Friday, September 30, 2005

UK - Employment tribunals


Businesses losing confidence in tribunal system, say CBI


A report from the CBI (the employers' organisation) shows that British businesses have major concerns about the complexity of the new employment tribunal procedures despite a fall in the number of tribunal cases since the reforms were introduced last October.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

EU legislation


TUC Condemns Shelving of Temp Directive


TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber criticised the announcement from Brussels that the EU's better regulation initiative will lead to the scrapping or shelving of the draft temporary agency workers directive.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Australia - Workplace relations


Deep divisions over workplace relations changes


Australia is deeply divided over changes to workplace relations legislation, according to the September 2005 Sensis® Consumer Report

Friday, September 23, 2005

UK - Skills

Government Presiding Over the 'Dumbing Down' of the UK Economy Says Union Chief

By failing to implement the best European working standards and importing the worst, the UK government is turning the UK into a third world economy says Derek Simpson, General Secretary, of Amicus.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

UK - Skills

Passport Means Jobs for Cleaners

From today cleaners may need a skills passport to get work, according to industry voice, the British Cleaning Council (BCC).

UK - Flexibilty

Call centre worker receives £19,500 compensation after being denied flexible working

Communications giant Telewest has agreed to pay £19,500 in compensation after refusing to grant employee Deborah Clarke suitable flexible working arrangements to allow her to care for her baby.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

UK - employee relations

Amicus Warns Companies to Comply With Information and Consultation Regulations

Amicus Assistant General Secretary, Tony Burke, warned today that companies that tried to get their employees to sign inferior information and consultation agreements would face a legal challenge from the union.

Australia - Flexibility


Teleworking in Australia


A recent report indicates that almost a third of Australians have experience of telework.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

UK - Flexibility

Britain's Hidden Brain Drain

Britain's flexible and part-time working arrangements are failing to meet the needs of working women and men, leading to 5.6 million part-time workers – 4 out of 5 of Britain's 7 million part-time workers - working in jobs that do not use their potential, according to the results of a year-long investigation by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC). Over three and a half million of these actually used higher qualifications or skills or had more supervision/management of staff in previous jobs, and a further 2 million believe they could 'easily work at a higher level'.

Canada (Ontario) - Computer operator guidelines


Health and Safety Guidelines for Computer Operators


The Ontario Ministry of Labour, Occupational Health and Safety Division has prepared a Health and Safety guideline for computer operators.

UK unemployment


Employment Statistics


Employment rises by 83,000 over the previous quarter but unemployment also rises marginally.

Monday, September 12, 2005

UK - MG Rover

MG Rover Workers Struggle to Find Work

More than six months after the closure of MG Rover in Birmingham, 60% of the workforce are still out of work.

UK - Skills

MOT Milestone Sees First 1,000 Car Technicians Sign up to New National Skills Tests

The UK's first national voluntary assessment system for technicians, Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA), has seen 1,000 technicians register since launching in June.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Canada - Unemployment rate


28,000 more employed in August


Statistics Canada reports that unemployment remained at 6.8% in August - amongst the lowest in three decades.

UK - Pensions

Amicus say the Government's Pension Assistance Scheme Will Fail Those in Need

Amicus say that only 20% of the people who have lost all or part of their pension entitlement after the winding-up of their schemes will benefit from the government's Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) meant to help them.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Australia/New Zealand - Best employers


Australia and New Zealand's Best Employers


Hewitt Associates, the global HR services firm, has revealed its 2005 Hewitt Best Employers in Australia and New Zealand results. The study is jointly managed by Hewitt Associates, The Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) and AFR BOSS
magazine.

Friday, September 09, 2005

UK - Offshore workers


Amicus Push for Better Rights for Offshore Workers


Amicus, the union for oil workers, met with MPs and MEPs looking at the oil and gas industry yesterday to insist for better entitlements for people working offshore.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Australia - Employment


Unemployment stays at 5.0%


Seasonally adjusted, the number of people in employment rose by 32,600 to 10,067,500 in August.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

UK - Voluntary sector funding


Voluntary Sector Funding Threatens Jobs and Vital Services


The voluntary sector funding regime is failing, threatening jobs and jeopardising service provision for some of the most vulnerable people in our society says Amicus.

Friday, September 02, 2005

USA - Employment situation

Employment Situation

Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that nonfarm payroll employment increased by 169,000 in August, and the unemployment rate fell marginally to 4.9%

Thursday, September 01, 2005

USA - Employee Assistance Programs

Long-term disability and employee assistance

Members can access an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering 'solutions-focused consultation' for a wide range of personal issues.