Mike
Broad reports on what’s happening in HR around the world
UK
staff are less loyal to employers
Employees
in the UK are significantly less committed to their employers than in other
countries, claims research.
A
study by International Survey Research shows that fewer than six out of 10
employ-ees want to stay with their current employer.
The
research called UK plc: leader or follower? surveyed 360,000 staff in the 10
largest economies and shows that Brazil has the highest levels of employee
commitment. In Brazil, 79 per cent of employees are committed to their
employer. Other countries with high levels include Spain, Germany and Canada.
The UK was ranked in the bottom three countries, with China and Japan. Only 50
per cent of staff are committed to their employers in Japan.
Roger
Maitland, deputy chairman of ISR, said: "Too often in the UK, the people
at the bottom of the organisation are alienated from those at the top.
Employees see their leaders as lacking both the intellectual capital to craft
aspirational goals and the emotional intelligence to achieve them."
French
firms call on government to overhaul the 35-hour week
French
employers are pushing the new centre-right government to adopt a more radical
approach to overhauling the 35-hour week.
Medef,
the employers’ federation, wants the government selected by President Chirac to
take comprehensive action to reverse aspects of the shortened working week.
Ernest-Antoine
Seilliere, head of Medef, has had "worrying" meetings with labour
minister, Francois Fillon, over the watering down of the government’s reform
pledges, as the economy weakens and the unions flex their muscles. The main
concession sought is raising the ceiling on overtime. Medef wants this raised
from 130 hours per year to at least 180 hours. Employers also want a less
punishing system of overtime payments, both in terms of social security
contributions and wage scales.
Medef
was created in 1998 by employers determined to fight the 35-hour week im-posed
on them by the socialist government.
UN
to assist firms in tackling HIV crisis
The
United Nations will help fund businesses wanting to tackle the HIV crisis in
the developing world.
The
$2bn (£1.2bn) UN Global Fund for the treatment of Aids, tuberculosis and
malaria, will consider supporting corporate programmes that offer
anti-retroviral drugs to employees, their dependants and their communities.
It
shows the UN believes governments and NGOs are failing to address the crisis
and that corporates have the resources to develop health solutions.
Last
month, mining groups Anglo American and De Beers said they would pay for
anti-retroviral drug treatments to prolong the lives of their workers and
families. It will cost Anglo American $5m (£3.1m) in its first year.
Temps
directive may harm job prospects
The
European Commission’s draft Agency Workers Directive will misfire and damage
the employment prospects of the temporary workers it is designed to help,
claims research.
The
directive would give temps the same pay and conditions as permanent workers,
once they have worked for an employer for more than six weeks.
The
survey of 4,000 temps by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation shows
that 70 per cent of agency workers believe temping improves their ability to
get a job.
Tim
Nicholson, chief executive of the REC, said: "The directive is supposed to
make temping more attractive to workers and employers, but instead jobs will be
lost because of inflexibility and extra costs."
