New law could bring the sack at Christmas for UK workers

Jobs in UK could be at risk by a new law designed to improve the rights of those working under job agencies. Euro-MP David Campbell Bannerman has raised concerns that the new ‘EU Agency Workers Directive’ could lead to serious job losses amongst companies using agency staff and temporary workers. To avoid the new regulations giving the workers the same benefits as permanent employees, once they have worked in the same place for more than 12 weeks, many will see their contracts terminated. The Conservative MEP said: “Whilst it is laudable that workers are well treated, often agency and temporary workers are paid more to make up for not having the same benefits as employees. I know – I was an interim manager and consultant for some time! “Now these EU regulations mean that after 12 weeks with the same company, agency workers will be entitled to the same pay and conditions as their permanent counterparts. “Often, companies use agency staff because they cannot afford to take on permanent staff. “Now they won’t have that option unless they change the staff every 12 weeks. “That means that many people will be losing their jobs just before Christmas.” Mr Campbell Bannerman explained that the implications for the UK will be greater than for other EU countries, he added: “The UK economy relies more on agency workers than any other country in the EU. “8 out of 10 jobs effected by these laws will be in the UK. “This is yet another out-of-touch law coming direct from the EU that has no understanding of how the flexible British economy works, at a time we need all the help we can get to recover from the recession.” “This is bad news for agency staff and bad news for the businesses that rely on them. The EU has turned out to be more Scrooge than Santa.” The law will be effective from October 1. A recent survey suggested almost 500,000 agency workers could lose their jobs just before Christmas as businesses moved to sack temps to avoid the new rules.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/8775447/Government-to-bring-in-temp-worker-law-unchanged.html The law is expected to cost employers £1.8bn a year to abide by.  http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file53058.pdf (page 111)

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New law could bring the sack at Christmas for UK workers

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Tags: act, christmas, companies, Finance, government, Industry Chat, press-release, workers

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Climate change – stealing from Peter to give to Paul

Is it just me or is this entire climate change thing an absolute joke?

Based on the way that the tax is going to work, my understanding is that the government will need to hire hundreds of new public servants to administer the $10.5 billion of grants which will be paid under the proposed climate plan. What’s ironic, is that this new funding is going to occur on the back of the savings by putting a freeze on existing public hiring intentions. So on the one hand, jobs will slip from existing services so that we can use the savings to redistribute funds through this new scheme which will also result in a need for hiring more people.

My question basically is this. Will this entire scheme actually do anything positive from an economic perspective? I dont understand it. On the one hand, jobs will be made to pay people from cash saved by not hiring others who were working in government based jobs that were needed but are now not needed because we want to save more money so that we can create a new industry that will allow us to make more jobs?

Is it as simple as that or am I just an idiot that is beyond the capacity to comprehend this? In short, is this tax a good thing for job seekers or not? I simply cannot work it out?

Tags: based, carbon, change, climate, corporation, entire, existing, gillard, going, government, hiring, investment, million, needed, onesteal, people, peter, relnofollow, singapore, stealing, surprise

How prepared are you for the Agency Workers Regulations?

If you are a temp recruitment company then you will be very aware of the new Agency Workers Regulations , in fact it will be implemented in just 2 months on the 1st of October. So by now you should have procedures in place to ensure you are compliant, and if not then you need to read on. We are now beginning to see panic gripping some recruitment companies, with the amount of enquiries for our recruitment software as they realise theirs is not able to deal with the changes or that using a card or Excel spread sheet for running their temps will make their business uneconomic. The problem is that it will become very time consuming to keep on top of where your temps have been working, how many days they have been on a contract, which terms and conditions they have before and after the 12 week rule, which in itself is complicated, otherwise you will not be operating to the AWR . This will of course cut into your margins and to be honest almost impossible to manage and it isn’t helped by the clients continually eroding it at the other end. Given the interest in the AWR I spoke to a friend of mine and an expert in the field Fiona McKay and asked if she would write an article to help explain some of the issues involved, I am pleased to say she produced a detailed handout which you can download in a pdf file from Here or you can pop along to here one of Fiona’s seminars on Friday 29th July 2011 at 09.30 until 12 noon at The Red Rooms, 111 Piccadilly, Manchester, M1 3FY other wise you can continue reading below: The Agency Workers Regulations – what is really required of recruiters? You have probably been to many AWR (The Agency Workers Regulations 2010) seminars offering hot solutions and the latest tips and tricks to keep you ahead of the inevitable and significant changes to the temp recruitment working model that the AWR will inevitably bring. Fiona McKay – Managing Director of Seminars & Solutions (a specialist Employment Law Training Consultancy) addresses some of the key questions and issues that recruiters should really be asking of themselves, their clients and their intermediaries.  Fiona has spent the last eighteen months working with leading recruiters preparing them for AWR and significantly with some of the UK’s largest headcount employers putting their PSL recruitment suppliers through AWR boot camp – making recommendations to hirers of the best and the least AWR prepared recruiters in the market. Background The AWR will come into force on 1 October 2011 and will give an agency worker the right to the same ‘basic working and employment conditions’ (pay, the duration of working time, night work, rest periods, rest breaks and annual leave) as a comparable direct recruit of the end user of the agency worker’s services after 12 weeks on an assignment.  The staffing company that supplies the services of the agency worker will be responsible for providing the same basic working and employment conditions and will have the bulk of the compliance burden under the AWR.  However, the AWR will also have implications for the business of the end user of the agency worker’s services, including obligations to provide access to collective facilities and amenities, and information on job vacancies from day one of an assignment. The guidance – what is it and have you read it? Prior to the introduction of any new significant employment laws being introduced the government produces a guidance document that walks through and explains how and what compliance will look like in practical day-to-day terms. It is vital that all recruitment business leaders have read and understand the contents and implied terms of best practice in the guidance document.  It is also now imperative, that all temp consultants have read and understand the contents and implications. Clients have read it and are looking for help and support from their recruiters over specific issues contained therein. Despite the assistance provided by the guidance, it is not the final say so that a lot of recruiters and ill-prepared umbrella companies were hanging their hat on.  It is not a statement of law, nor does it correctly interpret the law in all areas.  Ultimately it will be for employment tribunals to determine how the Agency Workers Regulations will be interpreted. The final AWR guidance has now been published – click here to access the full document. Umbrella Companies – how prepared are they? It can be very varied, although there are a handful of market leaders taking a strong line and shaping solutions models for their market. The main alternative offering seems to be to adopt the pay between assignments contracts. However, high proportions seem to be looking to their recruiter partners to solve the issue for them. In my experience, umbrella companies are now being asked to attend scoping and solutions modeling meetings with clients.  This can sometimes come as a surprise to clients, who are on occasions unaware that their contractors and freelancers are actually paid by someone other than the agency!  This is also a massive opportunity for sharp and commercial umbrella operators to take the agency out of the equation post 1st October 2011 and provide their own contingent workforce – time only will tell as to the take up, the viability and the responsiveness of umbrella providers.  Ask them, have they and their teams read the guidance and what are their plans post 1 October 2011? Taking the lead Adecco undertook a study this year and the results are shocking. 80% of HR professionals surveyed said that they had no idea of the costs and consequences of the AWR and 61% said that they did not even know that date of introduction of the legislation! That in itself puts massive pressure on the agency to guide, advise and support its clients and their HR staff responsible for implementation. There is no one size fits all solution, so what is right, just and equitable for each client? There is still a massive appetite for learning and understanding of the subject.  Many recruiters have delivered client and prospect seminars, designed fact-sheets and information portals.  How accessible is your knowledge and information and is it being delivered in a way that is right for each client?  It is simply not enough for you and your board of Directors to be comfortable and confident in the Regulations and its requirements.  Have you trained your consultants and support staff and can you demonstrate that knowledge across your whole business?  Training also needs to be extended your to Finance team, Compliance, and IT staff. Address your stakeholders and be prepared to talk to different decision makers You may have had a wonderful relationship with hiring managers in client organisations, but new buying units maybe emerging, driving AWR dialogue and decisions.  You may now be embarking into new relationships with other decision-making units in client organisations who are strangers.  Work needs to be done to address who is the ultimate decision making unit in the AWR journey?  It is often a combination of HR, Procurement, Resourcing, Internal Recruitment as well as Finance.  Have you addressed the kind of language these professionals use?  What will success look like for each of these stakeholders and collectively for their organisation? Software providers Many of the temp software providers are launching their AWR compliant solutions.  Again, beware of the one-size fits all package.  Get your provider(s) to demonstrate their offerings and if needed have it amended so it works for you.  Involve them in your scoping and solutions meetings with clients.  If you are not sure they are up for the task, start looking now for alternative providers who do have the ability to provide bespoke offerings.  It is going to be a vital aspect in AWR administration around flagging up and calculating of the twelve week qualifying period, so make sure the package is fit for purpose and beyond. Comparator data and customs and practices This is probably the single biggest aspect that our client hirers are asking for clarification on.  They need to know what the agency requires from them in terms of data and in what format that will be sourced and secured?  For those who have conducted AWR impact assessments with their clients, they will be aware of current Day 1 rights in operation, but work needs to be done by HR and their recruitment partners as to what are the current customs and practices in their organisations that have been paid or undertaken with such regularity that it has become part of their contractual rights?  This relates to Day 1 rights and pay and benefits entitlements. Put strong emphasis to your clients HR professionals, for the need to undertake this exercise. Without the results, you are in a vulnerable position and at an increased risk of “noisy” conversations with temps who may believe they are entitled to more. In-house staffing banks Many labour intensive hirers have decided that they will reduce or try and expunge completely their exposure to the AWR by creating and operating their own internal bank of directly recruited temps.  Firstly, they need the skill and the resource to be able to do it effectively.  Secondly, they are still potentially at risk and could be deemed under the Regulations to be acting as a Temporary Work Agency (TWA) if they are involved in the supply of directly recruited bank temps to another company within their group which supervises and directs the temp worker, then such arrangements will be within scope of the AWR.  However, it should be remembered that temporary bank staff directly employed by the end user of their services will still benefit from protection under the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002, and this can come as a surprise to hirers exploring this route as a viable alternative. Pay between assignments contracts aka The Swedish Derogation This is an alternative staffing model where the agency employs its temps direct on permanent contracts of employment, and can pay the temp less than its directly recruited counterpart in the hiring organisation.  However, the final guidance has made it clear it is only a derogation (another word for alternative or opt out) on pay rates and the temp must sign a written statement saying that they agree to forgo their entitlement to equal pay under the Regulations. There has been speculation about adopting a one-hour a week contract model so that a TWA can take full advantage of this exemption.  The guidance indicates that paying an agency worker for a short period, which maybe as little as one hour, when there is in reality no assignment available, is likely to be viewed as an anti-avoidance measure, bringing fines of £5,000 per agency worker. The guidance states that all agency workers, including those on pay between assignments/Swedish derogation contracts of employment will be entitled to: All Day 1 rights in the hirers undertaking Equal treatment in relation to the duration of working time, night work, rest periods and rest breaks Paid annual leave after 12 weeks in a given assignment Terminating a temp on a pay between assignments contract What if an agency worker refuses a suitable assignment, when employed on a pay between assignments contract? Firstly, you need really robust and fit for purpose discipline and grievance procedures and policies that support a pay between assignments contract.  It should clearly express the consequences for the temp it they refuse an offer of suitable, alternative work. Failure to accept, without good grounds could constitute gross misconduct.  Depending on the situation, if the agency worker refuses suitable alternative work, it may therefore be appropriate for the TWA to terminate the agency worker’s contract by reason of his or her gross misconduct with immediate effect and not pay the four week minimum amount (to the extent that it has not been paid previously). Caution needs to be exercised here. The Regulations require the TWA has to set out in writing as part of the pay between assignments contract the hours, locations and the type of duties the agency worker can be expected to perform. Therefore, dismissing somebody for refusal to work which would then constitute gross misconduct must fall within those expected duties, and therefore be an unreasonable refusal by the agency worker which breaches their contract of employment. Talking to your temps Plenty of effort and energy has gone into dialogue with clients, suppliers and intermediaries around the AWR.  Plans now need to be put in place to discuss and inform your temps of The Agency Workers Regulations and what it means for them and who should they go to if they have a question or query?  Will fact sheets be available or will there be updated information on your company web page?  Make sure it’s in their language – overtly jargoned terminology will no doubt create confusion and concern. What next? Keep talking to your clients.  If you haven’t undertaken AWR impact assessments with them, do so now! Work out what the actual cost of the regulations will be to you and to your individual clients Design options that work – don’t commit to the pay between assignments contract model unless it is works for you Ask your umbrella providers to demonstrate their understanding of the Regulations and provide details of their AWR plans. Where necessary, ask them to demonstrate how their options will minimise risk as well as keeping compliant and within the remit of the Regulations Source software suppliers that offer solutions that work for you Start putting in place new processes, policies and procedures for the 1st October 2011 implementation date Inform your temps of their new rights and entitlements under the AWR and whom they should go to with questions or queries Train your staff and your clients on The Agency Workers Regulations in a language that they understand Workshops that actually work! Fiona will be speaking at a series of national workshops in July 2011, specifically for recruiters. She will be giving support and direction on how to engage with hirers in the AWR buying process including: Understanding the Regulations and being able to confidently communicate Identifying the AWR buying unit Buying unit requirements Influencing the decision making process Keeping on the PSL Pre and post 1st October 2011 expectations

Tags: act, agency, companies, Finance, government, Industry Chat, media, result, tas, Vic, workers

Companies should NOT be allowed to retrench staff when they are making gazillions in profit

I was reading another article today about Pfizer and the underlying intention of their business to retrench more staff. This of course is not a specific attack at this business as they are one of many, many companies who will not hesitate to dump staff when it suits them.

But is it right? Sure, a if a company is on deaths door or is in a position where they urgently need to cut costs, retrenchments make sense. But what if a company has a history of making profit, after profit, after profit and still dumps their staff when it suits them.

The very worse proponent of this are places like banks. ANZ, NAB, Westpac and many others have not hesitated in dumping their staff and moving various call centers, development centers, etc overseas for cheaper providers.

But where will it end? At what point do we draw a line in the sand and say – enough is enough? If businesses maintained genuine security for employees under the ‘permanent’ guise, then I can understand how this can be justified. But they don’t ! In fact, this is not only limited to private companies but also government entities. Look at many of the government departments and you’ll find that they also “retrench” staff to cut costs. Perhaps the greatest implementer of this, ‘use and throw’ mentality is Telstra. Who outsourced much of their environment to India and various other places. It’s not right and I think that we Australian’s need to stand up for each other and stop these greedy corporates employing people under the false notion of “permanent”, and start calling the engagement model what it really is. “Engaged until we find cheaper.”

You can’t blame people for want to go contract. There is really no such thing as permanent anymore !!! Also, our government should do something about it… Rather than focusing on “sham” contracting, they should be focusing on “sham permanent employment”.

Tags: cheaper, company, costs, government, permanent, places, profit, right, staff, various

Federal IT contracting heading for record year

The value of Federal Government IT contracting continues to recover strongly, with the sector on track to post its highest total in the past five years, according to the latest IT labour hire report from specialist government market research company Intermedium.

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Federal IT contracting heading for record year

Tags: federal, government, Industry Chat, labour, market, research, result

Telstra

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A new approach to internal recruitment for the Recruitment Industry

In September, Expedient Training Consultancy will be creating 180 Fully Funded recruitment apprenticeships in 3 regions (London, Birmingham and Manchester) 20 Apprenticeships in Leeds will begin in May/June.  This is a large scale apprenticeship programme dedicated to the recruitment industry. This programme is the only apprenticeship scheme designed solely for the Recruitment Industry and also in addition includes the REC Certificate in Recruitment Practice.  It has been designed in a flexible way to give employers and employees (learners) choice.  This programme comes at a perfect time when undergraduates are looking at alternatives costly tuition fees for higher education. Here you get employees who’s starting pay is £2.50 per hour for the first 12 months (we recommend you pay more, or have in place a good commission structure), learn on the job AND all professional training is funded by the government. (16-to under 19’s – 100% funded, 19-24 – 50% funded and Adult apprentice’s part funded) The Expedient Recruitment Apprenticeship culminates in 4 Qualifications and the benefit of 12 months REAL work experience. For more information on Expedient Training Consultancy visit – www.expedient-training.org.uk For the Recruitment Apprenticeship specific information visit – www.recruitment-apprenticeship.co.uk Contacts: Paul Deen Email: paul.deen@expedient-training.org.uk Tel: 020 7993 8950

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A new approach to internal recruitment for the Recruitment Industry

“Please note – this post was scraped from the original site as indicated above in the “read more about this article URL” and is in no way reflects the views, opinions or values of the team at Review Recruiter. More specifically, Review Recruiter is in no way connected with, associated with or involved with the original author or the original authors content.

If you are interested in reading more about this article, please visit the original authors site as mentioned above.”

Tags: act, approach, education, government, industry, Industry Chat, internal, result

The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final Report – A child …

arise in order to prevent them getting worse . This area of multi- agency work has been the focus of policy development since the last Conservative. Government’s ‘re-focusing’ policy in 1995 and the Labour Government’s policy of ‘Every Child Matters’ …… will be addressed. • improvements in the electronic document filing system to make it easier to locate documents. • reworking of recording formats to support good practice better. • changes in HR and recruitment policies …

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The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final Report – A child …

Tags: child, conservative, Document, electronic, filing, government, Improvements, Industry Chat, labour, matters, policies

Why The Unemployment Rate Is About To "Fall Hard"

Further, LaVorgna says the household survey got the government employment number wrong (the BLS survey is better at this) and state and local job cuts should start to slow soon as revenues rise. One drag remains, with those that are self- employed ….. Bingo, Latteda. As a small employer with 14 employees I have just cut everyone’s hours to the equivalent of laying off 3 employees. Things are terrible out there and not getting any better. Just surviving one day at a time …

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Why The Unemployment Rate Is About To "Fall Hard"

Tags: Bingo, cuts, day, employment, government, household, Industry Chat, job, result, survey, time

Business Boss Calls For A Bank Holiday Ban

A boss who is insisting his 80 staff work during the royal wedding is urging other business leaders to  back his campaign to keep Britain moving and open as normal on 29 April. Jim Venables, MD of  officebroker.com , is refusing to acknowledge the extra bank holiday and for has told his staff it will be business as usual. He believes the extra day off will cost businesses millions in lost revenue and, while he wishes the royal couple well, he is not prepared to shut up shop for the day. Mr Venables has questioned why  William and Kate can’t get married on a Saturday like everyone else and is unable to understand why the government, who has claimed SMEs will bring the economy back to life, have decided to grind the country to a halt for the day. He is now calling on other employers to follow his lead and refuse to close their business down on April 29. Last year Mr Venables, whose nickname amongst his staff is “Orribles”, made local headlines when he gave his team half a day off to watch England’s World Cup clash against Slovenia. But it seems his patriotism does not extend to next month’s royal occasion. Mr Venables said: “I think the royal family are a fantastic tourist attraction for the UK and when I did the tour of Buckingham Palace I was very impressed. “But businesses are being forced to take a day off when there’s simply no need for it. There seems to be an assumption from the Government that everyone in the UK cares and that’s not the truth. “April is already a short month with two bank holidays so why add a third? The effects on businesses will be crippling. Shortening our month means reducing our revenue and that’s really, really annoying. Shutting down on that Friday could cost my business up to £50,000 in lost revenue, plus the additional cost of paying staff on that day. “Other businesses seem to share my opinion. A new report has highlighted that one in three office workers in the capital and one in four elsewhere in the UK are still unsure as to whether their bosses will give them the day off.  It will be interesting on the actual day to see just how many business owners let their staff take the day off. “I wish the young couple all the very best but I can’t see why they don’t get married on a Saturday like everyone else does and that would solve the whole problem. Instead there seems to be the attitude of, ‘I know what we’ll do, we’ll close the whole country down for the day!’ “Well we’re not having it. We will be working like it’s any other day, just getting on with it. I hope other managers will do the same. Why should businesses suffer?” Based in Tamworth, Staffs, Mr Venables’ 80 strong company  officebroker.com is the UK’s leading online finder of office space for businesses. Mr Venables said he felt he had the support of his team. He added: “We have a great team here and they all understand the commercial pressures that businesses face. I haven’t had any complaints about the decision. They all call me ‘Orribles’ anyway so there’s probably been a bit of banter about it but nothing I can’t take.” An insider at  officebroker.com ’s Tamworth HQ said: “I suppose we’ll watch the highlights on the telly when we get home. It’s fair enough really. I mean I didn’t expect Prince William to ground his helicopter on my wedding day so why would he expect me to put my feet up all day?” Operations manager Liz Yorke added:  “When the date was announced, two of my staff immediately booked off the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as annual leave to try to take advantage of all the bank holidays. They were none too pleased when I told them they had to book it off if they wanted not to work it!” For more info on the campaign please visit -  www.keepbritainmoving.com .

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Business Boss Calls For A Bank Holiday Ban

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Tags: act, bank, boss, country, government, holiday, Industry Chat, media, result, tas

Will it really be easier to dismiss employees?

This article has been sent from Flint Bishop Solicitors and as it is relevant I felt it was worth including here Recently announced proposals – Will it really be easier to dismiss employees? David Cameron’s plans to reform the Tribunal system by making it easier to dismiss staff in the first two years of their employment sound sensible. However, could they backfire and actually end up costing you more in Tribunal claims? – asks Rob Tice, partner and head of employment leading Midlands law firm Flint Bishop. “You’ll no doubt be aware that an employee can bring a claim for unfair dismissal against you after a year of continuous employment, but the Government’s proposal is to extend this to two years in order to give you additional time to assess staff before they gain protection from unfair dismissal. But in my view this proposal might encourage people to ‘shift the focus’’ of a claim to discrimination and other claims, which could be financially damaging as unlike unfair dismissal claims, compensation payouts in some of these claims can be uncapped. Whilst you may welcome a relaxation in the requirement to follow a ‘fair procedure’ before dismissing employees in the first two years of employment, without such a procedure to demonstrate a genuine (non-discriminatory) reason for dismissal, you may struggle to defend yourself against such claims. In fact in some respects this proposed legislation is actually going backwards as, some years ago, the qualification period of an unfair dismissal claim was two years and the ‘two year requirement’ was subject to a legal challenge on the basis that it discriminated against women (as they were less likely to remain with one company for long periods due to childcare commitments and other domestic responsibilities).  If the Government’s proposals go ahead then it is likely the two year requirement will be challenged once more on the ground of sex discrimination and also age discrimination. To act as a deterrent to dismissed workers bringing ‘vexatious claims’, the Government has talked about charging people a fee in order to lodge Tribunal claims.  From conversations with my clients this would be very welcome but, unfortunately, the idea has been shelved for the moment with a mere proposal that it is discussed again in the spring. Further news which might disappoint you is that, at the other end of proceedings, the Government is proposing to levy a fine (payable to the treasury) on employers who are found guilty of breaching employment laws. I believe the Government is genuinely trying to make it easier to dismiss employees who are not up to the job and by doing so, encourage businesses to recruit, knowing that they are not taking such a big risk on new employees. And anything to help you take a more flexible approach employment can only encourage economic growth. However, I feel there is a real danger of this proposal backfiring and, rather than reducing unfair dismissal cases, it will increase the number of cases built on allegations of discrimination which are more complex and can be more expensive to defend. Even without the proposed changes you can still dismiss disruptive and under performing employees (regardless of length of service), but my advice (with or without the proposed changes) is to ensure you have a proper and robust process in place that is always followed. For guidance on how to dismiss employees whose performance or behaviour is not meeting required standards, visit www.fb-support.co.uk or phone 01332 340211.

Tags: act, government, Industry Chat, Legal, result, Vic

PM defends government's decision to hire foreign company …

The government of Dominica was not the agency /organisation issuing or rather selecting the contractor, even if its a loan to the government of Dominica by the CDB. The CDB controlled every aspect of the contract ….. On the other note it is for government to create the environment to allow the same small companies to grow so that they can gain the experience and have the requierments to do those big job . This is a CDB funded project and any company from …

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PM defends government's decision to hire foreign company …

Tags: cdb, dominica, government, Industry Chat, job, result

Elite law firms pass over qualified candidates whose accents don’t fit!

Elite law firms pass over qualified candidates whose accents are “smart” enough, new study finds Some elite London law firms are passing over well-qualified, white working-class job applicants in favour of middle-class graduates from elite universities who they think they are better for their image, new research says.  The firms studied had successfully recruited ethnic minority candidates as part of diversity programmes, but rejected able working-class students because their appearance or accent was not thought ‘smart’ enough. Dr Louise Ashley of the Centre for Professional Service Firms at Cass Business School, which is part of City University London, interviewed 130 staff at five prominent London law firms, many of them in senior roles.  Her findings are detailed in the Work, Employment and Society journal due to be published this week by the British Sociology Association and SAGE. Dr Ashley said that though the firms were publicly committed to diversity in the workplace almost all of their lawyers came from more privileged backgrounds. More than 90 per cent of lawyers who took part in the research at the five firms had fathers who had been managers or senior officials, and at two of the firms more than 70 per cent of lawyers were privately educated. The elite firms told her that they didn’t recruit students from less prestigious universities because they believed they were less academically gifted.  However, Dr Ashley found that the firms turned down candidates who looked or sounded working-class in order to preserve the upmarket brand, even when they were well qualified. A partner at one of the five case study firms told Dr Ashley: “There was one guy who came to interviews who was a real Essex barrow boy, and he had a very good CV, he was a clever chap, but we just felt that there’s no way we could employ him. I just thought, putting him in front of a client – you just couldn’t do it. “I do know though that if you’re really pursuing a diversity policy you shouldn’t see him as rough round the edges, I should just see him as different.” Another firm had changed its strategy from recruiting among a range of universities to hiring almost exclusively from Oxbridge. A partner in the firm told Dr Ashley: “We did suffer in terms of recruitment – we were losing out to rival firms. We changed our strategy and that’s helped with quality. We’re just a much smarter firm now.” Dr Ashley discussed a third firm which had put into place a programme of helping students at comprehensive schools in order to prepare them for working at leading law firms as part of its diversity programme. One of the firm’s senior associates told her: “There’s no point promoting diversity to the extent that it encourages people to become lawyers who are not lawyers. Image is everything in the law – it’s all we’ve got, our product.  What’s the point of bringing these people along who are not lawyers to bring your diversity figures up? You’re only going to end up firing them.” Commenting on her research, Dr Ashley said: “Until relatively recently law firms have tended to focus on ethnicity rather than social inclusion in their recruitment and they have made some progress in this respect. “The strong consensus in this and other research was that middle-class ethnic minority candidates with the right education – and the right accent – would not necessarily experience discrimination, at entry level at least. “However, focusing on ethnicity enables law firms to boast excellent or at the very least improved diversity outcomes despite the fact that they have continued to recruit using precisely the same types of class privilege that have always been in operation.” “As it is, on either a personal or collective basis, individuals within the profession have little incentive to introduce a more progressive approach which would genuinely recognise and reward difference on the basis of social class, since the inclusion of lawyers who are visibly working-class, or have regional accents, is perceived to threaten both their brand and their bottom-line. “By not taking well-qualified people with working-class accents and by overlooking candidates with good degrees from new universities, law firms are arguably missing out on the skills and experience different people can bring. “They are contributing to the situation outlined in the Milburn Report to government last year which said that the professions have exemplified the old notion that a limited pool of talent was enough to get by on. “This is recognised as a problem by some progressive firms particularly those outside the legal sector, with some acknowledging that their most successful leaders include individuals who would not have gained access to the profession today on the basis of their academic qualifications. “A genuine commitment to diversity and inclusion as both a commercial and ethical imperative would mean that many more law firms go much further in opening their doors to a wider pool of talent.” For more information contact: Chris Johnson, Press Officer, Cass Business School ph: +44 (0)20 7040 5210, chris.johnson.1@city.ac.uk

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Elite law firms pass over qualified candidates whose accents don’t fit!

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Tags: education, government, guest post, Industry Chat, Legal

Agency Workers Regulations: Do you understand?

I read with interest the other day in Recruitment Consultant that Adecco revealed that 61% of HR professionals did not know the implementation date for the EU’s Agency Workers Regulations (AMR) also refered to as Agency Workers Directive (AWD). Well if you are unclear I will clarify for you, following a review of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, the Government announced in October 2010 that these new rules will be coming into force as previously drafted. The implementation date will remain 1 October 2011. Adecco went onto say that 80% of those they surveyed said they had “no idea” what the consequences of non compliance are. One of the main principles underpinning AWR are to give temporary agency workers equal treatment with regards to pay and working conditions after 12 weeks of service in the same assignment. Out of 100 HR decision makers questioned, only 19% said they had a “clear” understanding, while 48% said they were “concerned” about  understanding exceptions to the regulations which is a key area in which they could become non-compliant. Astonishingly, despite these concerns, 50% of those questions state that they would not be seeking professional guidance.  This is a significant piece of legislation and getting it wrong could have major resourcing, financial and legal implications.  For example, failure to provide recruiters with the right information on temps’ working and employment conditions could result in a costly employment tribunal, which could have major cost and reputational consequences. Is anyone excluded from the regulations? As things stand, it appears that if you are “genuinely one of the following: the self-employed; those working through their own limited liability company; or those employed on Managed Service Contracts”, you will be excluded from the regulations. If you want more information on AWR, Bar 2 have a useful article worth a read .  REC have plenty to say on the matter, and there is plenty of information aroung the interweb. Are you ready for AWR?  Do you know what impact it will have on your business?  We are well versed in the implications to us and our customers, so if you wanted to discuss this further with us, please feel free to call me to discuss.  We are always happy to help.

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Agency Workers Regulations: Do you understand?

“Please note – this post was scraped from the original site as indicated above in the “read more about this article URL” and is in no way reflects the views, opinions or values of the team at Review Recruiter. More specifically, Review Recruiter is in no way connected with, associated with or involved with the original author or the original authors content.

If you are interested in reading more about this article, please visit the original authors site as mentioned above.”

Tags: agency, government, guest post, Industry Chat, Legal, result, workers

Work/life balance award winners announced

Six employers have been announced winners of the federal Government’s 2009-10 National Work-Life Balance Awards.

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Work/life balance award winners announced

Tags: balance, been-announced, federal, government, national, the-federal

CareerOne adding value

In tough times companies need to be flexible and on the lookout for innovative ways to add further value to their clients.

Tags: client-focus, clients, government, great-example, industry news, job board updates, latest-jobs, lookout, news-articles, read-latest, the-lookout, tough-times

Was the NSW Government Job Board Hacked?

The news is currently reporting that the NSW Government’s Job Board http://jobs.nsw.gov.au website has been hacked. The site is currently offline and undergoing security testing and maintenance. Am I surprised by the lack of security around job boards and recruitment websites? No, no, no!!!

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Was the NSW Government Job Board Hacked?

Tags: board, currently-offline, currently-reporting, government, job-boards, lack, nsw, the-lack