News - WorkScales

Front-line NHS staff asked for views on improving healthcare service
Doctors, nurses and other NHS staff are being called on to develop new standards to measure and improve the quality of care in the health service. Local NHS organisations are being encouraged to engage with staff to help d

BNP list provokes anger, but employers warned not to overreact
Employers have been warned against knee-jerk reactions against employees recently outed as members of the BNP. Earlier this week a leaked membership list was published online,</A

Failed training initiatives down to lack of line manager buy-in
Line managers are the main stumbling block when it comes to making a success of staff training. A survey of learning and development professionals at the <A href="http://www.learnevents.com/world-of-learning-conference-200

Cable & Wireless staff benefit from profits boost with extra holiday
Cable Wireless has just given its employees around the world an extra day off after reporting an increase in half-year profits, Personnel Today has learned. All 5,000 staff across Europe, Asia and the US wil

Record number of government staff dismissals overturned
A record number of sacked government workers successfully overturned their dismissals last year, with total compensation breaking the £1m barrier for the first time. The Civil Service Appeal Board's <A

Woolworths may sell entire business for £1
High-street business Woolworths has confirmed it is in talks over the possible sale of its entire retail business for just £1. <A href="http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article5183

Benetton embraces talent management to drive global ambition
Clothes retailer Benetton has made talent management one of its top priorities as it aims to become "truly international", an HR manager has revealed. Gabriella Valentinotti,

Bank bonuses under fire as think-tank reveals five CEOs' £52m top up
Unions are calling for a complete overhaul of remuneration in the financial sector after research revealed that five banking chief executives received pay and bonuses worth more than £52m over a four year period. <P

B&B bonus defended by former chairman as new boss eyes £326,000 top up
The man in charge of Bradford Bingley when it was nationalised in September was yesterday forced to defend the bonus structure that will see his replacement given a huge bonus this year. Rod Kent, who was replaced by

Credit crunch inspires CIPD to launch damage limitation training for HR
Two courses to help HR staff and line managers handle strikes and redundancies better have been launched by the CIPD. The first course, 'Practical Employee Relations', provides participants with the tools to handle employe

WTD opt-out axe could force hotels to use unpaid labour to fill gaps
A luxury hotel chain will use work experience students to make up the overtime hours currently worked by permanent employees if the UK loses its opt-out to the <A href="http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/employment/employment-legisl

Job losses pile up as Plumb Center owner spells out redundancy plans
Building supplies group Wolseley has unveiled plans for a further 2,000 redundancies in the UK. In a statement, the company warned of further deterioration in the trading environment, particularly in the UK where the group

Unprepared HR ill-equipped to lead change programmes in public sector
Nearly two thirds of public sector HR professionals feel their department is insufficiently prepared to make changes. Research by consultancy Penna found 96% of public sector HR professionals want to take personal responsi

Stressed women workers driven to edge by credit crunch
Female employees are more stressed at work than their male counterparts because of pressure caused by the credit crunch. Research by Bupa UK Health Insurance indicates that six out of 10 women fear for their finances compa

Minimum wage awareness campaign launched by Lord Mandelson
A new campaign to boost employee awareness of the increased national minimum wage was launched today. Business secretary Peter Mandelson this mor

NHS work-to-rule vow as Unite continues fight against pay deal
Unite has vowed that its NHS members will hold a day of action in December over the government's NHS pay offer. The largest union in the country, Unite said it would hold a 'work to rule' day on Wednesday, 3 December over

Talent management rethink required - and HR needs to take leading role
HR practitioners have been advised to rethink how to get the most out of employees during a period of economic uncertainty. Lars Dalga

Cadbury committed to employee training and development
Cadbury has ruled out slashing its training budgets in response to the global economic crisis, according to the firm's global HR chief. Julia Freeman, people capability and process director at the confectionary

UK jobs on the line as Citigroup axes 52,000 jobs
More than 2,000 UK jobs could be on the line as US banking giant Citigroup looks to axe 52,000 jobs. A 25-page document posted on the bank's webs

Jobcentre Plus and Recruitment and Employment Confederation join forces
Recruitment during the economic downturn has received a boost with a memorandum of understanding between Jobcentre Plus and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). Mel Groves, Jobcentre Plus' acting

CIPD Labour Market Update

Older workers set to bear brunt of redundancies