Copies of the new Investors In People standard are available on the revamped
IIP web site. The new standard was officially launched on 13 April, although
the proposed version had been widely circulated. It also comes shortly after a
study showed the apparent correlation between IIP and staff satisfaction.
www.iipuk.co.uk/TheStandard/default.htm
Dad’s part-time win
Employers will have to give careful consideration to requests by fathers to
work part-time following a landmark case. Robert Jones, from Longbridge,
Birmingham, wanted to work part-time so he could care for his new daughter. He
claimed sex discrimination but settled out of court with his employer insurance
company Groupama UK Services, which has now agreed to his request.
Regulations burden
Business has been lumbered with 20 regulatory burdens related to employment
since 1996, according to research by the Institute of Directors. Burdens such
as the process changes and payroll redesign required for stakeholder pensions
and ensuring that part-time contracts are equal to full-time ones are deterring
businesses from expanding and destroying jobs, the institute claims.
On-line recruitment
HR professionals are being warned that they ignore on-line recruitment at
their peril. A telephone survey by the web site magazine Online Recruitment
found 51 per cent of HR managers avoid using the Internet to recruit because they
know little about it and fear losing face in front of other staff. Editor Leor
Franks said companies which do not make use of Internet recruitment risk losing
their competitive edge.
Medical insurance up
Research carried out by Gissings, a strategic healthcare adviser, shows that
the cost of private medical insurance (PMI) is to rise by approximately 38 per
cent between 1999 and 2001.
