Sir Alan Sugar accused of sexism

Sir Alan Sugar has been accused of breaching sex discrimination laws after grilling female candidates on The Apprentice about their childcare arrangements.

The benighted businessman was criticised by the Trade Union Congress and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation after he asked mother-of-two Katie Hopkins how she intended to care for her family if she became his apprentice.

He said to Hopkins: "How's life going to be if I say to you, 'Katie right, you're down in London. You've got to move your family, move your location?'...I'm worried here."

Hopkins eventually chose to stand down from the competition because she was reluctant to uproot her family from their Devon home.

Fellow contestant Kristina Grimes was also grilled about her family circumstances and whether she would be prepared to move to become Sugar's apprentice.

Brendan Barber of the Trade Union Congress said: "The Apprentice is just a show but had (Wednesday's episode) been a genuine interview, Kristina and Katie could have had real grounds for complaint against Sir Alan.

"Any employer who asks the only female candidates about how their children and personal circumstances may affect their ability to do their job could find themselves in hot water."

Tony Hadley, director of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation said: "It simply isn't acceptable to assume that only women have caring responsibilities in the modern world."

However, a representative for Talkback Thames, the makers of The Apprentice, insisted that Sugar's line of questioning reflected the unique nature of the opportunity he is providing, saying: "As part of the interview process, Sir Alan and his colleagues interrogated all of the candidates about their commitment to the process and the job.

"He wanted to put them under pressure to be fully confident that they were serious about the opportunity he was offering them."

Source: Digitalspy.com

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Annual Leave Extended to Bank Holidays

The Government has announced that companies will no longer be able to deduct public (bank) holidays from their workers' annual leave entitlements. New arrangements to raise minimum annual leave entitlement from 20 to 24 days will operate from October 2007, rising to 28 days in April 2009.

According to Jim Fitzpatrick, DTI Employment Relations Minister:

"This extra time off will make a real difference in the lives of hard-working people - a proper rest from work and more time to spend with their families and friends.

"Businesses will benefit too - from reduced absenteeism and a workforce who are more motivated and productive.

"We have listened to all parties responding in the latest consultation, and we have agreed a number of changes in the way the new holidays will be brought in."

The DTI release states that:

• To encourage early implementation and simplify arrangements for good employers who decide to offer their workers the entitlement faster, the regulations state that those companies who offer their workers 28 days leave or more by 1 October 2007 and meet certain other related standards will not be bound by the new legislation, so long as they continue to meet these standards.
• As a transitional measure, companies will be allowed to continue to buy out the additional leave entitlement (the four extra days) introduced from October 2007 until 1st April 2009.
• After 1st April 2009 the buyout of any of the additional leave entitlement will cease.
• All part-time workers will be entitled to the extra holidays pro-rata.
• The DTI will set up an online calculator to make it simpler for everybody to work out their new holiday entitlement.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

"This is another important milestone on the road to giving workers in the UK the same holiday rights as those enjoyed by their colleagues in the rest of Europe - a real victory for union campaigning.

"While many will be disappointed that, as a result of employer lobbying, the extra leave will be phased in, the Government is still on course to meet its manifesto commitment."

In 2004 the TUC campaigned for three new bank holidays to bring British workers' public holiday entitlement up to the European average of 11 days.

41% of the 19,469 people who voted online in the TUC's WorkSMART.org.uk poll favoured a Monday in late October for a new bank holiday. 32% chose the national Saints' days - St George's, St Andrew's and St David's Days and 11% voted for New Year's Eve.

Source: hrmguide.com

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Encore Celebrates Growth award at Richard Branson’s Home

Encore received official recognition as one of the UK’s fastest growing companies at the home of Richard Branson in Oxfordshire last month.

This year's event marked the 10th anniversary of the Fast Track 100 league with Sir Richard opening the conference and congratulating the assembled entrepreneurs on their success. He was followed by three speakers who have all been involved with Fast Track 100 since 1997: Sir Tom Hunter, founder of Sports Division, private equity investor and venture philanthropist; Charles Dunstone, founder and chief executive of Carphone Warehouse; and John Witherow, editor of The Sunday Times. The afternoon concluded with a Q&A session with Sir Richard before he had to leave early to fly off to South Africa to meet Nelson Mandela – friends in high places then!

Pictured are Directors, Greg Latham, Chris Hockey and Ian Briers.

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Migrant cap 'will hit fruit crop'

Much of this year's strawberry crop will not be harvested because of a cap on seasonal workers entering the UK, the National Farmers' Union has warned.

The NFU says the cap, which limits the number of non-EU citizens entering the country, is causing a shortage of fruit-pickers.

Farmers are calling for the government to raise the cap from its current limit of just over 16,000.

The Home Office says farms should recruit from closer to home.

Farmers say they have found it increasingly difficult to recruit seasonal workers since the expansion of the EU in 2004, which gave membership to countries including Poland.

'Absolute travesty'

Elaine Clarke runs a soft fruit farm in Tamworth, West Midlands, which has been short of staff for the last two years.

She told the BBC: "With the advent of the new countries joining the EU now they can go to any job within the UK and there's less interest on their part to come picking strawberries."

She added: "At the end of the day when you spend a lot of time and money and effort preparing and growing crops, if you can't get them picked it's an absolute travesty.

"We lost a lot of fruit last year and look certain to continue in the same vein this year unless we can get some students in."

Under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) farms are allowed to recruit people from outside the EU.

To read this article in full click here

Source: BBCi

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Pay Awards

The average pay settlement was 3 per cent in the three months to the end of April 2007 – down form the eight year high of 3.5 per cent recorded during the first quarter of the year – the latest statistics from the pay specialists Industrial Relations Services (IRS) have revealed.

Pay awards in the public sector have hit their lowest since the Spring 1998, worth a median 2.7 per cent over the year to April 2007, down from 2.9 per cent in the year to March. The median private sector pay award has also fallen (to a median 3 per cent) but there are other signs that private sector pay deals remain strong

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Clear the air ahead of the smoking ban

R M writes: I run a small business with 20 people and let them smoke in the warehouse at the rear of the premises. Will I still be able to allow this when the English anti-smoking legislation comes in on July 1?

Smoking inside your premises will have to stop because from July 1 it will be against the law to smoke in enclosed premises where people work, writes Peter Done, managing director of Peninsula.

There are some exceptions to this that allow for smoking in prisons, care homes, nursing homes and so on - in effect where people “live”. The ban extends to company vehicles and in some circumstances to the exterior of premises if, for example, you have a covered approach to the building. As your warehouse is clearly an enclosed building, smoking inside it will be prohibited by law.

If you have written terms in your employees’ contracts of employment stating that they are entitled to a smoke break in the morning and in the afternoon, they will still be entitled to this. What they won’t be permitted to do is to smoke inside your buildings.

To read this article click here

Source The Times

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Ageing UK needs 7m immigrants to survive

Only an influx of workers from the East can help Britain's shrinking labour force support the post-war generation in retirement, says Christopher Johnson

The discussion on climate change has distracted attention from another equally serious threat to economic growth: the ageing population.

Industrialised countries face a 'double whammy': the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that, as a result of ageing, the 2.5 per cent per head growth rate its members have enjoyed over the past 30 years of the 20th century will fall to 1.7 per cent in the first 30 years of the 21st century.

The main effect of ageing on economic growth - as the 'baby boom' generation retires - is the reduction in the working population and an increase in the number of old people whom those in work have to support. The slowdown in future growth this implies must be addressed if pensioners are not to suffer even more than the economically active.

To read this article in full click here

Source: The Observer

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Civil servants alerted over lavatory peril

Civil servants have been warned of the dangers of flying toilet roll holders - and instructed to suppress their laughter.

A memo was circulated to staff at the Department for Education's headquarters in Sheffield following reports of empty dispensers springing open and catching unsuspecting lavatory users on the head.

Health and safety chiefs swung into action, dispatching a letter which alerted staff to the hazard and pledged to install less dangerous equipment "at the earliest convenience".

In the meantime, Government public servants have been solemnly advised in the memo to "take care" when braving the cubicles.

Anticipating the reaction of staff, the memo added: "I know many of you will think this is humorous, but it is a serious issue."

Source The Daily Telegraph

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Issue 38 - June 2007
Welcome to the June issue of Encore enews bringing together recent news items relating to the world of work – a magazine read by 5000 recruiters every single month!

This month’s Business Round-Up