A round-up of HR-related stories in today’s newspapers.
GPs could spot patients who might go on incapacity benefit for mental health issues three years before they stop working, research has suggested. According to the BBC, a study led by a team at Glasgow University showed the frequency of GP visits by patients rose significantly prior to the benefit claim being made. They believe the data could help target patients before they become dependent on benefits and keep them in work.
Licence fee payers face a bill of £100 million a year to fill the BBC’s pension fund deficit, even if proposed cuts in its benefits are carried through, the Telegraph reports. The corporation’s predicted increase in what it pays into the scheme is more than it spends each year on Radio 2 and Radio 3 put together. Senior managers, led by the director-general Mark Thompson, are trying to avert strikes over pension proposals by the broadcasting unions, Bectu and the National Union of Journalists.
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The chief executive of Google has warned that users on sites such as Facebook may be forced to change their names in order to escape their frivolous cyber past, the Daily Mail reports. Eric Schmidt said the enormous quantity of detail left online by young users could come back to haunt them when they apply for jobs in future.
Dundee-based computer games company Realtime Worlds has gone into administration putting hundreds of jobs at risk, reports the BBC. The company, founded by the creator of the games Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto, is based at a former jute mill in the city. It employs about 250 people and was seen as one of the biggest players in the global computer games market.
