News - WorkScales

Summer blues hits majority of UK workers
The majority of UK workers are suffering from the summer blues, according to a survey. A poll by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) found 58% of UK workers thought they suffered from 'Summer Seasonal Affe

Advertised salaries in London £11,000 higher than rest of UK
London salaries are now £11,000 higher than elsewhere in the UK, according to analysis by a jobs site. Employment search engine AllTheTopBananas.com looked at 555,000 job adverts published in the last six months for its <A

Police pay talks collapse over demand for 3.5% pay rise
Pay talks between police and the Home Office have broken down, with rank and file officers ready to join other public sector workers in campaigning against below-inflation wage increases. Talks at the Police Negotiating Boa

Energy efficiency has higher priority with employers than redundancies or other staff cost-cutting
Employers now rank energy efficiency ahead of redundancies or cutting staff bonuses as a better way to save money, a study has found. More than half the employers polled said they were looking to save money with energy eff

Skills training non-existent in 75% of north-east food and drink manufacturing companies
The scale of the UK's skills challenge has been laid bare by a regional survey showing that three in four food and drink manufacturers in the North East have no training budget. Research carried out by the National Skills A

Health secretary Alan Johnson calls on employers to help tackle obesity
Health secretary Alan Johnson has again urged employers to help combat dangerous obesity levels in the UK. Speaking at an <A href="http://fabians.org.uk/events/events-news/alan-johnson-public-health-

Moscow crowned most expensive city for expats for third year running
Moscow is the world's most expensive city for expats for the third consecutive year, according to the annual Cost of Living Survey from HR consult

Apprenticeship improvements set out by Tories welcomed by business groups
Conservative plans to cut red tape and help more small firms to offer apprenticeships have been welcomed by business groups. Tory party leader David Cameron yesterday launched <A href="http://www.personneltoday.com/article

Vocational qualifications achieved by 3.25 million UK workers last year
More than three million UK workers received vocational qualifications last year, according to research released to mark the inaugural Vocational Qualifications Day. Research by education foundation Edge found 3.25 million q

Unemployed Londoners need more help from local councils to get work
Councils across London need to do more to help unemployed people into work, according to a new report. Research by lobby group London Councils found that local authorities across the capital were employing a range to initia

Doctors face annual check-ups in bid to raise standards
Doctors will face annual appraisals and have to renew their licences every five years under government plans to toughen up medical regulation. <A href="http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Aboutus/MinistersandDepartmentLeaders/ChiefMed

Black and minority ethnic apprentice numbers are dramatically low
The number of black and minority ethnic (BME) people taking up apprenticeships is dramatically low, new research has revealed. Less than 7% of apprentices are of BME origin, with participation especially low among Indian, b

Wolseley UK replaces HR and managing directors and merges HR departments
A FTSE 100 company's reshuffle has seen two senior members leave and its group and UK HR departments merged. Wolseley UK, a leading building materials distributor, yesterday replaced its managing and HR directors.

Passport staff begin three-day strike over pay offer and closure threats
Passport workers have begun a three-day strike in protest at a sub-inflation pay offer and plans to close offices. The action by up to 2,900 members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) will disrupt attempts t

Black and minority ethnic candidates make up one-third of black cab applicants
Almost one in three applications to drive London's iconic black cabs are now from black and minority ethnic (BME) background. Figures released by Transport for London's Public Carriage Office (PCO) show that candidates tak

Employment Tribunal Service reports 30% rise in claims and increase in multiple claims clogging the system
The number of employment tribunal claims rose by one-third last year, according to the Tribunals Service's annual report.</

Recruitment lag time lasts six weeks before new recruit replaces leaver
Thirty working days are lost on average between an employee leaving an organisation and their replacement starting, research has revealed. The Adecco P

Equality and diversity institute gains ground with 20 supporters
Eager diversity experts are pressing ahead with a new body to standardise the profession, despite other practitioners warning against it. Some 20 equality figures from private and public sector firms have agreed to establis

MEPs support IOSH injury at work campaign
Three MEPs have backed a campaign to reduce the number of young people injured at work. Conservative MEP Chris Heaton-Harris, UK Independence Party representative <A href="http:

Conservatives plan to give employers £2,000 per apprentice
Employers would be offered £2,000 to take on and train apprentices under plans by the Conservatives due to be announced this week. Almost 100,000 new places for apprentices would be created under a Conservative government,

New Networking Group for Women in Business