RML-News

Default retirement age to be phased out

2010-08-12T07:52:00.000-07:00

The Government has announced details of how it intends to remove the default retirement age (DRA) of 65 that is currently permitted by the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. The proposals will be subject to consultation with businesses until 21 October 2010.

At present the law allows employers to force employees to retire at the age of 65 regardless of their circumstances. Their only obligation is to follow the statutory retirement procedure that may simply involve holding a meeting with the employee six months before their 65th birthday to discuss plans and to give them notice if they intend to make them retire.

It is proposed that the default age of 65 be phased out from April 2011. The phasing out of this provision is due to the fact that people are living longer and healthier lives. It is also thought that it will encourage people to work for longer.

key proposals:

Retirements under the DRA will cease completely on 1 October 2011 and no new notices of intended retirement may be issued after 6 April 2011.
Retirement dismissals will still be permissible for individual employers to operate a compulsory retirement age after 1 October 2011, provided that they can objectively justify it.
Transitional arrangements will apply to retirements that have been notified before 6 April 2011 to take effect before 1 October 2011. Retirements notified before 6 April, but intended to take effect after 1 October, will not be valid (unless objectively justified).
The procedural requirements applicable to a retirement dismissal will also be abolished.

The Government also proposes to help employers by removing the administrative burden of the statutory retirement procedures. With the DRA removed there is no reason to keep employees ‘right to request’ working beyond retirement or for employers to give an employee a minimum of six months notice of retirement.

There is concern that the removal of the DRA could provide some employers with workforce planning difficulties. It may be necessary to adapt work practices and work places, provide opportunities to train or retrain and work more flexibly as well as actively recruit people in their 50s and 60s.

There is also concern that the removal of the DRA could result in increased employment tribunal claims as a result of employers finding themselves having to dismiss individuals rather than allowing them to retire. The onus will be on the employer to prove whether older employees are capable of continuing in their role.

However, despite these concerns and the short timeframe in which the DRA is to be phased out it should be seen as a good opportunity to put policies and practices in place that make the most of an age diverse workforce.

CIDP warns employers: Get ready for the World Cup!

2010-05-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is warning employers to be prepared for a rise in employee absence as the World Cup approaches.

According to a poll by the HR body, nine out of ten employers have no plans in place to help manage staff absence during the World Cup, which kicks off in South Africa on 11 June 2010.
Only 5% of the 1,000 employers interviewed in the CIPD poll have developed a policy on absence, with a further 5% currently developing one.

CIPD Advisor, John McGurk, comments: “It’s alarming that only 10% of employers are drafting or already have guidance in place to manage absence during the World Cup. Research suggests that when employers demonstrate they care about their staff and their interests outside of work, employees are more likely to go the extra mile for the organisation.
“Whatever individual organisations decide is right for their employees, guidance should be clear and communicated well.”

The CIPD says there are a number of approaches that employers could adopt to avoid compromising the efficiency of both employee and employer:

• Flexible working hours
• Shift swaps
• Unpaid leave
• Special screening of matches on premises

The CIPD has produced guidelines to manage World Cup related absence. Click here to read more.

Resource Solutions Group (RSG) short-listed for prestigious Award

2010-04-29T03:20:00.000-07:00

Resource Solutions Group's successful brand launch and internal marketing campaign, ‘I’m RSG’ has been short-listed for Best Marketing Campaign in the Recruitment Consultant Industry Awards, sponsored by 1st Choice Software.

The RSG campaign relied on the passion and personal integrity of both senior leaders and their staff to shape and transmit our single-minded proposition, ‘Empowered Thinking, Proven Delivery’ and encouraged employees to feel their views were recognised and valued to increase their levels of engagement in the company.

Take a look at some of the RSG videos

“We tried to engage everybody into the new vision for the business. We drew upon our own staff’s personality, ambitions, experience and expertise and then used that information as a platform for developing and delivering our brand message. The beauty of this is that it allows RSG’s proposition to be personalised, instead of becoming some glossy corporate message that is delivered without adequate content. The feedback I have received from all areas of the company has been overwhelmingly positive. Through a smart execution the team have raised the bar and set new standards for internal communications.” said Mike Beesley, Director of Group Sales and Marketing.

The Recruitment Industry Awards judging panel met on Wednesday to sort through ‘the exceptionally high standard of entries’ and the Awards ceremony will be held at Grace in Great Windmill Street, London on the 3rd June, 2010.

The panel was chaired by Recruitment Consultant editor Jim Tanfield and was made up of TEAM UK’s Liz Longman, Elite Leaders managing director John O’Sullivan, Thomas International chairman and chief executive Martin Reed with Front Page Publishing’s Paul Harwood and 1st Choice Software’s Roy Snart.

Judges’ chairman Jim Tanfield said: “The standards for a majority of entries was exceptional and judges had their work cut out to find a winner in each category. There was something incredibly heartening about the diversity of entries, with small and large recruitment firms alike as well as the support services, wanting to celebrate their achievements following a turbulent economy.”

To view the shortlists for all five Recruitment Industry Awards categories, including Best Marketing Campaign, visit http://www.rec-con.co.uk/article.php/news/shortlist_announced/2726

Resource Management is an RSG company

Woman Jailed for Lying on Her CV

2010-04-09T06:17:00.000-07:00

A woman who faked her qualifications to win a £23,000-a-year job has been jailed for six months.

Rhiannon Mackay, the first woman in the country to be imprisoned for lying on a CV, wrongly claimed to have two A-levels and also made up references.

The 29-year- old, who used the fake CV to apply for 11 other jobs, held the post of capital projects administrator in the NHS from May 2008 until last October.

But suspicions were raised about her performance and she admitted lying on her CV when challenged by bosses at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust.

Plymouth magistrates heard the post required applicants to have at least two A-levels and Mackay, a former Royal Navy sonar operator, claimed she had two grade Bs.

When asked to provide a reference she forged a letter of recommendation and signed it using the name of her now husband, a chief petty officer.

Mackay, of Plymouth, admitted fraud by making a false representation and asked for 11 similar offences to be taken into consideration.

She also admitted making a false instrument - the reference and a forged naval discharge certificate.

Claire Busby, prosecuting for the Department of Work and Pensions, said: 'The minimum requirement was two A-levels. Any applicant without the qualifications was rejected.'

Miss Busby said Mackay forged the documents on her computer and used the name of her then boyfriend as a referee.

'She even applied for a further 11 jobs using the false CV because she felt she was not busy enough at work,' she said.

Jodie Baker, defending, said Mackay was suffering from post-traumatic stress and depression.

She added: 'After leaving the Navy she had applied for several jobs but been unsuccessful.

'She started to embellish her CV. She had no idea this misrepresentation-could land her in jail.'

Last year Lee Whitehead, 44, was jailed for three months after he lied about his qualifications to land a top NHS job in Stoke-on-Trent.

He claimed he had a doctorate and Masters degree when he only had a second-class science degree.

A fifth of employees have lied on their CV according to a survey of 2,000 workers. More than 19 per cent said they had 'expanded on the truth' about qualifications, www.onepoll.com's survey found.

Recession causes rise in office jargon

2010-02-22T06:30:00.000-08:00

Office workers have been urged to stop using jargon after a list of the most annoying business phrases was compiled, ranging from “biting the reality sandwich” to “touching base offline”.

Recruitment firm Office Angels said workers across the UK were guilty of using jargon, which it said was getting more bizarre every year.

The recession has spawned the term “credit munch“, meaning switching from an expensive lunch to a cheaper option.

The fear of being "de-cruited" or "uninstalled" – terms for being fired – is enough to give any worker a "bog shaker", meaning a breakdown in the office loo.

Even the MPs’ expenses scandal has inspired some new slang, with a false expenses claim now known as a "parliamentary bonus".

Office slang terms compiled by researchers also included "Google zoo" – an office pretending to work but actually surfing the internet – and the "kebab manoeuvre" – a term for packing together low quality products, marketing them heavily and selling them at a premium.

Staff who have an office romance are said to have embarked on a Mills and Doom, while a Cashanova is someone who brings in business or clients through charm.

Workers now also talk about feeling “stressurised” (a mixture of pressure and stress) and often wanted to “flag” problems.

Other annoying office jargon found in the study:

We need the right pin numbers (we need it to work)
A lighthouse on a cloudy night (coming up with a good/bright idea)
I’m coming into this with an open kimono (throwing an idea out into the open but being open to criticism);
Finger in the air figure (just an estimate);
I think someone needs a bite of the reality sandwich (someone needs to think a bit more practically);
Let’s not try to build a chestnut fence to keep the sand-dunes in (face a problem head on, rather than battling it unsuccessfully);
Expecting the moon on a stick (when clients have ridiculous expectations).
Clocking real mileage (a really strong idea)
A high altitude view (taking a step back)

National Sickie Day

2010-02-02T05:46:00.000-08:00

The first Monday in February has officially been dubbed ‘National Sickie Day'. It is thought to be the worst day for people pulling 'sickies', with up to 350,000 employees expected to take sickness absence.

Poor weather, long dark nights and a general dissatisfaction with official holidays all mean that early February is a very popular time for workers to give themselves an extra 'duvet day'. Add that to the fact that almost three-quarters of the country's skivers prefer to fake illness on a Monday, and that makes today the worst day of the year for employers.

The Employment Law Advisory Service (ELAS), which carried out the research, estimated today's absence will cost industry more than £30 million, taking into account factors such as lost business opportunities, reduced levels of service and output, and salary and overtime payments incurred.

Half of the 1,500 business leaders interviewed for the nationwide survey said they did not believe staff who complained of being ill.

Peter Mooney, head of consultancy at ELAS, said: "The traditional phone call was always a way for bosses to decipher whether staff members were bluffing or genuinely ill. But now, as our research shows, many employers are dispensing with it, which leads me to think that the system will be open to more abuse than ever.”

"The cost to the economy could soar and that is the last thing we need as we are slowly crawling out of the deepest recession for generations. We need staff fit and healthy and willing to work hard to get business booming again. I do wonder if allowing them to text or email in sick is the most effective way of doing that. However our research also concluded that employers who accepted electronic forms of communication for sickness were also the ones who trusted their staff the most."

Questionable excuses ranged from a man who claimed that the road outside his house was too busy to cross to another worker who said he could not make it in because his mother-in-law was supposed to die at the weekend but had not.

Mooney added: "At least the dodgy excuses can give bosses something to laugh at but the reality is that absenteeism is a serious concern for modern business."

"And our research also showed that employers do not believe their staff are more likely to come into work ill because of fears over job security. In fact many believe workers use the stress of the economic collapse as an excuse to take more time off ill."

Staff Absences Soar in the Snow

2010-01-10T03:52:00.000-08:00

Absences were at an all time high last week as many employees stayed at home due to adverse weather conditions, according to absence management organisation FirstCare.

Heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures caused chaos across the country and meant that almost 14% of the UK workforce stayed at home on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday lat week. 2,567,854 people called their boss to say they could not make it in on Friday alone. It is estimated that the direct costs to the UK companies will exceed £2.2bn.

Blocked roads, icy pavements, cancelled flights and public transport has resulted in thousands of commuters being unable to get to work. The cold snap had a big impact on businesses across the UK, with 68% of employers reporting the condition of local roads as the main reason employees couldn’t get to work, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

And with the UK experiencing its coldest winter for 15 years, severe weather warnings of more snow and ice are still in place. During these periods when a lot of workers are going off sick, business-owners need to think hard about the cost-benefits of whether to outsource the work or reallocate resources internally.

Here at RML we’re working hard to ensure that our services are unaffected so that both our clients and candidates can rest assured they will still receive the high level of service that they’re used to

Resource Management to hold HR “Centre of Excellence” event 2009

2009-10-14T03:52:00.000-07:00

Resource Management and Firstperson will be holding the event at the Clifton Club, Bristol on the 21st October.

The breakfast seminar will be attended by business psychologist and part-time lecturer at the University of Bristol, Merilyn Parker-Armitage, who will be addressing the question: “Has HR failed in its prime duty of getting the best out of people?”

She will also be joined by Course Programme Director of MSc in Strategic Management, Dr. Daniel Doherty.

This promises to be an excellent opportunity to join a number of business leaders in discussing a real and pressing issue, and to expand your professional network.

The event takes place from 8.30am – 10.00am on Wednesday 21st October 2009 at The Clifton Club, Clifton Village, Bristol, BS8 4DS.

If you have not already been invited to intend, and would like to do so, please contact us on 0117 915 0380 or contact Ben Merrison (Managing Director) at mailto:ben.merrison@resource-management.co.uk.

Resource Management at the RPO & e-Recruitment Forum 2009

2009-09-09T03:48:00.000-07:00

Resource Management will again be attending the RPO & e-Recruitment Forum on the 29th September as a sponsor.

The forum will address recruitment and retention concerns and provide the tools to cut the costs of the recruitment process, and to attract talent through recruitment process outsourcing, improved technology and the latest e-recruitment strategies.

Experts from McDonalds, Dell, KPMG, Siemens, Cummins and Harrods will be present to share practical insights to improve the recruitment process and will examining the business case for RPO.

“This is a must-attend event if you want to remain ahead of competition during these tough times.”

Symposium Events, 2009

The event takes place at 9am on Tuesday 29th September at CCT Venues-Canary Wharf, London, E14 9SG. For more information and to book your place, click here.