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HR Weekly Watch – December 2000

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A round-up in brief of HR related news stories collected from the main news sources on the web. Where possible links to the original stories have been included, but please note that maintenance of these sites is with the news source and links cannot be guaranteed.


28 December 2000

Tories targeted over ‘£11billion pensions black hole’

Social Security Secretary Alistair Darling has issued a dossier claiming the Tories’ plans for pensions would “blow an £11 billion hole in the public finances”.

For more, see
Ananova

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28 December 2000

E-commerce is future for Scotland, says minister

Scottish businesses risk being left behind by their global counterparts if they ignore e-commerce, enterprise minister Wendy Alexander has warned.

For more, see
Ananova

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28 December 2000

30,000 Scots find work thanks to New Deal

Scotland has reached a New Deal milestone with the number of youngsters getting jobs passing the 30,000-mark.

For more, see
Ananova

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28 December 2000

Boy’s idea saves company

A schoolboy who joined a printing firm for a fortnight’s work experience saved it from bankruptcy by securing orders worth nearly £700,000

For more, see
The Telegraph

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27 December 2000

Union chief hits out at ‘objectionable’ minimum wage

The level of the minimum wage has been denounced as “objectionable” by the leader of Britain’s biggest union.

For more, see
Ananova

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27 December 2000

Police recruitment campaign hailed a success

A £7 million advertising campaign to boost police numbers has generated nearly 15,000 responses from interested applicants, according to figures released by the Home Office.

For more, see
Ananova

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26 December 2000

Met forced to pull officers off the streets

Britain’s largest police force is facing a civilian recruitment crisis, forcing officers off the beat to carry out desk jobs, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner says.

For more, see
Ananova

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26 December 2000

Railtrack ‘to recruit 1,000 more staff’

Railtrack is to recruit an extra 1,000 staff to help bring Britain’s railways up to scratch.

For more, see
Ananova

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23 December 2000

Hospital workers mount Christmas strike picket

Hundreds of health workers will mount a picket line on Christmas Day as part of a long running protest against plans to sell off their jobs.

For more, see
Ananova

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22 December 2000

Talks which affect 50,000 postal jobs break down

Talks which will shape the future of the Royal Mail and affect 50,000 jobs broke down without agreement in Brussels.

For more, see
Ananova

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22 December 2000

Ex-shipyard workers win £800,000 over lay-offs

More than 160 former shipyard workers have won £800,000 compensation from shipbuilder Cammell Laird, the GMB union says.

For more, see
Ananova

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21 December 2000

1,000 shipyard jobs saved after Government offer

The chances of a cruise ship being built in the UK for the first time in more than 20 years have been given a huge boost after the Government offered a loan guarantee to help win a £344 million contract.

For more, see
Ananova

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21 December 2000

Estate agency chain goes into receivership

About 280 jobs are hanging in the balance after West Country-based estate agency chain Darlows went into receivership.

For more, see
Ananova

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21 December 2000

Byers promises to help redundant Vauxhall workers

Union officials from the Vauxhall car plant have held a private meeting with Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers to discuss the 2,000 redundancies at the plant.

For more, see
Ananova

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21 December 2000

Union fears 200 jobs could go at Glaxo

Unions have been warned there could be 200 redundancies at Glaxo Wellcome as the company merges with SmithKline to form a huge pharmaceuticals group.

For more, see
Ananova

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21 December 2000

Shipyard cuts 650 jobs and blames MoD

A shipyard in Southampton is to axe up to 650 jobs because of “further delays” to a Ministry of Defence contract.

For more, see
Ananova

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21 December 2000

Telephone banking centre rings up 500 new jobs

Hundreds of jobs are to be created in Scotland with the opening of a new telephone banking centre.

For more, see
Ananova

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20 December 2000

UK defence jobs saved after £1bn contract awarded

A £1 billion contract to manage the design and construction of the first three Type 45 destroyers for the Royal Navy has been awarded to BAE SYSTEMS.

For more, see
Ananova

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20 December 2000

Unions accept two-year Jaguar pay deal

A two-year pay deal for workers at luxury car maker Jaguar has been accepted, unions say.

For more, see
Ananova

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19 December 2000

Pay-rise isn’t a cure-all say medical staff

Doctors and nurses said yesterday that their annual pay rise would do little to solve recruitment problems dogging the National Health Service.

For more, see
The Times

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19 December 2000

Campaign to halt increase in attacks on rail staff

Rail bosses have put up posters at stations across Scotland urging passengers not to vent their frustrations on staff.

For more, see
Ananova

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19 December 2000

Unions welcome £25m grant to aid shipyard

Union officials have welcomed a Government offer of a ?25 million grant to help a leading UK shipyard win a lucrative contract to build two new cruise liners.

For more, see
Ananova

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19 December 2000

“Mickey Mouse” jobs for ex-dome staff

As the Millennium Dome moves towards closure jobs are being sought for the staff who have worked there over the past year. Disneyland in Paris is believed to be amongst those looking at the staff available.

For more, see
The Telegraph

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19 December 2000

450 Jobs disappear every week

The Telegraph reports that the 23800 jobs are lost each year in the farming industry, equivalent to 450 jobs every week.

For more, see
The Telegraph

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19 December 2000

Office party ends in tragedy

A New Zealand office employee with the firm Merrill Lynch was said to be critically ill in hospital after a synthetic grass skirt that he was wearing at an office Christmas party was set alight.

For more, see
The Telegraph

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18 December 2000

Razor workers wait to hear whether jobs go

UK workers at Gillette will have to wait until the New Year to hear if they will be hit by a plan to cut 2,700 jobs worldwide.

For more, see
Ananova

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18 December 2000

200 jobs to go in factories’ closure

For more, see
Ananova

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18 December 2000

Huge jobs boost for oil industry

Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers has welcomed £1 billion worth of investment in major North Sea projects as an early Christmas present.

For more, see
Ananova

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13 December 2000

Jobless rate lowest for 25 years

The jobless total fell slightly last month but employment growth has levelled off.

For more, see
Ananova

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13 December 2000

Train maintenance firm to axe 250 jobs

Around 250 jobs are to go at a company which maintains trains for Britain’s rail operators.

For more, see
Ananova

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13 December 2000

Axed Vauxhall workers voice disgust

Workers from the Vauxhall plant in Luton say they feel disgusted at the announcement to axe jobs at the factory.

For more, see
Ananova

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13 December 2000

GM ‘may have broken law over Vauxhall closure’

Trades union leaders believe General Motors may have breached EU laws when it announced it planned to close the Luton Vauxhall plant.

For more, visit
Ananova

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13 December 2000

Vauxhall workers demand to speak to company boss

Vauxhall workers at the doomed Luton car plant are said to be demanding to speak to the company’s chief executive Nick Reilly about the planned closure.

For more, visit
Ananova

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12 December 2000

Vauxhall confirms that 2,000 jobs are to go

Vauxhall is reporting that it is to end car production at Luton with the loss of 2,000 jobs.

For more, see
Ananova

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12 December 2000

Pump price rises stoke inflation

Rising prices at the petrol pumps led to an increase in inflation last month, according to official figures from the Office for National Statistics.

For more, see
Ananova

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12 December 2000

Union opposes submarine base privatisation bid

Unions and workers are meeting to oppose plans to privatise maintenance and repair work at a Trident submarine base.

For more, see
Ananova

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12 December 2000

Santa’s ho ho is too hi hi for children

A woman hired as a Father Christmas is suing for sexual discrimination after being fired because her high-pitched “Ho, ho, ho” confused children.

For more, see
The Telegraph

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12 December 2000

Black police officer fights for white in race slur case

A black detective will deliver a petition to 10 Downing Street today after leading a national campaign for the reinstatement of a white officer who was sacked for making a racist remark.

For more, see
The Telegraph

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12 December 2000

Byers hints that minimum wage may rise to £4

Stephen Byers, the Trade and Industry Secretary, has dropped a strong hint that the economy could afford to see the national minimum wage to rise to £4 an hour next year.

For more, see
The Telegraph

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11 December 2000

Temple constructors paid workers £125 per month

Eleven Indian building workers are looking forward to a £110,000 payout after it emerged they were not receiving the minimum wage for the construction of a new Hindu temple.

For more, see
Ananova

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11 December 2000

British Firms ahead in IT

Britain’s rural enterprises are more IT-literate than their counterparts elsewhere in Europe, according to a report from the Small Business Research Trust

The Times

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11 December 2000

Taxman wants a share of Christmas treats

As the festive season gets into full swing the world over, at the Inland Revenue it is business as usual. Owner-managers keen to reward staff for a hard year’s work should remember that a few choice words and a pat on the back will not show up on the tax bill.

For more, see
The Times

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11 December 2000

Male majority

Nine out of ten judges appointed in the past two years under the Labour Government have been white males

For more, see
The Times

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11 December 2000

Poor have risen by 500,000 under Labour

The number of people in Britain classified as very poor has increased by half a million since Labour came to power, according to an independent report.

For more, see
The Times

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11 December 2000

NHS ‘must double its nurses from abroad’

The NHS faces a struggle to recruit the nurses it needs to meet the targets set by the Government, the Royal College of Nursing has concluded.

For more, see
The Times

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11 December 2000

Postal workers lead rash of strikes

The Post Office may be on the verge of a national strike amid the worst outbreak of local walkouts in years.

For more, see
The Times

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11 December 2000

Pay deals keeping up with 3.1% inflation

An analysis of almost 50 pay deals has shown that they are keeping pace with inflation, with recent settlements running at between 3% and 4%.

For more, see
Ananova

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08 December 2000

Jobs for Virgin

Virgin Atlantic has promised to create 1,700 jobs next year, recruiting 1,000 new cabin crew, 250 pilots and another 450 ground staff

For more, see
The Times

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07 December 2000

Jobless who refuse to study face benefit cuts

Reduced benefit for unemployed people who refuse to take courses to improve reading and maths is being considered by the Government.

For more, visit
Telegraph

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07 December 2000

Mid-life crisis campaign demands HRT for men

Men suffering from a mid-life crisis have the right to get equal treatment to women, said campaigners launching a pressure group yesterday

For more, visit
Telegraph

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07 December 2000

More ICL jobs go to cut losses

ICL, the e-business services company owned by Japan’s Fujitsu, said yesterday it would cut more jobs and sell surplus property as part of a plan to cut losses

For more, visit
The Times

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06 December 2000

Phone firm set to create 1,000 jobs

Mobile phone company the Caudwell Group is to create more than 1,000 jobs next year by opening more than 200 of its Phones 4u shops.

For more visit,
Ananova

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06 December 2000

British Airways sheds 1,000 jobs

British Airways is to cut 1,000 jobs over the next two years in a restructuring of its operations out of Gatwick airport, the airline confirmed today.

For more visit,
The Times
Ananova

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05 December 2000

First ethical stakeholder pension

Employers wanting an ethical option for their stakeholder pension plan can now contact Friends Provident and Meehan Independent Financial Advisers

For more visit,
Business Impact

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05 December 2000

Are companies family-friendly enough?

A survey of 100 Allen & Overy clients, published by the international law firm on November 21, finds that more than eight out of ten claim to operate a parental leave policy.

For more visit,
Business Impact

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05 December 2000

Disability rights still not understood

Two reports marking the four-year anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) suggest that too few companies know about the legislation to make it effective

For more visit,
Business Impact

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05 December 2000

Hatfield line train drivers win 20% pay rise

Train drivers at the privatised rail firm which runs the Hatfield line have won a 20% pay rise.

For more, visit
Ananova

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05 December 2000

Fathers to have £120 paid leave

Fathers will be entitled to a fortnight’s paid paternity leave at a flat rate of £60.20p a week under proposals to encourage men to spend more time with their families.

For more, visit
The Times

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05 December 2000

How to survive the office party

The office Christmas party can put much strain on employees, according to surveys published yesterday

For more, visit
The Telegraph

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05 December 2000

Bullied police officer awarded £150,000

A police officer who was bullied out of her job after asking to work flexi-time because of the birth of her child has won £150,000 in an out-of-court settlement.

For more, visit
The Independent

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05 December 2000

Robin Hood Chancellor?

Gordon Brown will pledge today to introduce a “progressive” tax and benefits system in a significant shift under which Labour will channel billions of pounds to poor families with children.

For more, visit
The Independent

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05 December 2000

Record payout for stressed teacher

A teacher who suffered a nervous breakdown and was forced to quit her job after suffering “intolerable” stress in the classroom, has won more than £250,000 in damages in a record out-of-court settlement.

For more, visit
The Guardian

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05 December 2000

Healthier meals come at a price in company canteens

Pies, chips and beans are giving way to stuffed peppers, nut cutlets and fresh salads as company canteens catch up with healthy living.

For more, visit
The Guardian

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05 December 2000 0

Female stress

Long hours and stressful work are affecting the health of most of Britain’s female workforce, the London Chamber of Commerce reports today.

The Telegraph

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05 December 2000

Sex-change priest jeered

The Reverend Carol Stone, the first priest to have a sex change with the backing of the Church of England, was heckled by an elderly woman at her first service as a woman yesterday. A policeman on guard outside St Philip’s church in Upper Stratton, Swindon, Wilts, and a male worshipper went to the woman as she cried: “You are the work of the Devil. Go to hell.”

Telegraph

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05 December 2000

Soaring house prices hit staff on low wages

Soaring house prices are denying nurses, teachers and other low-income workers the chance of joining the property ladder, according to research.

For more, visit
The Telegraph

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04 December 2000

Employers say they would count on Carol Vorderman

A poll has found employers would prefer to have Carol Vorderman rather than Liz Hurley working for them as their personal assistant.

For more, visit
Ananova

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03 December 2000

Rates ‘set to stay unchanged’

Homeowners should be able to breathe a sigh of relief this week when the Bank of England is expected to leave interest rates unchanged. Wage rises could also lead the Bank to err on the side of caution and raise rates over the next few months, he argued.

For more, visit
Ananova


Previous HR Weekly Watch

November 2000

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