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HR and Recruitment Legislation News
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Thursday, 11 March 2010 00:00 |
 Britons looking for 50-plus jobs have been handed good news from a thinktank which believes the economy is continuing to grow.
The Office for National Statistics recently said the economy expanded by 0.1 per cent between October and December 2009, before revising this figure to 0.3 per cent.
According to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), this growth has continued into 2010.
Estimates from the group suggested that during the three months to February, economic output rose by 0.3 per cent
Prime minister Gordon Brown has meanwhile warned that although the UK is over the worst of the downturn, "the waters are still choppy".
However, he insisted that the government will hold its current course in order to weather the storm.
Mr Brown added that safeguarding and creating jobs in the UK is one of his main priorities, along with raising the standard of living for people across the country.
Posted by James Strang
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Mature Aged Recruitment News
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Thursday, 11 March 2010 00:00 |
 People in 40-plus jobs could be losing out because employers are making assumptions about their skills and abilities.
According to Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK, employers in other European countries have very different attitudes towards older workers than those in Britain.
For instance, he said they do not tend to assume that just because a person is of a certain age, they are less capable of doing a certain task than a younger employee.
Mr Flaxton said this is particularly apparent when it comes to the use of IT systems in the workplace.
"It is a misnomer for some employers to think that because you haven't grown up with a technology then you can't be trained to use it," he commented.
However, Mr Flaxton acknowledged that there are some employers who consider older members of staff an asset to their firm, as they have lots of experience and knowledge.
This comes after business minister Pat McFadden described older people as the "backbone" of the British economy.
Posted by James Strang
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Mature Aged Recruitment News
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 00:00 |
 People looking for 50-plus jobs will be given support and training under a new government initiative.
Secretary of state for work and pensions Yvette Cooper revealed that the government will invest an extra £10 million over the coming year to help mature workers looking to find 50-plus jobs.
It will be spent on training for Jobcentre Plus advisers to ensure that they are better equipped to cope with requests from older people.
Extra time will also be provided to help more mature workers find 50-plus jobs, while specialist back-to-work support will also be provided.
The move has been welcomed by Phil Flaxton, chief executive officer of Work Wise UK, who said it is particularly reassuring given the recent news about the increase in the pensionable age for men and women.
Highlighting the benefits that staff in 50-plus jobs can have to businesses, he said some employers "regard people who have been in the work place for a long time as more valuable than the younger generation".
This is because of their "breadth of experience and knowledge", he claimed.
Posted by James Strang
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Office Recruitment News
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 00:00 |
 Government officials have unveiled a scheme designed to help out-of-work people across Britain find office jobs and other forms of employment.
Helen Goodman, minister for work and pensions, announced that more than 15,000 people in less well-off communities will be given expert job advice in a bid to tackle the issues of deep-seated and intergenerational unemployment.
The scheme, known as Outreach, will be backed by £12 million of government funding.
Advice and other services will no longer be restricted to Jobcentres, Ms Goodman explained. Sessions will be held in GPs surgeries, community centres and even in peoples' own homes in order to help them find employment in office jobs.
"Work is the best way out of poverty and our Outreach programme is part of the broad range of support available through Jobcentre Plus to help people into work," she added.
Data released last month by the Office for National Statistics suggested that the number of office jobs may be on the rise.
It revealed the number of unemployed people in the UK fell to 2.46 million in the final quarter of 2009.
Posted by Mary King
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Sales Recruitment News
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Tuesday, 09 March 2010 00:00 |
 The government has been urged more to boost the employment prospects of people looking for telesales jobs by reversing the planned hike in employers' National Insurance contributions (NICs).
Business organisation the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) called on the Labour Party to make use of its final Budget before the forthcoming General Election to boost economic stability and improve public finances.
Furthermore, it said businesses and entrepreneurs must be supported be cancelling the one per cent rise in NICs, which it described as a "tax on jobs".
If the government listens to the CBI proposals surrounding the increase in NICs, it could make it easier for people to find telesales jobs.
In a letter to Alistair Darling, CBI director general Richard Lambert wrote: "It is critical that this Budget provides credibility and direction on the public finances and creates the right conditions for businesses to drive economic growth."
Previously, the CBI and a number of other business organisations - including the Recruitment and Employment Confederation - joined forces to campaign against the NICs hike.
Posted by James Strang
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HR and Recruitment Legislation News
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Tuesday, 09 March 2010 00:00 |
 A new employment law which allows people in office jobs to take more time off work after the birth or adoption of a child has come into effect across Europe.
Effective from yesterday (March 8th 2010), parental leave across the EU has been extended to four months, from its previous level of three months.
Member states now have two years to introduce the ruling into their national law.
At present, parental leave varies widely across the continent. New mothers in Malta are given only 14 weeks away from the workplace, while those in Sweden are able to take as much as 16 months of leave.
The new parental leave allocation is designed to encourage new fathers to take time out from their office jobs to spend time with a new arrival.
A statement from the EU Council said: "The new directive seeks to better match professional and family life and to promote gender equality on the labour market."
Posted by Mary King
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HR and Recruitment Legislation News
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Monday, 08 March 2010 00:00 |
 People in telesales jobs have been told to book their annual leave in plenty of time to avoid losing it under employment law.
In an advice column on This Is Money, one worker said their holiday year finished at the end of February 2010, meaning they had eight days of leave to take over the course of the month.
However, their employer said the member of staff would be unable to book the time off as the firm was too busy, causing them to lose their vacation time.
Unfortunately for the employee, a columnist for the financial site explained that the business was probably entitled to refuse the holiday request under employment law.
"Be sure to request your … holiday earlier in the leave year, or with more notice, next year," the writer advised staff in telesales jobs.
Previously, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress Brendan Barber told the news provider that if this issue happens frequently, it could be the manager who is at fault.
It may mean they are unable to manage staff properly, or that the business does not have enough employees, he explained.
Posted by James Strang
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Office Recruitment News
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Monday, 08 March 2010 00:00 |
 The majority of people think big businesses do not take on enough female staff in board-level office jobs.
According to a study from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Bis), 60 per cent of people think that larger firms do not have enough women directors.
Some two-thirds feel that companies are losing out on talent by having fewer women in senior office jobs.
But while half of respondents believe there will be an equal balance between men and women in high-end office jobs within the next 20 years, in reality Bis said it will take 60 years for females to achieve the same level of representation.
Unless a dramatic change in company boards comes about, Gordon Brown said the government will "need to consider taking more serious action to ensure companies recruit from the diverse pool of exceptional talent we have in the UK".
Last month, the Office for National Statistics revealed that the pay gap between male and female employees has fallen to 22 per cent.
Posted by Daniel Frost
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Mature Aged Recruitment News
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Friday, 05 March 2010 00:00 |
 Broadening the scope of VAT has been cited as a possible solution to help people looking for 40-plus jobs while also boosting government earnings.
In a bid to reduce the UK's fiscal deficit, the government has proposed implementing a one per cent increase in National Insurance contributions, something which business groups have described as a "tax on jobs".
Experts have warned that hiking the cost of employing staff could lead to a drop in recruitment activity, making it harder for people to find 40-plus jobs.
But independent thinktank Reform has instead called for Whitehall policymakers to cut VAT exemptions for everyone apart from UK households with an income of less than £17,000 per year.
Director of Reform Andrew Haldenby warned all three major political parties against proceeding with their plans to impose "job-killing taxes on employment and growth".
He added: "If politicians can find the courage to eliminate zero-rate exemptions in VAT, they can cut taxes on jobs while still reducing the deficit."
Posted by Daniel Frost
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HR and Recruitment Legislation News
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Friday, 05 March 2010 00:00 |
 An MEP has urged people in City of London company director roles not to reject new maternity leave proposals because of the potential cost to their businesses.
Under the EU plans, mothers will be given 20 weeks of fully-paid maternity leave, an increase from the current minimum requirement of 14 weeks.
Some professionals in company director positions have been critical of the plans, with the Forum of Private Business warning that the measure would impose too much financial pressure on firms.
But according to Portuguese Socialist MEP Edite Estrela, it would be wrong for a firm's director to disagree with the maternity leave extension on budgetary grounds because the EU will have fully emerged from the effects of recession by the time it is implemented.
"We're not legislating for tomorrow, EU member states will have three years to transpose it into national legislation," Ms Estrela explained.
She added that it would be surprising if economic conditions were not more favourable than they are at present by this time.
Posted by Mary King
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HR and Recruitment Legislation News
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Thursday, 04 March 2010 00:00 |
 Proposed new employment legislation will make it illegal for employers to discriminate against staff in mature aged jobs on the grounds of their caste.
Ministers have previously claimed that discriminating against someone's caste - their historic and social standing in Hindu and Sikh communities - is not a problem in the UK.
But peers have accepted a possible amendment to the Equality Bill which would make it illegal to show prejudice against the caste of people in mature aged jobs, reports BBC News.
And Baroness Thornton has warned that evidence of this kind of discrimination may exist.
She said that more research will be carried out regarding the issue, saying: "We now think that evidence may exist, which is why we have now commissioned the research."
According to a recent study from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, changes to employment law often go unnoticed by small firms.
Some 25 per cent of small business owners admitted in the survey that they do not keep up to date with changes to this type of legislation.
Posted by Mary King
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Office Recruitment News
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Thursday, 04 March 2010 00:00 |
 Office jobs in the IT sector have been easier to secure in recent months.
This is according to Adrian Marlowe, chairman of the Association of Recruitment Consultants (ARC), who said that the increase in IT employment activity had come about as a result of the need for firms to upgrade their existing computer systems.
Firms are taking the plunge now and investing money in IT having "laid low for 18 months or so", he claimed - which in turn is leading to a rise in the demand for office jobs in the sector.
Mr Marlowe added that in the past few months, financial institutions have also given a boost to people hoping to secure office jobs.
"The banks have come alive in the last six months or so," he said. "They have been recruiting generally to increase their workforces."
Administration jobs vacancies are also on the rise, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.
Kevin Green, the organisation's chief executive, said he has seen "significant increases in demand" for back-office support staff.
Posted by James Strang
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Mature Aged Recruitment News
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Thursday, 04 March 2010 00:00 |
 Forthcoming changes to employment legislation have reportedly led to a surge in the number of people retiring from their 50-plus jobs.
Research commissioned by risk management and reinsurance firm Aon Consulting revealed that there was a 22 per cent rise in the number of people retiring in January 2010, compared to September 2009.
It claimed that more people could be retiring from their 50-plus jobs as a result of the change in the minimum retirement age from 50 to 55, which comes into effect from April 6th 2010.
According to Colin Hamilton, the commercial director at Aon, this growth is likely to continue until the new employment legislation takes effect.
Consequently, he called on people in 50 plus jobs to familiarise themselves with the changes, especially "those aged between 50 and 54 who had been planning to retire this year".
Age Concern and Help the Aged recently called on politicians to end support for the default retirement age.
The charity said employers were using the legislation as a cheap and easy alternative to redundancy.
Posted by Daniel Frost
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HR and Recruitment Legislation News
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Wednesday, 03 March 2010 00:00 |
 Fit notes could create delays in getting people in mature aged jobs back to work after spending time off sick.
This is according to Peter Barnard, the registrar at the Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education, who expressed concerns that giving GPs the power to decide whether staff in mature aged jobs can return to work could slow down existing procedures.
Speaking to employeebenefits.co.uk, he said that regardless of the fit note system - which comes into effect on April 6th 2010 - businesses should be helping their employees get back into their office jobs as part of an ongoing managed process.
"We have been helping managers and employees return to work by holding discussions with those who are absent and discussing what it would be like for them to return to work," he said.
Despite his concerns, fit notes have been welcomed by a range of business organisations, including the Institute of Payroll Professionals.
It said the system will create more flexibility in dealing with absence through sickness.
Posted by Daniel Frost
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