The document is a weekly newsletter from People Management providing summaries of top HR and management stories from Mon 7 Feb to Fri 11 Feb 2011. It includes summaries of several news stories: - More occupations will face immigration curbs with roles like air traffic controllers and hotel managers removed from the skills shortage list. - Britain's biggest banks have agreed to curb bonuses and publish top executive pay after talks with the government. - Council staff in the UK earning over £58,000 will have their salaries made public under new guidelines. - A former HR director was appointed the first female chief executive of Kent Fire Service. - One article argues HR should not be afraid to use positive discrimination to favor disadvantaged groups.

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This week in HR
A round-up of the top HR and management stories
Mon 7 Feb to Fri 11 Feb 2011
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More occupations to
face immigration curbs LINKS
Air traffic controllers, laboratory  Firms feel adverse impact of immigration cap
technicians and hotel managers are among People Management www.bit.ly/capimpact
the latest occupations set to be removed
from the skills shortage list for non-EU  The Migration Advisory Committee
workers. The Migration Advisory Committee www.bit.ly/macommittee
(MAC) has recommended a reduced number
of roles eligible for migration under Tier 2 of
the points-based system, which also sees
retail managers, hairdressers and estate
agents dropped from the list.
As part of its review of the system – which includes the introduction of a
permanent migration cap in April – the government raised the threshold for Tier 2
visas to “graduate level” and asked MAC to examine which jobs should qualify.
Read the full story on www.bit.ly/curbs
Banks agree to pay transparency and bonus restraint  Banks face showdown meeting on bonuses
Britain’s biggest banks have agreed to curb bonuses and publish the pay of their People Management www.bit.ly/eUYsQ8
top executives, as a result of their recent talks with the government, known as
“Project Merlin”. The aggregate 2010 bonus pool for HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank  CIPD – Incentives and bonuses
of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group will be less than 2009 to “reflect the www.bit.ly/eUYsQ8
public mood”, while these four banks will publish the pay of their five highest
paid “senior executive officers” annually on an unnamed basis, in addition to
the pay of executive directors already available in public accounts.
Read the full story on www.bit.ly/eUYsQ8
Council salaries of more than £58K to be revealed  Salaries revealed of civil servants who earn more than PM
Council staff earning more than £58,000 will have their salaries made public under People Management www.bit.ly/goFW8K
government guidelines. The plans, expected to affect 15,000 town hall staff, are
part of a draft code of recommended practice published by the Department for  Code of recommended practice for local authorities on data
Communities and Local Government later. Although the code is to be introduced on transparency - consultation
a voluntary basis, it is expected that all councils will eventually be obliged to comply. www.bit.ly/hSkYxd
Read the full story on www.bit.ly/h7Y3wj
Comment: Time to kill off sexist Britain  Mixed messages of Andy Gray’s sacking
Andy Gray and Richard Keys may have paid the price for their sexist comments People Management www.bit.ly/h2Ddxm
on Sky Sports, but the whole episode serves as a reminder of how widespread
sexism is in British workplaces, writes Ruth Spellman. The fact that so many
people were prepared to speak out in defence of the pair is worrying, and raises
the question of whether sexism is an accepted reality of working life in the UK.
Read the full story on www.bit.ly/gyJ4lZ
Comment: Student workers need more flexibility  Scrap 50 per cent target for students, say
One ill-considered consequence of the huge cut in support for students through graduate recruiters
Education Maintenance Allowances is that many of them will have to work to People Management www.bit.ly/gu1Ayk
support their studies – and many students will need more flexibility at work
than they currently get, writes Iain Mackinnon. Yet flexible working policies are
often aimed at employees with family responsibilities rather than this key group.
Read the full story on www.bit.ly/hgAzkP ☛ MORE NEWS ON NEXT PAGE

2. ☛ PEOPLE MANAGEMENT ‘THE WEEK IN HR’ CONTINUED...
LINKS
Former HRD becomes chief exec at Kent Fire Service
The former HR director of Kent Fire and Rescue Service has been  Career ladder: Ann Millington
appointed its first female chief executive. Ann Millington, who was People Management www.bit.ly/eLjo5n
also deputy chief executive alongside her HR role, took up her new
post at the beginning of this month. Millington is now only the second
female fire service chief in the country, and the first to be promoted
through a role in HR.
Read the full story on www.bit.ly/gX1gHJ
HR ‘should not be afraid to use positive discrimination’  Senior-level women ‘oppose positive discrimination’
HR professionals should “get over the idea that positive discrimination is People Management www.bit.ly/ey9X1o
wrong” and use the provisions in the Equality Act to favour disadvantaged
groups, according to a leading professor of HR. Mike Noon, professor of HR
management at the Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity at Queen
Mary University London, said employers needed to recognise that there is a
business case for positive discrimination.
Read the full story on www.bit.ly/hIXjuK
NHS ‘could learn from local sick leave practices’  Audit Commission: Managing sickness absence
Staff sickness levels in the NHS www.bit.ly/dUiogU
vary significantly across the UK,
with employees in the north and
north-east of England having much
higher absence rates than those in
the south, an Audit Commission
report has revealed. The report
suggested that the NHS could save
hundreds of millions of pounds by
adjusting its approach to sickness absence to focus on how local managers
make a difference to absence levels.
Read the full story on www.bit.ly/hDQ2J9
BA strike called off after legal challenge to ballot  More employers could seek injunctions against
British Airways staff have dropped plans for imminent strike action following a strike ballots
legal challenge to the validity of the union members’ ballot. The union Unite, People Management www.bit.ly/eMsJLu
which represents cabin crew at the airline, successfully balloted members in
December and January for industrial action in the long-running dispute about
conditions, pay and the removal of staff perks. However, BA lodged a challenge
to the ballot with the independent body the Electoral Reform Society, which
scrutinises such votes.
Read the full story on www.bit.ly/dOt9xq
Co-op launches leadership development portal  New talent pipeline identifies future leaders at Co-op
The Co-operative Group has launched an online leadership development People Management www.bit.ly/gUaWLt
portal to boost its management capability, based on open source
technology. Leaders can log into the new intranet site to get access
to advice and courses to aid their learning and development. Richard
Bide, group HR director at the Co-op, said that the thinking behind
developing the portal was to boost the group’s competitiveness by
promoting high performance.
Read the full story on www.bit.ly/gHqPT1
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