The
Government has agreed to meet the CIPD within two weeks as a result of
Personnel Today’s open letter to DTI Secretary Stephen Byers.
The
letter, published last week, demanded that the Government should consider the
views of HR specialists in its review of redundancy consultation.
Mike
Emmott, the CIPD’s employee relations adviser, said that a meeting is to be set
up with the DTI within a fortnight. “We are reassured that the DTI does want to
consult more widely than initially appeared to be the case.”
In
his response to Personnel Today (below) Trade and Industry Minister Alan
Johnson reassured readers that the DTI will not just talk to the TUC and the
CIPD but also HR directors.
The
minister’s quick response to Personnel Today’s open letter is welcome. Less encouraging
is the way his letter only mentions HR in brackets.
HR
directors are at the heart of any consultation with staff as the interview with
Corus personnel director Allan Johnston shows this week. Putting them in
parenthesis makes them seem like an afterthought.
