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This week in HR
A round-up of the top HR and management stories
Week ending 18 March 2011
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Hutton: relate senior
pay to performance LINKS
Senior public-sector pay should be  “Public-sector HR welcomes Will Hutton’s report on fair pay”
reformed to make it more performance- People Management bit.ly/eaELFG
related rather than being capped, Will
Hutton’s Fair Pay Review has concluded. Hutton Review of fair pay in the public sector
At least 10 per cent of basic pay for top bit.ly/gLUBVq
public servants should be held back and
only awarded at the end of the year if
objectives are met, Hutton said in his
government-commissioned report. Pay
level comparisons should be made public,
while an “earn back” scheme for 2,000 senior staff would see a proportion of
their basic pay put at risk if they failed to meet pre-arranged performance
targets. Top performers who exceeded these targets would also be eligible for
extra pay. The government has so far remained non-committal about
implementing any of Hutton’s suggestions, with George Osborne saying he
would give “careful consideration” to his recommendations.
Read the full story at bit.ly/dQ7YCo
NHS staff survey shows increase in appraisals  NHS staff survey 2010
Read the full story at bit.ly/ehEsr3 bit.ly/fqiGf5
Many more staff appraisals took place in the NHS in 2010 than previously, the
latest NHS staff survey has shown. The survey, covering 165,000 NHS workers,
found that 77 per cent of staff received an appraisal in 2010, up 8 per cent on
the previous year. Staff were more likely to be pleased with the support they
were receiving from managers, with managers given an average rating of 3.65
out of 5, up from 3.63 in 2009.
Comment: What price fair pay?  Hutton Review of fair pay in the public sector
Read the full story at bit.ly/h5Jr4r bit.ly/gLUBVq
Fixed ratios between senior and junior pay were rejected by Will Hutton’s
public pay review, but tackling excessive pay remains an issue for both public
and private sectors. Duncan Brown writes that it is a matter of what we want
the world of work to look like in the future.
Pub group Orchid merges HR and commercial  Interview with Gwyn Burr: “Try something new today”
Read the full story at bit.ly/dTNYbj People Management bit.ly/fUtPL0
A major UK pub group has merged its HR and commercial departments into
one division, following in the footsteps of retail giant Sainsbury’s, which made
a similar move last year. The Orchid Group, which manages 350 pubs, bars and
restaurants employing 6,500 people, has created a new commercial and people
division headed up by Simon Dodd, formerly commercial director. The move
aims to support the firm’s ambitious growth plans by building on employee
strengths to boost commercial performance.
Sunderland council redeploys to avoid redundancies  Employment law at work: Redundancy
Read the full story at bit.ly/fC5AcR People Management bit.ly/fFLlqm
It is possible for some local authorities to completely avoid making
redundancies while still implementing the current deep spending cuts,
according to a senior HR professional at Sunderland City Council. Rejecting the
idea of redundancies, compulsory or voluntary, Sunderland has opted instead
to use the vacancies created by conventional staff turnover to redesign roles
and redeploy staff – and on an entirely voluntary basis. So far, 300 staff have ☛ MORE NEWS ON NEXT PAGE
changed roles in this way, reducing overall headcount by a similar number.

2. ☛ PEOPLE MANAGEMENT ‘THIS WEEK IN HR’ CONTINUED...
LINKS
Comment: HR’s not dead
Read the full story at bit.ly/ep8Spv
Responding to an article that claimed HR was an outdated concept, Graham
White draws comparisons between HR professionals and bridge engineers and
tackles the perception that the function is “an expensive add-on”.
Youth unemployment overstated, says CIPD  “Unemployment rate hits 8 per cent”
Read the full story at bit.ly/fnGm1B People Management bit.ly/ex52P6
Youth unemployment in the UK has been
overstated by many labour market
commentators, according to the CIPD. The
institute’s Work Audit report on the labour
market – Getting the measure of youth
unemployment – says that the commonly held
perception that one in five 16-24 year olds is
unemployed is based on a misreading of the
official statistics, and the actual figure is closer to one in eight.
Small firms ‘may be exempted from parental leave’  Ministers plan to exempt small firms from maternity leave
Read the full story at bit.ly/fvzzJp rules
The government is considering granting small firms an exemption from some The Telegraph bit.ly/f0Gy2T
maternity and paternity rights, it has been reported. As part of a growth
strategy to accompany the coming budget, ministers may exempt companies Legislative timetable – what’s new in the law
with fewer than 10 employees from rights to extended or flexible parental People Management bit.ly/eZwGXm
leave, it has been suggested. However, lawyers have warned that removal of
maternity and paternity rights for some people and not others might fall foul
of European law.
Strike nears in university pensions row  Employers Pensions Forum for Higher Education
Read the full story at bit.ly/g4eGvU www.employerspensionsforum.co.uk
The first strike action for five years by university staff looks set to go ahead this
week, as both sides involved in the row over pension changes remain in University and College Union
deadlock. The University and College Union says that the Employers Pensions www.ucu.org.uk
Forum (EPF) has rejected an offer of Acas talks to resolve the ongoing dispute
about reform of the university pension fund. But the EPF, which negotiates on
behalf of the universities, insists that the amendments still represent “a
remarkably good deal” for the fund’s members.
Bribery Act may exempt UK-listed foreign firms  Bribery Act 2010 – what it means for HR
Read the full story at bit.ly/fr3NST People Management bit.ly/hdgPGF
Foreign companies listed in London could be exempt from prosecution under
the new Bribery Act, according to reports. Draft guidance leaked to national Legislative timetable – what’s new in the law
newspapers is said to show that the Ministry of Justice does not intend the act People Management bit.ly/eZwGXm
to include foreign-domiciled firms which are listed on the London Stock
Exchange, but otherwise have no presence in the UK.
Welfare-to-work to be spread between providers
Read the full story at bit.ly/fSi2Q8
Contracts for the government’s Work Programme will be spread between a
large number of organisations to minimise the risk to the taxpayer of
individuals firms going bust, it has been revealed. There are 30 organisations
still in the running for the contracts, which incentivise providers to get
unemployed people back to work, DWP minister Chris Grayling told a select
committee on Monday. But he confirmed that five providers had dropped out
of the process, amid concerns that the incentive structure was too risky and
that any underperformance would push providers to the brink of insolvency.
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