Retail giants reach out to long-term unemployed

Chief executives from Asda, B&Q, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, and Tesco have signed a deal with the Chancellor that will see them provide jobs for the long-term unemployed who succeed in work trials.

The retail giants said they would encourage their managers to enter into a Local Employment Partnership with job centres to offer work trials and design pre-employment training for those out of work.

The British Retail Consortium estimated that, if rolled out across the entire retail sector, the partnerships could help 100,000 people find employment over the next five years. It said it would encourage other members [which include Boots, WH Smith, Dixons Stores Group, John Lewis, and Morrisons] to set up similar agreements.

"This is not some abstract plan dreamt up by bureaucrats, but builds on the help a number of major BRC members are already offering to enable people lacking the skills or self-confidence to get into the workforce more quickly," said the BRC director general Kevin Hawkins.

"Some of our most committed colleagues are ones that have spent a large proportion of their lives on benefits," said David Smith, ASDA's people director. "Stores like Breck Road, in Liverpool, where 60pc of the workforce were from long-term unemployed backgrounds, are a shining example of the untapped potential these people have to offer."

Source: Daily Telegraph

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Prepare for the mother of all struggles

Three out of four working women who give birth this year will be entitled to nine months of maternity pay - the others will only be entitled to six.

Appropriately, the change takes place on 1 April, and 500,000 mothers whose babies are due (rather than born) on or after that date get the longer entitlement. Those whose babies are due before 1 April will only get six months, even if their babies are born after this date.

Although the improvements in pay are greatly welcomed, the whole area of maternal rights remains complicated and research by Cash in this field paints a disturbing picture. For instance:

• Discrimination against pregnant women is the most common discrimination case dealt with by Citizens Advice.
• Employers frequently flout the law, forcing pregnant women or new mothers to give up their jobs, take pay cuts or accept other illegal measures.
• Despite having strong rights, mothers rarely pursue cases to tribunal - mainly because they are too tired.
• Many sources of free advice for mothers are under pressure - one leading charity, Maternity Alliance, has closed; another, Gingerbread, is struggling for survival, and many Citizens Advice bureaux may have to cut back services.

The employment rights of any pregnant woman are so strong that it is extremely difficult for an employer to fire or demote them without breaking the law. Nevertheless, tens of thousands of mainly low-paid women seek advice every year from Citizens Advice. The bureaux conclude that hundreds are illegally dismissed or threatened 'for no other reason than that they are pregnant and wish to take up their rights'.

To read this article in full click here

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How Legitimate is your Workforce?

Encore in association with Keesing have introduced a new on line document checker system for all of it’s current clients. This means that verification of entitlement to work is ensured through a thorough check of current admissible documents such as passports prior to starting assignments.

Home Office visits and potential legal prosecution can be avoided by users of Temporary suppliers who have the satisfaction of knowing that such a system of checks are in place.

Many banks and large scale employers use this system as a matter of course and if you would like to see a demonstration of how it could be a valuable part of your company’s interview process contact Dan Carlin at dcarlin@encorepersonnel.co.uk

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New EU rules tell truck drivers to work less, take more breaks

New EU-wide regulations came into force on Wednesday restricting the working week for lorry and coach drivers and requiring longer rest stops.

Among the new measures is an obligatory rest of at least 45 consecutive hours every two weeks and a working week of no more than 60 hours, including loading and unloading.

"The application of the new social rules is an important milestone for Europe's road transport sector," said EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot.

"This is clearly a win-win situation: the drivers will enjoy important social advances, the transport companies will compete on equal grounds and all road users will benefit from better safety."

The new rules, adopted by EU member states and the European Parliament in 2005, amends 1985 legislation which allowed a 74-hour driving week for professional drivers.

Now, over a four-month period drivers mustn't work more than 48 hours a week on average. Minimum rest times are fixed at 11 hours per day, including nine hours consecutively. Drivers must also take a total of 45 minutes rest for every four and a half hours of driving.

The rules are a minimum requirement and member states are free to impose further restrictions. They are aimed at "increasing road safety and ensuring adequate social standards in a profession characterised by fierce competition," the European Commission said in a statement. The binding rules apply, irrespective of the country where the vehicles are registered.

Source: Eubusiness.com

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Brown Targets Tribunals

GORDON BROWN is set to announce measures to cut the high cost to business of industrial tribunals by ensuring that disputes between employers and employees are settled at an earlier stage.

The move is expected to be among a series of announcements designed to show that the government is meeting its commitment to cutting red tape by 25%.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has estimated that the savings to business from improving dispute resolution and other employment-related measures could be worth more than £400m a year.

The chancellor will respond to recommendations by Michael Gibbons, a former Powergen executive, who was asked by the DTI to look at the high cost and time involved in tribunals. He is expected to call for a beefing-up of conciliation and other dispute-settlement procedures, so that many of the cases that now end up at a tribunal are settled earlier.

Source: The Times

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REC hits back as unions ramp up campaign against agency workers

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation ( REC) has claimed that there has been yet another attempt by the Trade Unions to back Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, into a corner over the rights of agency workers,.

Earlier today, Tony Woodley, General Secretary of the T&G union has called on Mr Brown to back their campaign on agency workers’ rights.

Commenting on the development Tom Hadley, the REC’s Director of External Relations said: “The trade unions keep pushing on the agency worker issue. This comes as no surprise as the Union bosses are circling the Chancellor hoping to influence his platform to become PM.”

The Unions are pushing for temps to receive the same employment terms and conditions as permanent workers from the moment they start an assignment. Tom Hadley continued: “The REC backs good working conditions for the UK’s temp workforce and is working with the DTI to improve the lot of vulnerable agency workers. UK plc would be much poorer without the vital work that these temps do.

“But it would be a mistake to introduce legislation - and more red tape for the recruitment industry - for the sake of it, “ Tom Hadley continued.

To read this story in full click here

Source Recruitment and Employers Confederation

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Smoking Banned in Wales and Northern Ireland in April

The ban on Smoking in enclosed public places, including offices and commercial vehicles with more than one person, extends to Wales from 2 April, and to Northern Ireland on 30 April .

The smoking ban in England starts on 1 July.Those in charge must ensure prescribed No Smoking signs are displayed in premises and vehicles.

Signs can be downloaded from the following sites :

Wales :www.smokingbanwales.co.uk

Northern Ireland :www.spacetobreathe.org.uk

England :www.smokefreeengland.co.uk

Scotland :www.clearingtheairscotland.com

Source REC

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M&S supplier in dispute over Moroccan workers

One of Marks & Spencer's main overseas clothes suppliers is embroiled in a recognition battle with a trade union affiliated to an opposition Islamist party in Morocco. The dispute is disrupting production and has led to a spate of sit-ins and arrests of its workforce.

The British company Dewhirst, which closed factories in the UK and transferred production of womenswear to Tangier in Morocco in 2002, is in dispute over conditions, pay and claims that it discriminates against unionists.

The Union Nationale du Travail au Maroc (UNTM) is backed in Britain by the GMB union, which is supporting 486 sacked workers, mostly women. The GMB is backing the UNTM because it was the union at Dewhirst's UK factories.

Both M&S and Dewhirst said they were mystified by the Moroccan union's action and claimed that wages and conditions at the factories, which employ some 1,400 people, were good. M&S sent local managers to check conditions at the factory and decided the company treated staff well.

To read this story in full click here

Source The Guardian

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New law could extend flexible working rights

From April the Work and Families Act will extend the right to ask for flexible working arrangements for carers of sick or disabled adults.

The law, which applies to those who look after relations living separately as well as unrelated adults at the same address, has the potential to benefit 2.6 million working carers. Currently one-in-five is forced out of employment by the strain of juggling their two roles, and the organisations that support them believe the new rule is an important step forward.

"When carers are faced with the choice between work and caring, they're not going to walk away from their relations, so it's always work that goes, says Emily Holzhausen, head of policy with the charity Carers UK. "The financial implications are huge and they can quickly end up in poverty."

But, although carers can ask for arrangements such home-working, annualised or compressed hours or flexi-time, employers aren't bound to say yes. Although they must give a request serious consideration, they have the right to turn it down if they can show there are good business reasons for doing so.

According to the Department of Trade and Industry, applications are much more likely to succeed when they take into account the business needs of the organisation. This means the onus is on carers to present a strong case on how their workload could be managed more flexibly.

To read this story in full click here

For more information go to www.timetocare.org.uk

Source The Guardian

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And Finally…………….

New Rates of Statutory Payments

From 6 April Statutory Sick Pay increases from £70.25 to £72.55 per week

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Issue 36– April 2007
Welcome to the April issue of Encore enews – a magazine read by 5000 recruiters of Blue Collar staff every single month!

This months round up of local business news: