National Health Service is looking to hire 5,000 new doctors by 2020 to aid staff shortage crisis burdening local practitioners with extreme workloads. Recruitment agencies will be paid a share of £100 million to recruit GPs from abroad in a bid to increase NHS

By Stephen Simpson  Putting together a short-term sickness absence policy can be one of the most daunting tasks an HR professional can face. We take you step by step through what a typical short-term sickness absence policy should contain.  1. Clarify the short-term sickness absence policy’s purpose and

By Clio Springer  April is typically a busy time of year for HR professionals, with new employment legislation due to come into force. 2017 is no exception, with the most significant development being the introduction of gender pay gap reporting for larger employers. However, there

By James Monks  Changes to salary-sacrifice schemes announced in November’s Autumn Statement are likely to prove unpopular with employees. James Monks from RAM Group looks at ways employers can mitigate the impact of the changes and still retain staff. The last few years have seen

By Charles Martin  Finding the balance between effective candidate selection and a positive candidate experience is no mean feat. Charles Martin looks at the trade-off between subjecting job applicants to tests and positioning your brand as a forward-thinking place to work.  “The art of taxation consists

By Benjamin Viney  Does your organisation take a one-size-fits-all approach to reward? Benjamin Viney looks at how businesses are using data to tailor reward programmes for different workforce segments, to increase employee satisfaction, reduce cost and gain a competitive edge. Without a nuanced approach to segmentation,

By Jo Faragher  Pay awards for the first quarter of 2017 remained steady at 2%, according to the latest data from XpertHR. This is the fourth consecutive quarter where the median award has been at this level – unlike 2016 where pay awards often fluctuated

New rules regarding references in the financial services industry come into force on 7 March as part of the Senior Managers Regime. What are employers’ obligations and what information must they include?   Six months ago, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation

The reputation – and profits – of any organisation rests on the work ethics of its employees. Developing an ethical culture is imperative, and doing so requires six key actions. 2015 was a year full of corporate scandals. It seemed like every time you

Wearable devices already measure metrics such as step count and heart rate. But could data generated from personal technology be gathered and analysed to understand employees’ performance and how well they might be suited to a role? In the not too distant future, biometric CVs containing