Catch up on the week in HR including DTI confirms illegality of rolled up holiday pay, CIPD reveals changing attitudes to training, UK firms feel economic squeeze, Learning and Skills Council staff vote for strike action, employers cautious about recruitment and non-white women face 'double discrimination'.

W/C 10/4/06
DTI confirms illegality of rolled up holiday pay
Ministers have confirmed that the practice of rolled up holiday pay (RHP) is illegal in the UK. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has adjusted regulation to formally outlaw RHP following a European Court of Justice judgement last month.

In a case involving UK shift workers, Europe's top court ruled paying staff for holiday entitlement instead of giving them time off is illegal. In a statement the DTI said:

"Rolled up holiday pay is considered unlawful and employers should renegotiate contracts involving RHP for existing employees/workers as soon as possible so that payment for statutory annual leave is made at the time when the leave is taken. Where an employer has already given RHP in relation to work undertaken, and the payments have been made in a transparent and comprehensible manner, they can be set off against any future leave payments made at the proper time."

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CIPD reveals changing attitudes to training
Eighty-five per cent of organisations believe training is now more geared to meeting strategic business needs, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) reveals.

This is probably due to the changing skill requirements of UK business, which is placing a greater focus upon training.

The CIPD 2006 learning and development survey quizzed UK organisations about attitudes to workplace training.
Eighty-one per cent of respondents believed that their firm was committed to developing a culture that encouraged learning and development.

This seemed to focus largely upon individual learning, as 84% believed that employees were now encouraged to take more responsibility for their own personal development.

For more on this story see:
TrainingZONE

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UK firms feel economic squeeze
Pessimism over the economic fortunes of UK business has taken a huge leap in the past year, according to figures from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Forty-one per cent of organisations quizzed said their economic situation had worsened in the past 12 months, a 33% increase from the figures recorded in the CIPD’s 2005 survey.

The public sector suffered worst, with a record 56% of respondents saying their prospects had worsened over the year. Only 11% thought their economic state had improved.

The results were not all bleak, as almost a fifth (19%) of those surveyed felt the situation had become stronger.
This was highest in the private sector at 22%, with 20% amongst voluntary organisations.

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Learning and Skills Council staff vote for strike action
Workers at the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) have voted for a one day strike to be followed by selective strike action over plans to axe nearly a third of staff.

The LSC plan to cut approximately 1,120 staff in June.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) who represent staff in the 47 councils across England are complaining that management is massively out of touch and are reported to be angered by the decision to make the redundancy selections via assessment centres.

Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary said: "It is unacceptable that staff are being treated like children in being forced to sit eleven plus style exams to keep their jobs. Added to this we have the irony of the LSC deviating from best practice on redundancies by effectively forcing people to reapply for their jobs rather than seeking to re-skill and retrain staff.

“Senior management need to recognise the damage on service delivery and demoralising nature that cuts on such a scale will have, otherwise as this ballot result clearly illustrates staff are prepared to strike."

Almost 90% of the PCS membership voted for strike action.

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Employers cautious about recruitment
An increase in temporary jobs and self-employment in the UK labour market suggests employers are still wary about recruitment, the CIPD claims.

The study shows that three quarters of the 76,000 new jobs created between November 2005 and February of this year were temporary, and half were on a self-employment basis.

The CIPD’s Chief Economist John Philpott said that this could be bad news for the UK economy.

“Concentrated hiring of temporary staff and self-employed contract staff is normally a sign that employers are uncertain about the state of the economy.

“The good news, however, is that employers in general still remain surprisingly reluctant to make staff redundant – though this could reverse if the expected economic recovery fails to materialise.”

He added: “Net employment growth in 2006 is set to be closer to 100,000 than the 250,000 net growth enjoyed in recent years.”

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Further Education sector goes world class
Minister for Lifelong Learning Further and Higher Education, Bill Rammell has put out to consultation key measures designed to ensure that all Further Education (FE) staff are fully qualified and trained.

According to Rammell, the vision for the learning and skills sector is to attract effective leaders and teachers and empower the sector to meet its own priorities and targets for improvement.

The Government is seeking views on the implementation of:

• New 'Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills' (QLTS) status, which comes into effect from 2007. How would QLTS improve recruitment and how would a probationary period work?
• Qualifications for newly appointed Principals of FE colleges. How could this be promoted to attract people into the sector and staff into Principal's posts, and how could greater equality and diversity in leadership be encouraged to strengthen the sector?
• Mandatory continuing professional development requirements (CPD). How could methods for ensuring compliance guarantee effective implementation of a CPD requirement and what are the best arrangements for part-time staff?

Rammell said: “We want all learners to receive a consistent quality of teaching wherever they study. A fully professional workforce is vital for making the learning and skills sector world class and responsive to learners and employers.”

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Read more news in brief, including non-white women facing 'double discrimination.'