Thursday May 5, 2011 at 7:01am
Acas has done a good response to the government consultation on resolving workplace disputes.
As Acas observe, anecdotal information suggests that the main attraction for both employers and employees appears to be the opportunity of a “clean break”.
Both parties can also often share an interest in avoiding the need to air the dispute in a public hearing.
Acas also correctly observe that if a parting of the ways appears inevitable, employees may welcome the chance of an agre....
Friday November 26, 2010 at 2:06pm
According to the Guardian, public managers face "an almost unprecedented level of criticism not just of their organisations but of their own strategies to deal with the cuts. The government's commitment to transparency, and the publishing of its accounts last week, leaves public managers facing a wave of attacks over everything from the growing bill for employing temporary staff – a fairly straightforward result of any recruitment freeze – to the cost of work-related injur....
Monday November 22, 2010 at 11:45am
The BBC reports that more than £612,000 has been paid out in salaries to 18 permanent staff who have been suspended from work in the civil service.
The information was given to the East Londonderry SDLP MLA John Dallat in response to a written question in the assembly. Mr Dallat said that on average, £34,015 has been spent on each suspended civil servant.
Unsurprisingly he says that money could be better spent.
Whilst I have not experienced such waste in my dealings with th....
Tuesday October 19, 2010 at 9:27am
One of the issues which the public sector has to decide is to what extent they should apply redundancies in order to implement savings.
No doubt redundancies will be announced flowing from Defence cuts today and the Public Sector Spending Review 2010.
What is interesting and an issue we are looking at our White Paper on Redundancies and Change Management is the possibility of costing how much a redundancy is to an organisation.
Yes, you have statutory redundancy costs which is set in a R....
Wednesday September 2, 2009 at 9:46am
According to Philip Bartle QC in the Times, the actions of the police there should lead to important changes in policing future demonstrations. Although some demonstrators were violent, most were peaceful. Ian Tomlinson, who had nothing to do with the demonstration, died and there has been grave concern at the police treatment of many demonstrators.
Last month Parliament’s Human Rights Committee recommended that in future independent negotiators should facilitate dialogue between police a....
Wednesday June 10, 2009 at 4:56pm
Yesterday I attended an employment seminar run by Fox Williams which was informative on topics such as Intellectual Property, Bonuses, Age Discriminaton and finally, the Acas Code.
The new Acas Code on grievances and discipline is commenably brief but as Aron Pope of the firm pointed out there are a number of uncertainties such as:
What status/weight will a tribunal give the Guide(e.g no the Code)?
What are defined as grievances?
Can employees be su....
Monday June 1, 2009 at 8:55am
Mediation is no panacea but The Salt Lake Tribune (of all things) has an example of how a good mediator can do the business in even the most complex disputes.As this article shows, a mediator was able to engineer a mediated settlement in a very difficult matter.43 lawyers were packed into a hotel conference room last November. And that was just the defendants' legal corps in three wrongful-death and personal-injury civil lawsuits triggered by the 2007 American Crandall Canyon mine disaster.....
Monday May 18, 2009 at 9:41am
Human Law Mediation has just published a new FREE White Paper - Negotiating for Excellent Results.
It's a must read for anyone trying to get the best out of business transactions or facing difficult negotiations with employees, customers or suppliers.As well as providing a 10 step plan for effective negotiations which enable you to negotiate with power and persuasion the White Paper has useful advice on when to try and negotiate yourself and when to step away and seek professional help.
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Thursday April 23, 2009 at 9:03am
Please do not get me wrong. I am a solicitor(lawyer) and I work for clients on this basis. As a lawyer one can provide a truly excellent service which can be invaluable for clients.
Nevertheless there is a clear problem with using lawyers as the fees can be expensive whichever way you look though the support is vital.
Interesting news here that mediators will be asked to try and kick-start the multi-million-pound redevelopment of Bournemouth’s historic Pavilion Theatre. The £4....
Wednesday March 18, 2009 at 12:55pm
7 tips for managing disputes with employees
My firm provides free monthly ezines which anyone can subscribe to.
Here is our latest offering:
As the economy weakens, business pressures increase, short-time working and redundancies are on every one’s mind the day-to-day pressures for managers are increased. What might have been an insignificant internal disagreement between colleagues can suddenly escalate and without careful management minor employee spats can suddenly turn into time-....
Wednesday March 4, 2009 at 3:20pm
A post over on an Irish website which conveys the impact of the recession on the thinking of businesses to dispute resolution.
"Attempts to resolve commercial disputes by mediation will double over the next year, as businesses seek a cheaper and faster alternative to litigation, according to a new survey. The Irish Commercial Mediation Association (ICMA) issued a questionnaire to the managing partners of more than 3,500 law, accountancy and other professional firms to ascertain attitudes t....