Controversial news was announced by the government this month reducing the 90 day large scale redundancy consultation period down to 45 days. A range of mixed reactions from the recruitment community highlights uncertainty over whether this move will be successful when it comes into effect from April 2013 across...

The REC has received an official response from the Treasury on key taxation challenges facing the recruitment industry. In his letter to REC Chief Executive Kevin Green, Treasury Minister David Gauke provides a useful update on issues such as taxation rules for contractors (IR35) and on the effective enforcement...

The FIDS (Fraud, Investigations and Disputes Services) team at Ernst & Young has today released new research revealing that only half of British firms have heard of the UK Bribery Act (56{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}), despite the fact that the legislation was enacted more than a year ago. The research also revealed...

The cold winter months are causing office workers to spend more than half an hour longer behind their desks each day – according to a new poll. The survey, conducted by officebroker, found that the average office worker spent an additional 38 minutes at work each day during the...

A recent survey of small firms has found confidence remains low, but this year promises to be a better one than the previous two years.  The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said 2012 had been tough, but 2013 looked to be brighter.   But the FSB warned that business...

While 2012 has been tough, conditions in 2013 should get better, but only marginally so. That’s the view of the Forum’s economics expert, Professor Philip Whyman, who has warned of another tough year ahead for business with growth coming in at under 1{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} for the year – significantly less...

As 2012 comes to an end there is no sign of a sustained increase in the level of pay awards. Instead, 2{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} has emerged as the benchmark pay award over the autumn months, according to data released today from pay specialists XpertHR. The median basic pay increase (which excludes...

It’s that time of year again; the festive season is in full swing.  Many employers will be throwing a Christmas party for their employees in order to reward them for their hard work during 2012.  But how do you ensure fun and merriment all round? At the risk of...

Employers are facing a conflict between the employee skills and changing workforce needs. Research among over 20,000 employees from member-based advisory company, CEB, suggests that managers need 20 per cent more productivity from their employees at a time when the instability of the current economy is impacting the corporate...

According to offical data, UK consumer prices inflation remained unchanged at 2.7{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} in November.    The fastest price rises were seen in the cost of fruit, bread and cereals, as well as in energy bills, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.   Retail prices index (RPI) inflation, which includes housing...

There are more people working in the UK today than at anytime in our history. Today’s labour market statistics show another increase in the numbers employed taking the total to 29,600,000, up 40,000 on the previous quarter and 500,000 on a year ago. Almost half of the rise has...

The UK’s Employment Outlook now stands at its strongest level since before the recession, according to ManpowerGroup, the world leader in innovative workforce solutions. With an Outlook of +6{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}, employers across the UK are looking to take on staff in the first three months of 2013, giving the jobs...

The Monster Employment Index Europe is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career web sites and online job listings across Europe. The Index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or...

The Public Sector People Managers’ Association (PPMA) is launching an Apprentice-style competition to identify and boost the next generation of people leaders in the public sector. Rising Stars 2013 is open to anyone working in HR and is free for individuals in organisations which are PPMA members. The competition...

There should be mandatory monitoring by all employers to ensure ethnic minority women workers are not unfairly treated during the redundancy process, Unite, the country’s largest union, has said. The call was made by Unite national officer for equalities, Collette Cork-Hurst when she gave evidence to the all party...