A Guide to Civil Partnerships – What employers need to know

What's new?

New legislation from December 2005 will enable two non-related, unmarried adults of the same sex to register a civil partnership which has many of the same rights and responsibilities as marriage

What does this mean?

Same sex couples who register as civil partners will be entitled to equal treatment as married partners in a wide range of matters including employment and vocational training.

So whatever benefits you provide to married employees and their spouses must be provided to employees who are civil partners and to their civil partners – for example survivor pensions, flexible working, statutory paternity pay, paternity and adoption leave, health insurance or time off before or after marriage / registration. There are no legal requirements to offer such benefits to couples of either the same or opposite sex who have not entered into a marriage or civil partnership. However, where benefits are made available to unmarried couples of opposite sex they must be extended equally to same sex couples who have not registered a civil partnership.

To find out what you should do click here

Back to top

Workers Want Choice

Independent research challenges temporary work stereotypes

The findings from independent research and the first hand accounts of temporary workers challenge some of the pre-conceptions that exist about temporary work. In particular, a high proportion of workers choose temping for positive reasons and job satisfaction amongst temporary workers is in fact extremely high.

Independent research amongst UK households conducted by BMG Research using externally validated methodology, has found that over half (52%) of all temporary workers choose temping for positive reasons such as increased flexibility, better pay or to gain valuable work experience.

The research also shows there are almost four times more agency workers who are satisfied overall with temporary work than there are workers who are dissatisfied.

This new research supports the findings from an earlier poll of over 2,400 temporary workers (see below) and confirms that the profile of today’s agency worker is not low skilled and low paid contrary to the stereotype. More than half (56%) are qualified to A-Level or above with nearly a third (32%) holding a degree or post graduate qualification. As well as increasingly being seen a viable longer term career option, temping continues to provide a crucial stepping stone, with one in five (20%) using temporary work as a route into a permanent job.

Key findings from REC/BMG research study:

• Four times more agency workers are satisfied with temporary work than dissatisfied.
• Only one in seven agency workers is dissatisfied to any degree.
• Satisfaction among agency workers is highest in respect to working relations (71%) and convenience of travelling to work (69%).
• Over 50% of agency workers feel they receive at least the same pay as permanent workers. A substantial number (24%) believe that they actually get paid more.
• Over half of all respondents (56%) have either achieved NVQ Level 3 or equivalent, or a higher level qualification.
• In addition 39% of agency workers were offered training during their assignment which challenges current stereotypes about temps lacking training & development opportunities.

Source Recruitment and Employers Confederation

Back to top

Is the pace of change fast enough in your organisation to deliver the results you demand?

The majority of business leaders we have the pleasure and privilege to work with answer this with a resounding ‘no.’ Encore in association with Bozeat Consulting will enable organisations like yours to meet and exceed your business objectives by educating, training and inspiring people to embrace the habits of top class professionals.

In January we are going to deliver a short series of one day strategy workshops packed with practical ideas and tips for accelerating the realisation of your business objectives:

Further details of these courses can be found by clicking on the course title.

If you would like to book any of these courses please call our seminar hotline on 01162620651 and ask for Cindy Gunn for an information pack.

As an introductory offer we are offering each seminar at a reduced investment of only £379 plus VAT

Three for two offer. If two people attend a colleague can attend for free.

Attendance is limited to 24 places. Book early to guarantee your place!

Early bird discount - Book before Christmas and receive a 15% discount!

Attending a workshop will guarantee you:

• a pack of materials full of practical ideas, tips and techniques used by top professionals in organisations across the globe
• free enrolment on the acclaimed ‘Working the Net’ e-mail mini course. A comprehensive series of tips on how to use your networking time wisely
• a fabulous networking opportunity with business leaders from across the region

Back to top

Business News

Paperlinx UK Merchants Co Operate to Launch Joint Logistics Initiative

Paperlinx UK announced the introduction of a joint Initiative by Robert Horne Group, M6 Papers, PaperCo and Howard Smith Group to integrate their individual logistics operations in order to optimise customer service, maximise efficiency and minimise the environmental impacts of their distribution activities.

A new logistics company is to be established by the end of 2005 which will commence a three year programme to take over all physical warehousing and distribution functions from the four merchants.

Back to top

Man sacked after being caught smoking at home

A German company has sacked one of its employees for smoking at home after hiring a detective to catch him in the act.

Sandro Beier was dismissed from his £19,000-a-year job with a Berlin printing company after being photographed smoking in his back garden. The company, Laserline, which runs a rigorous health and fitness programme for its 100 staff, said Mr Beier, 42, had "defrauded" it by lying about his smoking habits.It claimed that Mr Beier had signed an agreement, renewable every month, in which he stated that he did not smoke. In return he received a monthly bonus of £68.

"Tip-offs from his fellow workers led us to believe Mr Beier was not sticking to the rules, so we sent a detective to follow him to find out the truth," said Babett Deuse, an operations and risk management supervisor at Laserline."The rules were he was to tell us if he smoked. He defrauded us of some 1,200 euros [£800] a year which is enough money for a family holiday. If someone steals from their company, it is normal that they are punished." The company introduced its radical no-smoking policy five years ago and abolished smoking areas last year. Two thirds of its staff are in the programme.

To read this story in full click here

Back to top

Now work seekers get real and purposeful training

The Leicester Industrial branch of Encore have teamed up with QGS Synergy, an independent training company, to provide work seekers a free warehousing course. The course is aimed at candidates who lack formal qualifications and backed by the Governments Learn Direct initiative. By hosting this course (which will become a regular fixture in 2006) it allows Encore to:

• Improve the effectiveness of it’s workforce
• Improve the quality of employees (third party referenced and trained by QGS Synergy)
• Reduce training and assessment costs
• Increase employee loyalty
• Attract better applicants through extra benefits received whilst working at Encore

In total 16 people attended the first session and all passed the exam. The course covered essential work skills and an assessment of numeracy and literacy, standard operations, team cohesion and Continuous improvement (Kaizen); the format was interactive with group exercises held in the Encore training room.

Back to top

Idle thoughts

Burn-out, workaholic anxiety, depression... No matter how you label our office miseries, says Tom Hodgkinson, the simple fact remains that a crap job is a crap job

It's official: work IS DEPRESSING. According to a recent study that analysed information given by over 250,000 workers, anxiety, burnout and depression as a result of problems at work are on the rise. The report says that for the first time mental problems have overtaken physical ailments as the prime cause of taking time off work.

This study was carried out by the amiable Professor Cary Cooper of Lancaster University. Now, the media-friendly Cooper has done a good job over the years of attacking the workaholic culture of the British workplace. He says that outsourcing and new technology have raised anxiety levels in employees, and the report also criticises long hours and a lack of autonomy.

It must be said, however, that his conclusions, though welcome, are obvious to the point of tautology, and could be summed up in the phrase: a crap job is a crap job.

Cooper's answer to jobs being crap is to encourage big companies to change their employment practices, and to make their jobs more satisfying. But this idea would reverse 250 years of workplace culture, which has seen the bosses use technology in a conscious effort to make the jobs as easy - ie as unsatisfying, or crap - as possible, in order to reduce their wage bill. Unskilled labour is cheap.

And even if employers were more altruistically inclined than I think they are, many jobs are surely intrinsically stressful or tedious. I fail to see how dealing with irate customers in a call centre all day, for example, or sitting on the checkout at Tesco can be made more satisfying.

However, Cooper's media campaign to connect depression with crap jobs could be easily manipulated by the idling worker to get some much-needed time off. Take advantage of the new climate of paranoia that is building around depression. When feeling a little under the weather, call the boss and instead of claiming "I've got flu, I'd better not come in", simply say: "I am depressed." He will hear your unspoken threat - "and it's your fault."

This will set off all sorts of alarm bells in management about the quality or otherwise of the jobs they offer, and you will be afforded a great deal of leniency.

You could find yourself with a most welcome three-month break, possibly on full pay, ideal for enjoying life and arranging escape routes from your unsatisfying job.

Back to top

If you have liked what you have read so far why not recommend a colleague as a subscriber to our monthly enews. By clicking here you can nominate by simply detailing the email addresses of any colleagues you think would be interested in this free subscription.

Issue 20 – December 2005

Welcome to the December Issue of encore enews.

Many of our correspondents and clients have mentioned the degree of difficulty that business trading has been throughout this year. With the signs that 2006 could be equally tough we need Government to be more pro business and give careful consideration to business fears that legislation and bureaucracy can combine to defeat the energies and competitiveness of UK PLC.

On a positive note, and contrary to popular belief, a high proportion of workers choose temping for positive reasons and job satisfaction amongst temporary workers is in fact extremely high. (see article Workers Want Choice)

Finally the team at Encore would like to convey our best wishes to all our readers for a fabulous Christmas and every success for 2006

Greg Latham

Managing Director