USA - Rebuiding HR's Image

Some HR departments are lucky enough to have a good reputation within the organization. However, there are the unfortunate circumstances where the previous HR Leader or the entire HR department has a bad reputation within the organization. What is an HR Leader supposed to do to rebuild the department's image?

Rebuilding The HR Department Image

USA - Call Center Training Program

Signature Worldwide, a leading provider of training outsourcing and business-building solutions to the hospitality industry, was contracted by The Grand America Hotel to develop a call center training program for The Grand America and Little America Hotels, two of the group’s AAA award-winning properties.

Lessons from Signature Worldwide Employee Training Program Translate to Additional Customers

Australia - Industrial Relations

Australian workers will continue to be exposed to Cowra-style dismissals (where workers are sacked and moved onto lower wages or replaced with cheaper contract, casual or foreign 'guest' workers) unless the Federal Government repeals the controversial 'Cowra clauses' from its new industrial relations laws the ACTU Secretary Greg Combet said today.

ACTU Calls on IR Minister to Protect Workers and Repeal 'Cowra Clauses'

Australia - Quarter Work Some Time At Home

24% (2.2 million) of employees worked some of their main job hours at home in November 2005, according to a report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Quarter Of Employees Work Some Time At Home

UK - Pensions Reactions

Ministers can be proud of a document that looks like it can be the foundation of a new pensions settlement, say TUC.

Welcome for progressive pensions White Paper

Today's pensions White Paper represents a sensible compromise that should help to address the timebomb created by a pension system that was not keeping pace with changing demographics, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)

Sensible compromise will tackle pensions timebomb

USA - Alumni Network

Experience, Inc. today announced the national rollout of its alumni recruiting service, directly connecting corporate recruiters with more than 400,000 graduates of the world's top colleges and universities. The first company to offer the breadth of a nationwide alumni network, Experience links recruiters with a college-educated pool of active and passive candidates. Unlike active job seekers, passive candidates would consider a career move if the right opportunity came along, but aren't likely to post their resumes to online job boards. Until now, this made recruiting passive candidates a challenge.

Recruiters Reach the Best Passive Candidates through Nationwide Alumni Network

UK - Sexual Harassment

A new action plan to prevent and deal with sexual harassment in the Armed Forces was today agreed by the Ministry of Defence and the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) following research to clarify its extent. Extensive research carried out by independent consultants into the nature and extent of sexual harassment in the Armed Forces, including a survey of all Service women and a series of focus groups, was completed by the MOD as part of the first phase of its Agreement with the EOC.

MOD And EOC Sign New Action Plan To Address Sexual Harassment In The Armed Forces

UK - Pensions Settlement

"A bold new pensions settlement designed to enable people to plan ahead and save more for their retirement was set out today in the Government's White Paper on pensions reform."

Full DWP press release:
Historic Settlement For Pensions Challenge

New Zealand - New Research Centre

Gainful employment is central to most people's lives. A new AUT University-based research centre will investigate exactly what our working culture means for New Zealand.

New national research centre to study work

UK - Time Wasting at Work

Bad habits at work lengthen the working day - and men waste the most time at work.

Employees waste two hours a day on IT misuse

New Zealand - Kiwisaver

Suggestions that the long-awaited KiwiSaver workplace superannuation scheme should be delayed because it could lead to industrial problems are nonsense, says the country's largest union.

Workers won't tolerate delaying KiwiSaver

New Zealand - Minimum Wage

Maori would be most adversely affected by a rise in the minimum wage, says an AUT senior economics lecturer.

Rise In Minimum Wage Could Hurt Maori

UK - World Cup Matches and Discrimination

Employers who let employees watch the World Cup during work time could be laying themselves open to discrimination claims, according to some specialist lawyers.

World Cup Matches, Employees and Discrimination

Women's Careers Determined By Culture Not Biology

The diversity of today's workforce is a challenge to information-technology organizations with "one-size-fits-all" policies, especially when it comes to women employees, according to recent research.

Women's Careers Determined By Culture Not Biology

Canada - Health and Safety Fine

Lear Corporation Canada Ltd., a Kitchener, Ont.-based supplier of automotive interior systems, was fined $125,000 today for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in serious injuries to an employee at the company's plant in Windsor.

Lear Corporation Canada Ltd. fined $125,000 for health and safety violation

UK -Landmark Ruling Against HSE

The Court of Appeal has made a landmark ruling against the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which attempted to argue that employers should still be required to take reasonable steps against unforeseeable risks and that negligent actions by employees are irrelevant to an employer's guilt.

Appeal Court Rules Against Health and Safety Executive

New Zealand - Job Growth

Job growth in the year to March 2005 was fastest in Waikato (up 4.4 percent) and Bay of Plenty (up 4.3 percent), Statistics New Zealand said today.

Job Growth Fastest in Waikato and Bay of Plenty

New Zealand - Business Regulations

"The Labour-led government is committed to a regulatory environment that promotes economic growth, business confidence, globally competitive firms and social well-being."


Charting a dynamic course for quality regulation

The Government's review of business regulation is doomed from the start thanks to the refusal to do anything about the Holidays Act, says National's Associate Labour & Industrial Relations spokeswoman, Paula Bennett.

Business regulation review doomed from start

"The Council of Trade Unions is not opposed to improving the quality of our regulatory environment, but New Zealand is already judged the easiest country in the world to do business, with a comparably light regulatory framework," CTU president Ross Wilson said.

Regulations Review Risks Diversion from Real Challenge

The urgency of the review of business regulations proposed by Commerce Minister Lianne Dalziel is a welcome sign that Government recognizes that compliance costs are holding back business and the economy, said Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett.

Easing Business Compliance Burden Will Help Economy

UK - Public Service Employee Involvement

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Hilary Armstrong and TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber shared their vision for better public services as they launched Drive for Change, a web-based toolkit aimed at getting employees more involved in improving the public services they deliver.

Employee involvement key to public services reform

Canada - Occupational Lung Problems

Exposure to lung irritants early in a young employee's career may result in increased lung problems in later years.

Early Exposure To Lung Irritants May Cause Later Problems

Childhood Cancer Survivors Face Higher Unemployment Risk

A new review shows that adults with a history of childhood cancer are more likely to be unemployed than the general population.

Childhood Cancer Survivors Face Higher Unemployment Risk

Canada (Ontario) - Workers In Confined Spaces

The McGuinty government has updated and strengthened protection for workers in potentially dangerous confined spaces, Minister of Labour Steve Peters announced today.

(Ontario) Government Enhancing Protection For Workers In Confined Spaces

UK - Safety Inspections

Safety inspections in the UK have plummeted to a new low, increasing the chances of workers being killed, made ill or injured by their jobs, according to new figures published today (Friday) by the TUC.

UK workplace safety inspections now at a new low

USA - Human Capital Institute and SkillSurvey Announce Agreement

The Human Capital Institute (HCI), a global professional association and educator in talent management strategies, and SkillSurvey, a leading provider of online reference checks, announced today that SkillSurvey will support HCI initiatives as a global underwriter, helping bring the latest human capital education, metrics, and tools to leading corporations.

Human Capital Institute and SkillSurvey Announce Agreement

UK - Employment Situation

Unemployment rate rises again to 5.2% but the number of people in work is the highest figure on record.

Employment Statistics

Australia - Employment Statistics

Unemployment increases to 5.1%

Seasonally adjusted, the number of people in employment also fell by 3,200 to 10,078,900 in April.

USA - Employment Situation

Unemployment remains at 4.7%

Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that nonfarm payroll employment increased by 138,000 in April, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.7%.

Effective Cover Letter Techniques

Applying for a new job, or a new career, can be a major task if you are not prepared with knowledge about yourself and techniques for revealing the best information about yourself when you are applying through the mail for a new position. Sending your resume off through the mail can often seem like you are blindly putting yourself "out there" for everyone to look at and review. But if you use the information in this article, you can create a cover letter to accompany your resume, one that will get you in the door for an interview. Taking that step from mailing your resume to actually getting an interview is one that many people find difficult, but it does not have to be.

Effective Cover Letter Techniques

UK - Work Wise Week

Just as Britain led the way with industrialisation in the 19th century, we are looking to lead the world in changing the work culture in the 21st. An initiative which aims to make the UK the most progressive economy in the world was today (3 May) launched at the QEII Conference Centre in London.

Work Wise UK Launched: DTI, CBI And TUC Support Campaign

Australia - Slashing Pay

Major employers Spotless Services Australia and the Coles-Myer company have moved to take advantage of the Howard Government's new industrial relations laws by slashing workers' take-home pay by up to $160 a week, according to the ACTU.

New Move By Major Employers To Slash Take-Home Pay Of Workers

Australia - Industrial Relations Laws

The ACTU is asking the Howard Government to repeal sections of the new industrial relations laws banning workplace agreements from giving employees leave to attend health and safety training or meetings provided by unions.


New IR Laws Will Hurt Workplace Health And Safety, say ACTU

USA - Background Screening

HireRight Inc. hasannounced the Extended Workforce Screening Solution, the industry's first robust software solution for managing the background screening of vendor and partner employees, temporary employees and independent contractors who have access to a company's facilities, data, personnel and information systems. Most large enterprises today screen full-time employees, but these other categories of the workforce generally do not undergo the same security procedures, representing a major security gap.

HireRight Introduces Industry's First Extended Workforce Screening Solution

USA - Social Style

A new research study shows the workplace benefits of interpersonal skills training as seen by actual training participants. This study of 500 recent training participants looks at the impact of Social Style on common workplace problems such as communication breakdowns, low morale, conflict and negative performance. Social Style is TRACOM’s model for effective interpersonal behavior.

New Research Study: Participants See Benefits of Interpersonal Skills Training

Canada - Smoke-Free Ontario

Today marks the start of the one-month countdown to May 31, the day the Smoke-Free Ontario Act becomes law.

Countdown to a Smoke-Free Ontario

Canada - Hoarding Knowledge

Has a colleague ever ignored you when you asked for information? Did you have the feeling that they were deliberately avoiding you or were only pretending to be ignorant? Recent research suggests that you may have been right.

Hoarding Knowledge

USA - Interactive Media

NAS Recruitment Communications has been awarded five top honors by The Horizon Interactive Awards, a prestigious international competition that rewards the most talented developers of interactive media and recognizes outstanding achievement among interactive media producers.


NAS Recruitment Communications Walks Away With Multiple Horizon Interactive Awards

UK - TUC May Day Speech

May Day is the day when the labour movement across the world celebrates the core values that we stand for and the dignity and justice at work to which all workers should be entitled.

Brendan Barber speaks at May Day march and rally

Canada (Ontario) - Workplace Safety

The McGuinty government's workplace health and safety strategy is producing dramatic results by preventing the human cost of workplace injuries and avoiding costs for businesses, Labour Minister Steve Peters announced today.

McGuinty Government On The Side Of Working Families And Businesses