This
week’s news in brief
Unions losing relevance
The
trade union movement is becoming "increasingly irrelevant every day",
according to CBI director general Digby
Jones. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber will refute this claim at Personnel
Today’s HR Directors Club gathering on 16 November. www.hrdirectorsclub.com
eBay is favourite website
eBay is now the most popular
website for shirkers to use while at work, a new survey claims. Almost half (43
per cent) of staff polled by law firm Peninsula said the
internet-based auction site was their favourite site to visit. www.peninsula-uk.com
Domination ad overruled
The
Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled against a Sunday Times’ ad
headed ‘What Turns Businessmen On? Domination’.
The ASA said it misrepresented the findings of the British Business Survey
(BBS), which clearly differentiated between businessmen and businesswomen. www.asa.org.uk/
Landmark case reversed
The
Court of Appeal has released its decision in Rutherford v DTI – ruling that the
statutory upper age limit for making an unfair dismissal claim does not
contravene EU law. Rutherford was 67 when dismissed, and
claimed the upper qualifying age in the Employment Rights Act had an adverse
effect on more men than women. www.dti.gov.uk
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August corrections
In
our story ‘Is the lack of people planning at heart of BA’s current woes?’ (24
August), we incorrectly said that Royal Mail had been privatised. Also, in our
story ‘Human touch pays dividends for HR’s
talent’, we misnamed Executive Performers as Executive Performance. We
apologise for any inconvenience caused.