at work is to be debated at the TUC Congress meeting. The Congress is an annual meeting at which motions are debated and discussed and forms the basis of the TUC's work for next year.
The sponsor of the motion? - The Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists. |
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Employment law changes ahead
The 1st October 2009 sees the next date for employment law to change in England and Wales. Whilst this October looks quieter, businesses are advised to look at pay levels, with the increase of the national minimum wage and redundancy payments rising. Regardless of statutory changes, it is always best practive to dust off your policies and consider if any changes are appropriate.
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