News - WorkScales

Employer relief as mandatory Level 2 training threat is put back five years
The threat of employers having to provide mandatory training has been significantly delayed after the government pushed back the date by which the skills commission will report on the issue. Buried in the detail of Wednesda

Automatic enrolment into workplace personal pensions gets approval from EC, experts and ministers
Experts and ministers have welcomed confirmation by the European Commission that automatic enrolment into workplace personal pensions will be allowed under EU law - but say more can be done to support employees. Secretary o

Friday Podcast: Imelda Walsh on flexible working, Queen's speech latest and university sleeping...
HR news and analysis including: Imelda Walsh talks exclusively to Personnel Today on the flexible working review to extend the right to request flexbile

HR outsourcing provider Capita to double India workforce in 2008
HR outsourcing provider Capita plans to double the number of people it employs in India by the end

Enforced smiling in the workplace puts health at risk
Smiling too much at work can seriously damage your health, German scientists have claimed. Researchers at a university in Germany - where the right to be surly is almost a national pastime - now claim

Call to set up timetable to scrap statutory retirement age
Calls for a formal timetable for the removal of the mandatory retirement age have come after a national survey found workers in the UK wanted to work longer. HSBC's Future of Retirement study, conducted by the Oxfo

Boffin breaches Data Protection Act and gets embroiled in family drama
Lancaster University reprimanded its head of economics professor Geraint Johnes for breaching data protection rules by telling a concerned mother about h

Prison Service teams up with equalities commission to tackle sexual harassment
The Prison Service has launched a crackdown on sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination as part of an action plan agreed with the equalities watchdog. <A href="http://83.137.212.42/sitearchive/eoc/Docs/Agreement_HMPr

NHS workforce director-general seeks HR input on reforms
NHS workforce director-general Clare Chapman has called for fellow HR professionals to help her reform people management in the health service. She gave HR directors from across the nation a sneak pre

Friends Provident offloads pension assets in £350m deal
Insurance firm Friends Provident has offloaded part of its pension scheme liabilities in a £350m deal with Norwich Union. The buyout is the <A href="http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/02/20/

Minister admits ‘fit for work’ recommendation of Black Review is on the agenda
The government is already looking into the feasibility of piloting a 'fit for work' service, one of the key planks of the Black Review. National director for health and work Dame Carol Black's <A href="www.workingforhealth

Morrisons saves £3.4m by energising staff to reduce carbon footprint
Morrisons has trained more than 110,000 staff in energy awareness as part of drive to drastically reduce its carbon footprint, it was revealed last week. The supermarket giant's <A href="http://www.morrisons.co.uk/Corpora

Government to extend flexible working rights to staff with children up to age of 16
The government has announced that the right to request flexible working will be extended to staff with children up to the age of 16. Business secretary John Hutton has accepted the recommendations of Sainsbury's HR director

Staff retention levels to improve at Royal Mail as credit crunch bites
Royal Mail's HR director has predicted that the current economic downturn will be good for the organisation's retention levels. Dermot Toberty, di

National Work from Home Day could see five million workers absent from office
National Work from Home Day today kicks off national Work Wise Week, with many employees taking the opportunity to work from home. Up

World's most successful companies pay lower salaries
A study has found that the world's most successful companies pay lower wages than their rivals. Consultancy Hay Group found that employers on the <A href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestc

Whistleblowers in UK lack protection as employers lag behind global rivals
Less than half of UK employers have procedures in place to protect whistleblowers - halfway down a global league table of major nations. Just 40% of UK businesses surveyed by accountancy firm Grant Thornton for the <A href

Employees willing to work into seventies to fund decent retirement
Employees older than 40 are prepared to work well into their 70s to ensure a quality retirement, according to a study out this week. The fourth annual HSBC Future of Retirement study, which surveyed more than 20,00

Annual employment figures continue upward trend despite rise in benefit claims
UK employment levels continue to rise despite the economic downturn, official figures from the Office for National Statistics showed.</STRON

Met Police HR department celebrates achievements
Metropolitan Police HR director Martin Tiplady has hailed his department's achievements over the past 12 months a success. He told attendees at a celebratory event earlier this week that the force had

New website for WorkScales