Confidential Termination Negotiations

Following a consultation exercise in Autumn 2012, the Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) introduced legislation which, from this Summer, will enable employers and employees to engage in confidential settlement negotiations before termination of employment. As a consequence, both parties should be able to negotiate freely without fear that the anything discussed (such as the value of offers made but declined) may subsequently be raised in any subsequent ordinary unfair dismissal claim at an employment tribunal. Previously, this type of legal privilege only extended to “without prejudice” discussions taking place after a dispute had already arisen.

Sounds good, but what's the catch?

Employment tribunals will have a limited discretion to take into account anything said or done in negotiations which, in the tribunal's opinion, was improper and which it would be unjust to exclude. As such, the protection of the new rules could be lost because of the way pre-termination settlement negotiation are conducted. Also, the protection will only extend to ‘ordinary’ unfair dismissal proceedings, so will not cover claims arising from ‘automatically’ unfair dismissals, such as dismissal for reasons connected with pregnancy, for making a protected disclosure or for participation in trade union activities.

So how do I ensure that pre-termination discussions will be protected?

Following another consultation in February, Acas has published its response document, which includes a revised statutory Code of Practice on Settlement Agreements ("the Code"). A non-statutory guidance document will also be published alongside the Code to aid understanding of the new legal provisions. Failure to follow the Code will not, in itself, make an employer liable to tribunal proceedings. However, employment tribunals will take the Code into account and so compliance will be an important factor when considering whether there has been any improper conduct. In particular, the Code sets out some points of good practice for employers to follow, including:

• as victimisation and harassment;
• allowing employees to be accompanied at settlement agreement discussions;
• template settlement agreements and information on what parties need to so to make settlement agreements legally valid (template letters will also be included in the non-statutory guidance);
• allowing ten calendar days as the minimum time period to consider the formal written offer on which independent advice must be obtained; and
• that while an initial offer may be made orally, the final agreement must be in writing.

Katherine Sadler-Smith, Training & Know-How Lawyer, Osborne Clarke
(Guest Blogger)

Labour Market News

Some positive news on the jobs market today as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports that the unemployment rate fell by 5,000 in April. This goes some way to reversing recent rises and suggests an overall steady labour market. However, with recent good news on the economy and the likelihood that economic growth will be shown to have picked up in the 2nd quarter of this year, we may expect unemployment to fall further and the competition for talent to increase over the coming months.

Commenting on today's Labour Market Statistics released by ONS, Mark Beatson, Chief Economist at the CIPD, said: "Today's figures show that employment is increasing again with the number of people in jobs up by 24,000 over the quarter.  However, the general picture is still one of relatively slow progress.  We have seen very modest reductions in unemployment and youth unemployment this month, total hours worked have hardly changed and earnings growth remains very low in historical terms."

Mike Beesley, CEO, RSG

REC's Report on Jobs May 2013: What's the good news?

May 2013′s Report on Jobs compiled by KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has shown a rise in the demand for permanent staff, particularly in the Engineering and IT job sectors. In addition, for the first time since 2001, starting salaries have also increased for the 12th month running. Such promising findings are a welcome breath of fresh air, following the onslaught of depressive media coverage we have faced over the past 18 months. As Bernard Brown, Partner and Head of Business Services at KPMG comments: “Negative news on the jobs front has been so commonplace in recent months that it has almost become a cliché.  The latest figures, however, hint at a positive turn with permanent placements accelerating, the rate of demand for permanent staff remaining solid and average starting salaries continuing to rise”.

Higher starting salaries and an increased number of permanent vacancies being filled reflects the growing confidence of businesses, as well as alleviating fears that falling unemployment rates are solely due to the fulfilment of the ill-labelled ‘wrong type of jobs’, namely part-time and self-employed positions.

Such findings are encouraging, yet there is still some way to go. While vacancies for permanent staff  in the IT sector may be opening, recruiters are finding it difficult to source candidates who are equipped with the high level skills clients require. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly urgent for programmes to be developed, which will assist workers to cultivate the skills the job market is currently lacking in. As Brown notes, ”these positive signs should not be taken as a signal that we are reaching the proverbial pot of gold at the end of a rainbow . . .  the reality is that there are likely to be storm clouds ahead before the employment rainbow will really be allowed to shine”.

Mike Beesley, CEO at RSG

Are you genuinely offering good customer service?

At an operational level, many recruiters believe that they offer good customer service, but what measures have been put in place to substantiate this claim.  Without any measures, service is often only as good as the last issue or the stakeholders view of the week’s activity prior to a review meeting.

Good customer service is not just about sorting out problems or issues effectively – this is nothing more than being reactive, only engaging at critical times, and does not build a solid partnership.  Only being reactive is the typical behaviour of a supplier / buyer relationship. 

When a problem occurs, do you just put it right or do you analyse the fundamental reasons behind the issue and change your processes and/or behaviours accordingly.

Good customer service is all about building a true partnership with your client.  Do you know their short and long term strategy for recruitment – would they share this information with you and are you part of this strategy?

Ask yourself the following:

Ø  How much do you know about their industry and the challenges it faces?

Ø   Are you thinking about how you can align your process or delivery to assist with their business challenges? 

Ø  What knowledge do you hold about recruitment practices and legislation and what advice can you bring to the table to consultant with your client?

Ø  What value added services do you deliver and how can this be demonstrated?

Ø  How do you demonstrate your business is being proactive within this partnership?

Ø  Are you seen as just a supplier or a true recruitment business partner?

All too often relationships are held with a few active Hiring Managers or just with HR – this encourages a reactive approach.  In my experience, creating a comprehensive and balanced scorecard enables you to measure every element of the partnership and focus on those areas where your organisations are not truly aligned.

Management Information enables you to show achievement against SLA’s, but it is the overall Customer Services Experience that brings true value to the partnership.

So the question remains – Are you genuinely offering good customer service?


Sue Ventham
Client Services Director, Resource Management

Regulatory Framework for Employment Agencies and Recruitment Businesses

A rather lengthy title for a rather lengthy and convoluted piece of legislation. RSG (Resource Management is an RSG company) have taken part in Government’s recent consultation on this, and for those not in the know, there is specific legislation that governs the recruitment industry. It sets out a framework not only for how the industry engages with the client (or ‘hirer’), but also with the temporary worker / contractor and those seeking permanent employment.

Talent Management - The Debate

During the late 1990s, management consulting firm, McKinsey, coined the phrase the ‘war for talent’ as part of its research identifying talent management as a critical business challenge. Today, the business case for taking a strategic approach to talent management is strong and persuasive. CEOs as well as HR Directors are now likely to number talent management among their key priorities.

It is important to recognise that it is not sufficient simply to attract individuals with high potential. Developing, managing and retaining those individuals as part of a planned strategy for talent is equally important, as well as adopting systems to measure the return on this investment.

Furthermore, organisations need to hire talented people, quickly, to achieve their strategic goals.
To discuss this subject further, we have invited a select group of the UK’s top HR Directors to join our guest speaker David Mason, Global COO Resourcing at RBS, to attend our next RSG Debate event on the 25th April. Following its successful launch last year, each RSG Debate evening offers the opportunity for thought leaders of a particular division to join together and discuss the most topical issues of the moment.

The debate will be followed by dinner at the recently refurbished Bentley’s Oyster Bar and Grill, situated in Swallow Street, London. Owned by Richard Corrigan, a Michelin star chef who counts the Queen amongst his previous diners, Bentley’s ‘Crustacea Room’ will provide a relaxing and luxurious environment for our guests to enjoy the rest of their evening.

During the debate, you will be able to keep up with the discussion and share your own opinions using the hashtag #RSGdebate on Twitter, as well as being able to read the views and opinions of our guests in full here in our blog.

To be notified of our next update, please subscribe to the blog.

If you are interested in attending the RSG Debate, please email your details to Liz Gibbs at liz.gibbs@rsg-plc.com

Mike Beesley, CEO, RSG

Resource Management is an RSG company

Creating Effective Talent Pools – Recruitment Challenges

I was recently invited by RSG's Legal partner, Osborne Clarke, to speak at their latest quarterly networking event. The attendants were either HR Directors or Senior HR Managers for organisations of various sizes and in diverse industry sectors such as Construction, Digital Media, Financial Services, IT and Manufacturing. Each quarter the attendees set the agenda for discussion and invite a subject matter expert to lead the discussion. This quarter the main topic was recruitment, namely; “How to create the best pool of candidates from which you can select at the recruitment stage.”

Taxing Times

Questions on what is an appropriate level of taxation never go away. However, in the current economic climate the need to cut income taxes for lower income workers to put a little more money in the pockets of working families is juxtaposed with demand to tax the wealthy more heavily whether through income or so called wealth taxes on property.

Holistic Talent Management

Recruitment has changed. Like it or not, the days of old-school recruitment have been and gone. Back then, the skills and techniques required to source permanent candidates were completely different to those required to source non-permanent candidates. It was clear as black and white. Not anymore. Nowadays a more holistic approach is being made to recruitment; permanent recruitment and non-permanent recruitment has simply become... recruitment.