22 June 2007

NEWS

Fathers Putting Careers on Hold to Spend More Time with Their Children

A survey by finance firm ING Direct has revealed that men are choosing to put their career on hold and are taking pay cuts in order to spend more time with their children.  Read more

Employers Support Campaign to Tackle Workplace Discrimination Associated With Mental Illness

"Action on Stigma", a national campaign to end workplace discrimination associated with mental illness, has been backed by an overwhelming number of employers who responded to a questionnaire on the new campaign.  Read more

Construction Union Attacks Plans to Scrap Statutory Dispute Resolution Procedures

The construction union UCATT has criticised government plans to repeal the statutory dispute resolution procedures.  Read more

Half of 25 to 34 Year Olds Cannot Function Without Access to Email

According to a survey conducted by ICM Research for software provider Nasstar, email and electronic communication is increasingly relied on as a means of staying in touch with the office.  Read more

New Task Force to Tackle Sickness Absence

Lord McKenzie, a Minister in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), has announced a new vocational rehabilitation task force to help ill or injured people stay in or return to work.  Read more

Britain's National Minimum Wage is Third Highest in the EU

A report published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, has identified Britain's National Minimum Wage (NMW) as the third highest out of 20 European Union nations.  Read more

LEGISLATION

Draft Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2007

The draft Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2007, which will increase the minimum annual leave entitlement, have now been published.    Read more

CASES

There are no new cases to report this week.

NEXT HR NETWORK EVENT

Our next HR Network Event will be our Workshop on Bullying & Harassment: the key issues.  A full list of HR Network workshops and seminars is available here.

FEEDBACK

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NEWS

Fathers Putting Careers on Hold to Spend More Time with Their Children

A survey by finance firm ING Direct has revealed that men are choosing to put their career on hold and are taking pay cuts in order to spend more time with their children.

The survey of 1,000 fathers found that many fathers are making sacrifices at work in order to play a more active role in their children's upbringing.  According to the findings:

• 43 per cent of the fathers questioned had chosen to put their careers on hold;
• almost one-third of the fathers had refused overtime;
• 10 per cent of the fathers had switched to a part-time job; and
• 5 per cent of the fathers had turned down a pay rise. 

The chief executive of ING Direct, Lindsay Sinclair, said: "Modern men are choosing to put their careers on hold in order to balance work with bringing up their children.  For many this means reducing working hours and taking an average salary cut of £2,800."

The findings by ING Direct follow an Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) call to remove the barriers that prevent fathers being able to play a more active role with their children.  The EOC surveyed 16,500 mothers and 12,000 fathers and claims that fathers are more likely to have their request for flexible working rejected than mothers and that many new fathers are frustrated with the lack of time they are able to spend with their children.  These findings have been backed up by the ING Direct survey which revealed that more than one third of the fathers questioned said their bosses had been "unsupportive" of their childcare duties.  (BBC News, 19 June 2007)  Back

Employers Support Campaign to Tackle Workplace Discrimination Associated With Mental Illness

"Action on Stigma", a national campaign to end workplace discrimination associated with mental illness, has been backed by an overwhelming number of employers who responded to a questionnaire on the new campaign.

The campaign calls on public and private sector employers to adopt six principles that have been developed to enable organisations to reduce the incidence and impact of mental health problems.  The six principles employers are asked to adopt are:

• to make employees aware of the steps they can take to preserve and maintain their own and others mental well-being;
• to promote a culture of respect and dignity for everyone, ensuring that staff are trained to recognise and be sensitive to mental distress or disability in others;
• to encourage awareness of mental health issues, so that employees are aware of the danger signs and understand the importance of seeking help early;
• to demonstrate that no one is refused employment on the grounds of mental illness or disability;
• to make reasonable adjustments to the work environment for people with mental health problems so that they can continue working;
• to demonstrate that they take positive steps to ensure that people with mental health problems are not disadvantaged in relation to the availability of their goods and services.

The questionnaire was sent to employers in October 2006 by Shift, an initiative funded by the Department of Health to tackle stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health issues.  239 employers completed the questionnaire with 213 of the employers supporting all six principles.  The Health minister Rosie Winterton has been promoting the principles throughout the country and is pleased with the support they have received.  She said: "I am delighted by the reaction we have had.  A number of organisations have already signed up to the initiative, but we view this campaign as an ongoing effort and will unveil an action plan in due course, based on these findings."

Ms Winterton believes that employers will benefit from the new campaign.  She said: "With an estimated three in every 10 workers having a mental health problem of some sort in any one year, dealing with this issue is good not just for employees, but for business too, with benefits such as improved productivity and staff retention."   (Personnel Today, 19 June 2007)  Back

Construction Union Attacks Plans to Scrap Statutory Dispute Resolution Procedures

The construction union UCATT has criticised government plans to repeal the statutory dispute resolution procedures.

The statutory procedures were introduced in 2004 and were designed to reduce the time and cost of contesting employment tribunals by providing procedures for disputes to be resolved in the workplace.  They initially led to a reduction in the number of claims being brought but the number has gradually increased to former levels. 

As reported in our earlier Briefing, the Government issued a consultation paper seeking views on proposals to repeal the procedures and replace them with simple, non-prescriptive guidelines.  However, UCATT believes that repealing the procedures would remove the much-needed protection for building workers on short-term or temporary contracts.  The union claims that prior to the implementation of the procedures, the grievances of UCATT members were usually ignored. 

The general secretary of UCATT, Alan Ritchie, said: "It is outrageous that the government could even consider denying workers guaranteed access to grievance procedures.  Thousands of my members work on short-term contracts, on a temporary basis or through an employment agency.  Voluntary agreements previously failed these workers and will do so in the future."

The views of UCATT are not shared by all unions.  Many have spoken out in support of overhauling the procedures.  The TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, said: "The TUC is firmly committed to the principle that workplace disputes should be resolved through effective internal procedures.  But we have concerns with the 2004 legislation – in particular, rules relating to employment tribunals have proved complicated and have restricted access to justice.  There's been a tendency for employers to focus on process as opposed to dealing with issues at stake."

Susan Anderson, the director of human resources policy for the CBI, expressed her support for a repeal of the procedures.  She said: "CBI and TUC agree that the statutory dispute resolution procedures haven't worked and support their repeal.  The regulations did not achieve their objective."

The consultation closed on 20 June 2007.  Pinsent Masons conducted its own survey of clients and contacts in the retail sector asking them for their views on the government's proposals.  The overwhelming majority of those organisations who responded agreed that the statutory dispute resolution procedures should be repealed. 

To view our earlier Briefing on the Consultation click here.  (Financial Times, 19 June 2007)  Back

Half of 25 to 34 Year Olds Cannot Function Without Access to Email

According to a survey conducted by ICM Research for software provider Nasstar, email and electronic communication is increasingly relied on as a means of staying in touch with the office.

The survey revealed:

• 50 per cent of 25 to 34 year olds and 44 per cent of 35 to 44 year olds cannot function without access to email (compared with 41 per cent of teenagers);
• 43 per cent of respondents in the South East would struggle without email access, compared with 34 per cent in Wales and the South West; and
• 41 per cent of women and 38 per cent of men would struggle without email access.

The chief executive of Nasstar, Charles Black, said: "Thirty and forty-somethings have fitted email into their busy lives as a vital form of communication."  He believes that the increasing reliance on email is a result of its use in a business capacity.  He said: "Email really works for business people on the go."  (Personnel Today, 19 June 2007)  Back

New Task Force to Tackle Sickness Absence

Lord McKenzie, a Minister in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), has announced a new vocational rehabilitation task force to help ill or injured people stay in or return to work. 

He has also called on employers to do more to support their employees. 

The task force will be made up of government, customers, business and insurers.  Its remit will be to gather and assess data, including costs and benefits, on:

• existing provision of occupational health and vocational rehabilitation services by employers;
• reasons why occupational health and vocational rehabilitation services are not provided by employers;
• incentives which would be successful in encouraging wider take-up of occupational health and vocational rehabilitation services by employers, such as tax relief; and
• methods, tools and products which would support and encourage a wider take-up of occupational health and vocational rehabilitation services.

Lord McKenzie explained the scale of the problem the task force would be facing.  He said: "One million people take sick leave every week: 3000 of these will not return within six months, and of these 2,500 will still be on incapacity benefit five years later, having lost much of their dignity, independence and involvement with society."

He outlined how vocational rehabilitation benefits both employee and employer.  He said: "Rehabilitation is not about forcing people back to work.  Work, in fact, is often a crucial step in helping people return to full health.  And businesses have much to gain in terms of reduced sickness absence, and improved staff engagement and retention.  But very few employers offer occupational health or vocational rehabilitation.  This task force will identify why this is the case, what barriers are preventing wider provision, and what needs to be done to change this."

Lord McKenzie also urged employers to offer ill or injured employees more assistance.  He said: "We cannot do this alone – employers must recognise that rehabilitation is not purely medical, but also a management activity, and they must do more to help their employees return to work."  (DWP Press Release, 18 June 2007)  Back

Britain's National Minimum Wage is Third Highest in the EU

A report published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, has identified Britain's National Minimum Wage (NMW) as the third highest out of 20 European Union nations.

Britain's NMW is worth €1,361 a month for adult workers.  This is over ten times higher than the legal minimum pay in Bulgaria, the country with the lowest minimum rate, where the minimum wage is worth only €92 a month.  Other states where the minimum rate is considerably lower than Britain's are Romania (€114 a month) and Latvia (€172 a month). 

The NMW in Britain is also remarkably higher than the rate in Spain (less than half Britain's NMW at only €666 a month) and the federal minimum wage in the US where the rate is also less than half the British rate at only €676 a month.

However, Britain's NMW is lower than the rates in Luxembourg and Ireland where the monthly worth of the legal minimum pay is €1,570 and €1,403 respectively.  Britain's NMW is also only slightly higher than the Netherlands (€1,301), Belgium (€1,259) and France (€1,254).

As reported in last week's Briefing, Britain's NMW is due to rise again in October.  However, the rise will be a more cautious one than in previous years because it is feared that a bigger rise could harm job opportunities.  (Financial Times, 20 June 2007)  Back

LEGISLATION

Draft Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2007

The draft Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2007, which will increase the minimum annual leave entitlement, have now been published.

As reported in last week's Briefing, the draft Regulations were amended following a Government consultation on holiday entitlement.  The Regulations were laid before Parliament on 12 June 2007 and it is hoped that they will be approved before the end of June.

Draft Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2007  Back

CASES

There are no new cases to report this week.

© Pinsent Masons 2007

This bulletin is not intended to be a definitive analysis of legislative or other changes and professional advice should be taken before any course of action is pursued.

Should you have any questions please contact your usual Pinsent Masons advisor, your local office (see below) or hrnetwork@pinsentmasons.com

National Head of Employment

Chris Booth