There’s little doubt that the government’s attempts to improve the handling of workplace disputes have failed to achieve their aims.

The number of tribunal applications has shown no consistent downward trend since the dispute resolution legislation came into force in October 2004. And employers have not been impressed by what they see as the complex, legalistic approach of the Regulations.

Various alternatives to the legislation are being considered. Unfortunately, our latest research into employers’ disciplinary and grievance procedures finds that many HR practitioners doubt that any of these proposals represent an improvement on the existing Regulations.

Also in this issue of Employment Review we provide our latest analysis of pay trends and bargaining statistics ahead of the autumn start to the 2007/08 pay round. Pay rises have bounced back to 3.5%, but continue to be outstripped by inflation.

Other items of note in this issue include:

• our report on managing mental ill health in the workplace;
• a round-up of pay reviews and trends in the manufacturing sector;
• the latest legal cases;
• a case study of recruitment and retention at mobile telecoms company O2; and
• a guide to developing future-proofed competency frameworks.

Neil Rankin,
Section Editor,
Employment Review

Research: Managing mental ill health in the workplace

Mental illness represents a growing cause of absence from work. Our survey looks at what employers are doing to help individuals with mental health conditions, the support they offer to line managers, and the ways in which they are trying to promote a healthier workplace.

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Survey: Managing travel risks

How does your organisation safeguard its staff when they travel overseas on business? The need for appropriate advice and precautionary measures has never been greater. Take part in our survey and help us develop key benchmarks in this area.

RELATED ARTICLES ON XPERTHR

IRS’s research into more than 170 employers’ stress management practices

IRS conference: Managing Absence and Attendance

This conference will provide practical guidance on developing an absence management strategy. It will also cover the legal issues in managing long- and short-term absence, the responsibilities of line managers and how they can be trained to manage absence effectively. To be held on 27 September 2007 at Mayfair Conference Centre, London. Find out more...

Corporate manslaughter Act receives royal assent

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 has passed on to the statute books and comes into force on 6 April 2008. It will give employees better protection against gross negligence, and companies, organisations and government bodies will now risk prosecution and an unlimited fine for manslaughter.

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Employment tribunal claims decrease

There has been a slight decrease in the number of tribunal claims in 2006/07. However, the numbers fluctuate widely from year to year. The figures include the first 394 claims under the October 2006 age discrimination Regulations.

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Casenotes

Part-timers and bank holidays: McMenemy v Capita Business Services Ltd

An employer that did not award time off in lieu of bank holidays to a part-time employee who did not work on Mondays was not in breach of the part-time worker Regulations.

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Contracts of employment: Przybylska v Modus Telecom Ltd

A tribunal was wrong to imply into a contract a term that the employer could carry out a review of the probationary period within a reasonable time after the expiry of the probationary period.

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Statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedure: Ingram v Bristol Street Parts

To comply with the statutory disciplinary procedure, it is not necessary for the employer to give the employee access to all the evidence on which it intends to rely in advance of the hearing.

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Employment law news

GMB did not discriminate in failing to support equal pay claims

First penalty for failure to inform and consult

EU social policy state of play

RELATED ARTICLES ON XPERTHR

Legal timetable

Forthcoming law

Statutory rates

Line manager briefing on disability discrimination

IRS conference: Equality and Diversity

This one-day conference, to be held on 17 October 2007, will look at how organisations can manage diversity to enhance corporate reputation, support culture change and boost competitiveness. It will feature case studies from Harlow District Council, KPMG and The Co-operative Group. Find out more...

This week on the XpertHR/IRS blog

There could be a further two years of uncertainty about the default retirement age created by last October’s age discrimination Regulations. XpertHR employment law editor Stephen Simpson's blog posting gives an update on pressure group Heyday’s legal challenge.

Other stories to attract our writers' attention include:

• news of three free legal briefings that XpertHR will be running during CIPD conference week;
• a handy guide to key employment law time limits; and
• the controversy over recruiters’ practice of searching social networking websites, such as Facebook, to get the low-down on job applicants.

Today's tip: email an article

How many times do you stumble on something you must draw to the attention of a colleague? Every article on XpertHR has a link along the top of the screen enabling you to “email this article to a colleague”. Click on the link, enter the email address of your colleague, and press send. They will receive the document in full. It’s an ideal tool when delegating work. Alternatively, email the article to yourself as a reminder.

Coming soon...

The recruitment of senior managers involves high risks and high costs; our research investigates this key area of corporate resourcing. Also on its way is our case study of an apprenticeship programme at Tube Lines. More...

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