This week’s news in brief
Racism rife in UK
Racism is still blighting the lives of the UK’s black workers, despite the
success of government employment schemes like the New Deal, according to a TUC
report, Moving on: How Britain’s unions are tackling racism. The TUC wants the
Government to introduce a legal requirement for all employers to promote good
race relations. Â www.tuc.org.uk
Rights for carers
Prime Minister Tony Blair has promised to extend the right to request
flexible working to carers of elderly and sick relatives. At a ‘Big
Conversation’ meeting in Downing Street to discuss work-life balance issues,
Blair promised to extend the rights introduced for parents. More than half of
the nation’s six million carers also have other jobs, according to Carers UK. Â www.carersonline.org.uk
NHS jobs go online
NHS online recruitment is being implemented across the UK after a successful
trial. The service allows the public to search and apply for NHS jobs on a
single website. Around 100 NHS organisations across the country have confirmed
dates for taking up the service, which has around 500 new jobs displayed each
day. Around 24,000 jobseekers have registered so far. Â www.nhs.uk/jobs
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‘Sickie’ stunt outrage
Alton Towers theme park is under fire after encouraging people to miss work
and visit the park. A survey by the park shows one in three of its midweek
adult visitors had lied to their employers to get a day off to visit. The
Federation of Small Businesses is fuming, saying absenteeism costs the UK
economy £10bn each year, but Alton Towers said it was not its job to cut
absenteeism and has set up an anti-work website. Â www.ihatework.co.uk
