News - WorkScales

Health and safety reforms could tip struggling firms over the edge
Under-pressure employers have been warned that a new law means that one health and safety failing could push them into the credit-crunch abyss. The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) said falling foul of t

Friday Podcast: Apprenticeship drive, M&S whistleblower, discrimination cases
HR news and views including: As the government steps up efforts to urge employers to offer apprenticeships, HR practitioners are concerned how this may come across as yet more job cuts a

Newcastle Building Society cuts 150 jobs
Newcastle Building Society has slashed 150 jobs as the employment carnage continues. The firm - <A href="http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/03/03/44639/northern-rock-staff-look-to-main-rival-

Tories unearth £132m of ‘non-jobs’ in Civil Service
The Conservatives have accused the government of running a "glorified job creation scheme" after it emerged 4,634 civil servants were being paid full salaries despite having no official role. The Tories estimated a total of

Recruitment agency scandals exposed in government report
Shocking details of illegal recruitment agency activity have emerged in a government report. The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate's annual report, published

Flexible working could be the key to weathering winter storms
Embracing flexible working could help employers avoid the kind of disruption caused by last week's freezing weather and winter viruses, according to an expert. More than two million workers reportedly <A href="http://www.

Government denies rewriting Equality Bill to expose private sector pay gaps
The government has dismissed as "nonsense" speculation that it is rewriting the draft Equality Bill to force private sector employers to publish gender pay statistics. Last year's draft Bill only required public sector em

15,000 jobs under threat at Microsoft as firm refuses to deny blog rumour
Fears were growing last week that Microsoft would announce up to 15,000 job cuts this Thursday (15 January) as the global economic crisis continues to deepen. The software giant was refusing to deny <A href="http://www.fud

1,200 jobs to go at Nissan’s Sunderland plant
Nissan is to cut about 1,200 jobs in response to falling customer demand for new cars during the recession. The car manufacturer said it was taking the action "to protect the long-term viability of its manufacturing operat

Metropolitan Police sued by two WPCs for sexual harassment
Two women police officers are each suing the Metropolitan Police for £1m over alleged sexual harassment by three policemen at stations in the Romford area. WPC Paula Church accused senior management of a cover-

400 jobs to go as Barclays axes global IT roles
Barclays Bank is to cut 400 IT jobs from its Global Infrastructure Delivery Unit, made up of 150 in-house jobs and 250 contractors. The company said some jobs had become obsolete and others were duplications. Most of the jo

Healthy UK workers are Europe’s least sickly
UK employees take about two days less sick leave per year than their European counterparts, according a major study of absence levels. The Pan-European Health and Ben

Gay-friendly workplace league table topped by Lloyds TSB
Lloyds TSB has been named the most gay-friendly employer in the UK. Campaign group Stonewall's Top 100 Employers 2009, ranks the best employers in the

Marriott to run graduate management development scheme despite downturn
Marriott is to run its graduate management development programme again for 2009, despite the global economic downturn. The international hotel chain will run the 24-month programme in the UK, Ireland, Middle East and Afric

McDonald’s staff offered hospitality apprenticeships
Apprenticeships will be made available to all employees at McDonald's, the fast food chain has announced. Following the completion of a successful 80 restaurant trial, the firm will now offer employees across its 1,200 UK r

Race lobby group calls for radical action to boost minority managers
Urgent action is required to boost the number of ethnic minority managers in UK workplaces, according to an equality lobbying group. A study by Race for Opportunity - part of the Business

£26.5bn in free labour as unpaid overtime hits record levels
More than five million people worked unpaid overtime in 2008, according to an analysis of official statistics. The TUC today revealed that the total value of unpaid after-hours work across the UK hit a record £26.9bn last y

Loan company Cattles to cut 1,000 jobs
Loan firm Cattles has announced that it is cutting around 1,000 jobs, including 400 jobs with the closure of its operations in Hull. Cattles is in refinancing talks with banks and la

NHS director jailed for lying about professional qualifications
An NHS director has been jailed after lying on his CV about his prof

Bugging accusation adds to woes as M&S plans 1,100 job cuts
The GMB union has accused Marks Spencer of systematically bugging private conversations of its workers. The news comes as the trade union is preparing to take the retailer to tribunal over the <A href="http://www.pe

Labour Market Update: older workers set to bear brunt of redundancies

CIPD Labour Market Update: