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Monthly Archives: November 2012
The Stained Glass Ceiling – What About Diversity?
What To Do With An Employee Who Has Gone AWOL
The recent media interest in Conservative MP Nadine Dorries who has apparently gone to the Australian jungle to feature in “I’m a celebrity get me out of here” without apparently obtaining parliamentary permission has brought to light the matter of what to do with an employee who has gone AWOL.
Now Ms Dorries has been evicted from the camp we must wait and see what treatment the government doles out to her.
How To Reward Top Talent
Now Everyone Can Have Flexible Working! But Will They?
Warning: Use Interns With Care
The recent case of Tony Blair’s office being in hot water over unpaid internships has placed focus again on the growing use of internships in the UK.
Interns who fall outside of this criteria should be paid the National Minimum Wage at a minimum and have the right to paid holidays. They also have protection from excessive working hours and discrimination. If an intern undertakes regular paid work they may qualify as an employee and will benefit from a much wider range of employment rights.
Unfair Dismissal And Human Rights – Legal Insanity?
In an important test case, the Court of Appeal has been asked to decide whether the test of ‘proportionality’ laid down by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) should be applied to unfair dismissal cases (Turner v East Midlands Trains Limited).
What you need to know about contractor agreements and tax
The Secrets of Successful Succession Planning
Succession planning is a process for identifying and developing employees who have the potential to fill key business leadership positions within an organisation. Effective succession comes from creating a talent pool from which individuals can be plucked to fill senior management roles having been given access to career development opportunities to build skills and experience. It can provide fast track opportunities or those at a slower pace depending on organisational needs. Talent pool management tends to be more strategic than one step or job layer succession whereby individuals just below senior management level are groomed as key replacements for identified roles. The individuals are considered to be almost ready for promotion and this type of succession process doesn’t take too much planning.
Succession planning can only be successful when there is key commitment from the CEO and strong engagement from the senior management team.
There are three stages to succession planning.
1. Evaluate all employees and their current needs. List all employees on the team and their positions then list the current number of open positions/positions to be filled in the future and the required skills.
2. Review the employees who can be promoted and into what position. This might be in a few months time or a few years.
3. Develop an action plan for those employees who are to be promoted. Make a list of skills and experience they need to gain and develop a training plan.
A succession plan is an effective way to formulate a recruitment and development strategy. It should be reviewed several times a year to ensure it is on track.
Succession planning gives a win win solution to both the organisation and employees alike. The organisation benefits because there is always a drip feed of talent to come on board and head it up. Employees benefit because succession planning provides career development and job satisfaction opportunities.
Is An Unsigned Employment Contract Worth the Paper It is Written On?
• Make sure that employees sign and return their contracts of employment to remove any doubt that the employee has understood and agreed to the terms.
• The covenant included in the contract must be reasonable. A geographical area that is too wide or a period of time that is too long could make the covenant void. It is important to consider what the organisation is trying to protect, and whether the covenant imposed gives that protection or does more than is reasonable.
• Ensure that the covenant is appropriate for the job that the employee is doing. It is rarely appropriate for an organisation to have one restrictive covenant that is applicable to all jobs within an organisation.
• If an employee is promoted, it is important to consider what restrictive covenant, if any, is appropriate.