HR News

A court worker who pleaded guilty to offences under the Bribery Act 2010 has sent to prison.

Incentive payments to small employers and cuts in red tape are the latest plans from the government to boost employers’ use of apprenticeships. A new pilot scheme will also aim to give employers more input to their vocational training needs.

UK Consumer Prices Index inflation fell in the year to October 2011 to 5.0%. The Retail Prices Index (typically used in wage negotiations) also fell back slightly to 5.4%. The detailed figures are as follows:

• The headline rate of inflation in October 2011 was 5.4% (down from the previous month’s 5.6%)
• The RPI for October was 238.0
• The underlying rate of inflation in October 2011 was 5.6% (down from the previous month’s 5.7%)
• The Consumer Prices Index for October 2011 is 121.0, giving a percentage increase over the last 12 months of 5.0% (down from the previous month’s 5.2%)

See also the IDS Eye blog, 'Inflation still at 5% despite supermarket discounting of prices'.

A consultation is to be published on allowing employers and their staff to have frank chats about performance and employment issues – called ‘protected conversations’. The expressed purpose of such conversations is that employers should be able to have performance management discussions with staff without their words being used later against them in an employment tribunal claim.

Out of a total of 218,100 tribunal claims in 2010-11, just 277 alleged that employers had failed to observe flexible working regulations says new research from the CIPD. Most of these claims (229) were successfully conciliated by ACAS or settled out of court and, of the 48 that actually reached tribunal, just 10 were successful.