This
week’s news in brief
Kingsmill
in TV link
Denise
Kingsmill, chair of the DTI’s Accounting for People Taskforce and a presenter
at last year’s Personnel Today awards, has reportedly turned down the chance to
head up ITV. Reports claim that Kingsmill was approached for the chairman’s job
at the UK’s largest commercial TV station. However, she is said to be looking
for a role that combines the public and private sector. www.accountingforpeople.gov.uk
DWP
calls it a tie
The
Department for Work and Pensions has offered to allow male staff to turn up for
work without a tie if thousands of compensation claims are dropped. Around
8,000 men working at Jobcentres are preparing to claim compensation after a
clerk won a tie-wearing sex discrimination claim last year. Although the DWP
won the right to a second tribunal later this year, it has now offered not to
pursue the case if the claims are dropped. www.dwp.gov.uk
The
right accent
Self-conscious
jobseekers are toning down their accents at interviews in the false belief that
it might be held against them. An online poll by Totaljobs.com suggests that a
third of candidates try to hide their regional accents when applying for a new
job, with scousers and cockneys the most likely to do so. www.totaljobs.com
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Higher
safety fines
An
MP has presented a Bill which would see companies that commit health and safety
crimes paying far higher fines for injuring or killing their staff. Andy Love’s
Health and Safety at Work (Offences) Bill proposes that employers could be
fined up to £20,000 (£5,000 is the current maximum). www.parliament.uk
