Pimlico Plumbers
Legal cases over the status of workers in the gig economy continued to make headlines in 2017. When Gary Smith wanted to reduce his working days at Pimlico Plumbers following a heart attack, the Court of Appeal agreed with a tribunal that said he was entitled to basic workers' rights although he was technically self-employed.
Being given worker status means that they would be entitled to more rights than would be the case if they were self-employed and taking on work on a totally freelance basis.
Gender pay gap will take 40 years to close
The Women and Equalities Committee warned that the government is not effectively tackling the structural causes of the gender pay gap. The committee made a series of 17 recommendations on closing the gender pay gap to the government last March. In its response the government rejected most of them.
However, while the government’s response acknowledged several structural reasons behind the gap – such as higher levels of part-time working among women – it maintained that current policies on shared parental leave, flexible working, and supporting older women back into work are adequate.
The best bits of HR magazine in February:
Executive search: Balancing science and art
In February's cover story, Jenny Roper writes that executive search processes lack rigour, often resulting in sub-par costly appointments. A combination of art and science is needed for C-suite hires.
Rotherham Council's assistant CEO on recovering from scandal
In 2016 Shokat Lal joined an organisation that had been damned as “not fit for purpose”, “in denial” and “archaic”, with “ineffective leadership and management”, “no shared vision” and a “culture of covering up uncomfortable truths” just a year before. How did he turn it around?
Job 'stagnation' leads to turnover, Glassdoor data shows
Employees that stagnate in a job too long are more likely to leave their employers rather than move to a new role within the company, according to research from Glassdoor. However, a one-star increase in career opportunities and culture and values ratings on the site was found to raise the odds that workers stay at their companies by 5%.
A new HR blueprint: Capabilities and careers
What skills and orientation are needed to work in business support services? In this series of articles Andrew Lambert and Andy Newall lay out their blueprint for the future of HR.
