The takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB must not result in thousands of compulsory redundancies, unions have warned. Lloyds TSB yesterday revealed that it plans to slash £1.5bn from costs by 2011 following the proposed merger with HBOS - £500m more   More...
04 November 2008 07:36

Initiatives aimed at reducing administrative burdens on employers have failed, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). The Administrative Burdens Reduction Programme was set up by the NAO in an attempt to reduce the cost to businesses of com  More...
08 October 2008 09:40

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber has called on controversial new business secretary Peter Mandelson to focus on protecting jobs. Mandelson, who twice resigned from the cabinet under former prime minister Tony Blair, made a shock return las  More...
06 October 2008 11:20

Manufacturing HR directors have backed a government shake-up to boost the sector's image at a time when job losses and factory closures are dominating the headlines. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform will publish guidance   More...
08 September 2008 08:30

The government has launched a new campaign which aims to help employers save time and money on employment costs. The 'Employing People' campaign is part of a drive by the Department for Business to reduce employment law burdens on businesses by £36  More...
14 August 2008 11:47

Business leaders have breathed a sigh of relief after a crackdown on rogue employers of vulnerable workers announced this morning did not include new laws. The strategy instead features a telephone helpline for vulnerable workers to report abuses, an  More...
05 August 2008 10:40

Employers now rank energy efficiency ahead of redundancies or cutting staff bonuses as a better way to save money, a study has found. More than half the employers polled said they were looking to save money with energy efficiency than redundancies o  More...
24 July 2008 10:00

The UK has secured a deal to keep its opt-out from the Working Time Directive following a meeting of European employment ministers yesterday (Monday). EU member states voted to allow the UK to keep its exemption which allows employees to work longer  More...
10 June 2008 11:40

HR news and analysis including: legal experts warn that maternity law changes made this month could cost employers huge amounts of money in pension contributions Metropolitan Police HR director Martin Tiplady discusses the need to ramp up  More...
18 April 2008 15:40

HR news and analysis including: an exclusive interview with skills secretary John Denham Dragons' Den entrepreneur James Caan's thoughts on HR employee engagement in government departments and what is an acceptable kind of away-day whe  More...
04 April 2008 16:39

MPs have slammed the government's Discrimination Law Review for failing to adequately address pitfalls in diversity law and provide no real solution to the gender pay gap. The Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Committee has today published   More...
09 February 2008 08:00

The government has revealed the 20 commissioners who will be members of the new UK Commission for Employment and Skills (CES). The members include a broad range of representation from the private, public and third sectors, and from trade unions. Th  More...
11 December 2007 13:00

Fears that domestic legislation will be passed giving temporary workers full employment rights have grown after EU ministers failed to reach agreement on the Agency Workers Directive last week. The UK government was one of the few that opposed th  More...
10 December 2007 10:30

A Conservative government would make hiring staff easier every year it is in power, David Cameron claimed today. The Opposition leader had promising words for employers in a speech centred on transport and taxation policy at the CBI annual co  More...
27 November 2007 14:30

A new website which utilises social networking technology common to sites like Facebook has been set up to help employers improve the skills of their staff. The site www.skillstories.org has been developed by the Department for Innovation, Un  More...
22 November 2007 09:23

The Financial Services Authority is tightening up its regulatory regime, which means senior HR staff will have a greater role to play in determining how firms comply with the rules. XpertHR's FSA specialists Nicholas Thorpe and Neil Johnston report.   More...
29 October 2007 08:00

Mike Berry hosts this week's programme which includes: News from the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth The Commision for Racial Equality responds to claims of racial discrimination from its own staff And the CIPD's Linda Holbeche's pla  More...
28 September 2007 15:23

Former CBI chief Dibgy, Lord Jones of Birmingham, has admitted that his skills envoy job was only half finished when he left to become minister of trade promotion - but the government will not confirm whether the skills envoy role will continue. Jo  More...
23 July 2007 07:59

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has warned the government against forcing the human resources function into a ‘corporate policeman’ role, following Gordon Brown’s draft legislative programme unveiled yesterday  More...
12 July 2007 10:30

Lord Digby Jones is no longer the government skills envoy, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills has confirmed. As Jones was appointed minister for trade promotion in prime minister Gordon Brown’s government of ‘all   More...
11 July 2007 14:00