Breckland council is to implement a hosted HR system and a bureau payroll service allowing HR and payroll staff to access the system remotely.

Staff returning to work after long-term illness are at risk of depression although managers are unaware, according to the Mental Health Foundation.

The TUC has advised employers they should pay staff who were unable to get to work yesterday due to adverse weather as withholding pay or forcing them to take holidays could create resentment.

Staff who are off work due to long-term sickness will be entitled to paid holiday, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled.

Tameside Council has met with opposition for allowing staff unpaid leave in order to have boob jobs.

Almost a fifth of organisations in Europe have reported an increase in absence over the last year.

Coventry University has updated its HR and payroll operations.

Wincanton has reduced absence by 10,000 days in the past nine months, thanks to piloting a new management system, and now plans to roll it out across the company.

Sovereign Housing plans to implement a fully-integrated HR and payroll solution for its 600 employees by September 2009.

QVC has outsourced its payroll function.

Absence is more likely to be decreased through morale and engagement programmes than through absence management systems.

A trend is developing for global companies to manage their international compensation systems centrally.