A survey by Personnel Today’s sister publication IRS Employment Review of 94 organisations – covering a total of 121,578 employees – showed that they lost a total of 17,792 workers over the past 12 months.
Resignations were the most common reason for the departures. Others included a small number of employers who had transferred large numbers of staff under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE), while a larger number reported staff leaving due to ill health.
Notice periods are common, although the survey found that the length of notice varied with different employee groups. Forty-nine organisations had separate arrangements based on seniority; 15 differentiated between blue- and white-collar workers; 15 have separate arrangements based on historic/inherited arrangements – such as in instances arising from mergers or takeovers; and five organisations had arrangements based on bargaining groups.
Despite the introduction of new dispute resolution procedures in 2004, few respondents reported a fall in the number of workplace disputes settled by compromise agreements or tribunal hearings. However, the number expecting to see a reduction in the amount of disciplinary and grievance actions leading to employee departures in the next two years was higher than the number expecting an increase.
More than four million people leave their jobs every year. Most of these departures involve voluntary decisions such as resignations and retirement, but one in three involves redundancies or dismissals.
For more information, go to www.irsemploymentreview.com
