February 2010 - Guru Blog

Today is Work Your Proper Hours Day - a TUC publicity stunt which claims to be the day when the average person who does unpaid overtime finishes the unpaid days they do every year, and starts earning for themselves. In the spirit of the day, Guru will be having his morning tea break, full hour for lunch, mid-afternoon tea break and be leaving the office...

A curious story that went somewhat under-reported this week. A community worker sacked for looking at porn in front of children has won his job back and a £23,000 payout after blaming his actions on diabetes. Alistair Dickson said he was not aware he had logged on to the porn site as he had a hypoglycemic episode when the children were being shown around...

Oh dear, it really has gone pear-shaped for the National Bullying Helpline and its founder Christine Pratt. After going on national TV to claim that Downing Street staff had contacted the helpline, Pratt has now found herself in the middle of what Guru colloquially calls a "sh*t storm". One of the charities patrons, rent-a-quote psychologist...

Guru has sympathy for those who have been made redundant during the recession. Too often losing your job can lead to depression and despair - so it's particularly important to keep busy and have a project. That's exactly what unemployed US labourer Jimmy Grey did. With the heavy snowfall that America has experienced recently, Grey got to work...

A mere four months after his previous article stating HR was a waste of space, Times columnist Sathnam Sanghera is at it again. His latest missive in today's paper is headlined: 'The fuss that HR makes about itself far outstrips its contribution to the world'. Deep breathes everyone, put away those claws, let Sathnam outline his argument...

Ambulance staff in the north-west have been banned from wearing socks with images of cartoon characters, jokes and patterns after bosses branded them "unprofessional". North West Ambulance Service 's new uniform policy also bans wrist watches, visible body piercing, excessive make-up and 'certain' tattoos. Staff have been warned...

HR worker Julianne McGregor is planning to hula hoop on her way to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to rise money for her best friend with cancer. The 27-year-old is raising cash for the World Cancer Research Fund to support her friend Megan Houchins, who has thyroid cancer. "I'm doing this for my close friend Megan, who is currently fighting...

If you thought that the shock of Monday morning and struggling through the first day back after the weekend was bad enough, the worst is yet to come. New research from the company behind Guru's favourite painkiller Nurofen found that 6.00pm on Monday is the most painful time of the week. Nurofen's research monitored pain levels relating to common...