The Government intend to reform the GLA’s mission, functions and powers to ensure that they can prevent, detect and investigate worker exploitation across all labour sectors, not only those in which it operates currently. The GLA will be renamed as the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority.
British Sign Language users and Government Services 19 January 2016
The Department for Work and Pensions is introducing a new video relay service to help British Sign Language (BSL) users easily access government services.
A groundbreaking new system to ensure British Sign Language (BSL) users can easily access government services is now in operation at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The video relay service (VRS) allows users to make BSL interpreted video calls via their tablet, smartphone, computer or laptop. A professional interpreter then relays the call in English to a member of DWP staff.
The introduction of VRS is the latest demonstration of the department’s commitment to making services accessible for people regardless of their disability. The Minister for Disabled People has made accessibility across all sectors of the UK a priority for 2016, aiming to build on successes such as football’s Premier League agreeing to make significant improvements to their grounds by August 2017.
More than half of UK employees will ask for a pay raise in 2016 26 January 2016
UK employees are more likely to seek alternative employment than their European counterparts, if they request a pay rise but are turned down, according to new research by Robert Half.
The new research by specialist recruitment firm Robert Half showed that more than half (54%) of UK employees plan to ask for a salary increase in 2016 and just over a third (36%) would wait for the next performance review for a salary increase. While a quarter (24%) of employees in the UK would seek alternative employment if their boss said no to a higher salary, only 11% of employees in Germany and Belgium, 10% of employees in the Netherlands and 5% of employees in France would find another job. Just over a third (36%) of UK employees would wait for the next performance review for a salary increase, compared to their more patient equivalents in France, where 62% of employees would sit it out till the next review, Germany (52%), Netherlands (43%) and Belgium (40%). One strategy that employees can use to secure a result even when a higher salary is refused is to request something else, such as a different role, more company perks or share options. Yet UK workers are only slightly more likely to ask for alternative rewards (27%) than they are to look for another role (24%).
7,500 employees in UK, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the US were surveyed in October 2015 by an independent market research firm.
The fit note at five years old is not achieving its aims 26 January 2016
Independent research published by the University of Nottingham shows that the fit note is widely misunderstood by employers and GPs and needs more investment in time, resources, training, commitment and legislation to fully realise its potential. Getting the best from the fit note is a report commissioned by IOSH, the Chartered body for health and safety professionals. The report discusses the gaps in the evidence-base on the GP 'fit note' and describes the investigation into the key features of successful fit note use in order to optimise its effectiveness from the perspective of all three stakeholders: GP, employer and employee.
CIPP Policy News Journal
25/04/2016, Page 116 of 453
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