T&G calls for law change over Gate Gourmet

The Transport & General Workers Union is demanding changes in the law to prevent practices it says triggered the dispute with airline caterer Gate Gourmet.

The union tabled an emergency resolution at the annual TUC conference in Brighton and aims to put pressure on the government at the party conference next month. It is determined to put the government and current labour law in the spotlight following one of the most bitter industrial disputes of recent years.

Relations between the T&G and US-owned Gate Gourmet deteriorated last week after chairman Dave Siegel accused 200 of the 667 employees sacked after unofficial industrial action last month of being militants, while the union claimed the company had backtracked on a deal over redundancy terms.

Source - The Observer 6.9.05

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Family laws 'hitting UK business'

Businesses are suffering as managers spend more and more time dealing with requests from parents of young children to work flexible hours, the CBI says.

Its survey of 420 firms found more were reporting a negative impact on their business because of such requests. TUC leader Brendan Barber says flexible working is one of the most important rights introduced by the government.

But the CBI urged the government to be "very careful" before extending the law to cover parents of older children too. The number of firms reporting a negative impact from family friendly employment laws has risen from 11% to 26% in the past year, the CBI survey says. Employers spend a "great deal" of time dealing with these requests, it said.

However, companies have made "great strides" during the last 18 months to make a reality of the government's family-friendly policies, the business body said.

Source BBC Online 11.9.05

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Psychology of Management

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has developed a Certificate in the Psychology of Management designed to help those involved in managing people to understand employee behaviour and offer alternative and practical ways of achieving change.

According to Vanessa Robinson, CIPD Organisation and Resourcing Adviser, "Exploring change and other management challenges by drawing on psychological research will help managers to understand individual's behaviour better. This will help in communicating the change and help gain employee trust and commitment, both during and after implementation."

The programme uses the expertise of leading Chartered Occupational Psychologists experienced in training and developing managers to look at all aspects of management. The following modules are included in the programme. The psychology of:

• change
• leadership
• teamworking
• creativity and innovation
• training
• well being
• managing work relationships
• personal development
• managing performance
• selection and assessment
• influencing and negotiation
• culture and diversity
• coaching
• organisational culture and climate
• decision-making

Mel Owers, a past student, says, "I found the certificate programme to be both an enjoyable and rewarding learning experience, meeting the need to integrate psychological theory with HR best practice. The flexible style of learning and choice of modules has enabled me to add real value to live business issues."

To book a place or to receive further information any other CIPD training course please call the CIPD customer service team on 020 8612 6202 or visit www.cipd.co.uk/training/PM

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Angry Unions Flex their Muscle

UNIONS are planning to triple the money that they spend on recruiting new members over the next 18 months, as a new “super-union” with more than two million members comes into being.

The Transport and General Workers’ Union, which is at the centre of the Gate Gourmet dispute over catering workers at Heathrow, is insisting that 10 per cent of the new super- union’s income, or about £20 million, is spent on “organising” — the union term for recruiting, campaigning and educating members.

The T&G, which has mimicked the campaigning style of American union activists, is demanding the increase in spending as a precondition for the super-union, to be created through a three-way merger of the T&G, Amicus and the GMB.

Negotiations over the merger are progressing slowly against a backdrop of increasingly strained industrial relations, which some commentators believe have reached a low point.

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Job seekers who pull a fast one

Employers who reject job applicants on the basis of their colour, physical ability or sex are being caught out by what lawyers describe as "serial saboteurs".

Fed up with discrimination or possibly spotting a money-making scam, hundreds of job seekers who have genuine disabilities or who are from a racial minority, are making multiple applications using different identities with the intention to catch employers out.

Lawyers say the applicant will submit one genuine CV and several others all sharing the same qualifications and work experience but with different details about their race, sex or physical ability.

If the employer selects one of these false CVs for interview and not the genuine one, the applicant then makes a claim that they have been discriminated against under the Disability Discrimination Act or the Race Relation Act.

To view this report in full click here

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In a new series of employment law dilemmas we study this month the question……

How can I get a 'sexy' poster taken down?

The dilemma: I am a woman working in a mostly male office. One of my colleagues has a raunchy poster of a model above his desk, which makes me feel really uncomfortable. How can I get him to take it down without causing trouble?

Annie Hayes, editor, HR Zone, an online community servicing the UK’s HR market ( www.hrzone.co.uk )
As a first step you should approach your colleague and ask him to remove the offending poster. If no action is taken then your next port of call will be to take out a formal grievance. If the scantily clad lady remains in place, then you could argue the case for sexual harassment.

Imagery of this nature is clearly inappropriate in any professional organisation and bosses who turn a blind eye might do well to heed the amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 due to come in this October, which will include an express inclusion of harassment as a form of unlawful discrimination.

Regardless of the legalities, any professional worth their salt should have the common sense to realise that this kind of imagery is unacceptable. Confronting your colleague really is the only thing to do, but remember that if you bring any comparable material to the office then you may face a similar allegation.

Nik Kellingley, workforce development project manager at the National Day Nurseries Association ( www.ndna.org.uk )
The wording of the legislation means that it is how you view the material that matters, not how your colleague intends it.

I would encourage anyone in your position to make an informal approach and then, if this is not successful, to use your grievance procedure to highlight discomfort with the material.

Your company should have a formal grievance procedure as required by the Employment Act 2002 and the Employment Act (Dispute Regulations) 2004; if not, you may be highlighting an area for improvement in its HR procedures as well.

While it is important to remain professional during this procedure, a good ploy might be to pin up at your desk a few articles on the payouts awarded by an Employment Tribunal regarding sexual harassment — your male colleague may find these offensive too but it might help you to get your point across without causing war in the office.

Source The Times

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Issue 17 - September 2005

Welcome to the September Issue of encore enews.

Minimum Wage Increase

A timely reminder that the minimum wage increase to £5.05 takes effect in a few days time. This is not the only increase planned as another rise has been determined to take effect in October 2006 taking the level to £5.35. By then the minimum wage will be almost 50% above its 1999 introduction rate.

We believe that a minimum wage has made a real difference to the lives of thousands of low paid workers, generally. However there is now mounting concern that the level may be at risk of stalling what is already a fragile economy – a move that would be detrimental to low and well paid workers alike.

If you have any comments or require feedback regarding Encore Enews or any aspect of recruitment you can email myself directly - glatham@encorepersonnel.co.uk

Greg Latham, Managing Director

Company News

A round up of the main business news in the past few weeks

Travis Perkins is planning to shed 150 jobs, which is expected to affect staff in Northampton and back-office staff at the former Wickes headquarters in Harrow.  07-Sep-2005 Travis Perkins, Lodge Way Hse, Harlestone Rd, Northampton, NN5 7UG

Tel: 01604 752424

http://www.travisperkins.co.uk

E Walters (Ludlow) has gone into administration, with the loss of 51 of the 150 jobs at its clothing factory in Leominster.  08-Sep-2005 E Walters, Southern Avenue, Leominster, Herefordshire, HR6 0LY

Tel: 01568 613344

http://www.ewalters.co.uk

Protomold is planning to create 40 jobs at its new GBP 0.5m injection moulds factory in Telford by the end of next year.  06-Sep-2005 Protomold, 1757 Halgren Rd, Maple Plain, MN 55359, USA

Tel: +763 4793680

http://www.protomold.com

Britax International has sold Britax Childcare, the manufacturer of children's car seats and pushchairs, to private equity firm Carlyle for GBP 230m.  06-Sep-2005 Britax, Seton Hse, Warwick Tech Park, Gallows Hill, Warwick, CV34 6DE

Tel: 01926 400040

http://www.britax.com

Jaguar and Land Rover are looking to shed up to 300 office jobs in Castle Bromwich, Coventry, Gaydon and Halewood, as part of a global restructuring programme by parent company Ford.  08-Sep-2005 Jaguar, Browns Lane, Allesley, Coventry, CV5 9DR

Tel: 0845 3032303

http://www.jaguar.com

Valpak has been appointed by the British Retail Consortium to co-ordinate the creation of a network of recycling centres to meet new European rules on the safe disposal of electrical and electronic waste.  05-Sep-2005 Valpak, Stratford Park, Banbury Road, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 7GW

Tel: 08450 682572

http://www.valpak.co.uk

Morrisons is conducting a strategic review of its distribution network, prompting speculation that 1,000 staff could be recruited for a new depot in Northampton and 700 jobs could be lost at its Warrington depot.  05-Sep-2005 Morrisons, Parry Lane, Bradford, BD4 8TD

Tel: 01274 356000

http://www.morrisons.plc.uk

Exel has received a GBP 3.8bn takeover approach from Deutsche Post of Germany, which could lead to the creation of the world's largest logistics group.  06-Sep-2005 Exel, Ocean House, The Ring, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 1AN

Tel: 01344 302000

http://www.exel.com

Marconi is setting up a GBP 2m telecoms equipment distribution centre at Chase Point 1 on the outskirts of Coventry.  31-Aug-2005 Marconi, 1 Bruton St, London, W1X 8AQ

Tel: 020 74938484

http://www.marconi.com

Charnwood Borough Council has approved plans for the development of an egg packing factory at Sunrise Poultry in Sileby, with the creation of up to 60 jobs.  29-Aug-2005 Charnwood Borough Council, Southfields Rd, Loughborough, LE11 2TX

Tel: 01509 263151

http://www.charnwoodbc.gov.uk

Svenska Cellulosa is planning to shed 3,600 jobs from its worldwide tissue and packaging business, which will affect some of the 7,000 staff at its 30 UK sites, including Edinburgh, London, Portsmouth, Northampton and Darlington.  29-Aug-2005 Svenska Cellulosa, Box 7827, SE-103 97, Stockholm, Sweden

Tel: +46 87885100

http://www.sca.se

Culina Logistics is seeking permission to set up a chilled foods distribution centre at the Primepoint site in Stafford, which could lead to the creation of up to 300 jobs.  30-Aug-2005 Culina Logistics, Shrewsbury Road, Market Drayton, Shropshire, TF9 3SQ

Tel: 01630 695000

http://www.culina.co.uk