Qualifying period for unfair dismissal under review

No timetable has been announced, however, the Government is reviewing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal and considering increasing it from one year to two. Apart from automatic exceptions such as whistleblowing and discrimination, the length of service required to bring a claim for unfair dismissal is currently one year.


Employers should not see this as an excuse to treat employees unfairly and should always follow 'best practice' in order to protect themselves and their employees. It is thought that, by increasing the qualifying period, employees may be more likely to try and bring claims for discrimination rather than unfair dismissal. Unlike unfair dismissal claims, discrimination claims are uncapped and are far more costly for employers to defend.

Job creation, Egyptian style

The ancient Egyptians, like the Romans, were way ahead of their time. Having just returned from a holiday on the Red Sea coast I was struck by the employment situation in the resort, which got me to thinking about UK Government plans for getting people back into work and off benefits.

Every day our villa was attended by the following:

• the pool cleaner
• the gardener
• the pest controller (rats! - thankfully, perhaps due to his daily visits, we didn't see any)
• and the 'ant man' (who got rid of these unwanted visitors)

Every couple of days a supervisor for the above would pop round to ensure his staff had done their daily tasks and we were happy with the service provided. In addition, the villa had a representative who met us on arrival and departure, along with the cleaning staff.

Every roundabout in the resort, of which there are many, has someone supervising the traffic. Over the top!? I thought so until I saw how the Egyptians drive! With nothing but miles of desert surrounding the resort it is perhaps unsurprising that little common sense is displayed where there are roads.

Security personnel were on every street corner. We certainly felt safe during our stay.

Teams of road sweepers brushed the desert sand from the roads - a thankless, never ending, task which keeps them in work and provides an income.

The resort itself provides vast employment, in the hotels, restaurants, dive clubs, boats, shops, supermarkets etc etc. Some of these businesses are foreign owned, however, I saw very few employed staff who were not Egyptian.

At the airport, our passports were inspected by one person and our visa stamp provided by another. Yet a third person inspected what the first two had done before we were allowed out of the Country. Ok, this was now getting frustrating and over the top, but, all-in-all, I think there are still lessons we can learn from the Egyptians.

Dealing with conflicts at work should be a priority for leaders

A recent survey commissioned by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) revealed that 87% of respondents felt that levels of conflict at work had increased or, at best, stayed the same over the past 12 to 18 months.

60% of those surveyed said a tendency for companies to ignore conflicts and a lack of problem-solving ability add to organisational weakness. 88% of respondents agreed that the cost of conflicts in the workplace is damaging to the UK economy.

Having effective working practices in place, along with clear company values that are championed across the organisation, from senior management to the shop floor, will help companies avoid conflicts.

Those surveyed were twice as likely to cite workload (32%) than money (16%) as the primary trigger for difficult conversations. There are several effective ways to deal with conflicts in the workplace, the key is to address the issue before it escalates into a dispute.

It's the "SAD" season (Seasonal Affective Disorder)

You may have read that Kellogg's has introduced an initiative to increase its employees' access to daylight by encouraging them to come in an hour late or leave an hour early.

A study by Kellogg's revealed that two in five employees see less than half an hour of daylight during the winter working day and one in 10 sees no daylight at all. Kellogg's discovered this leads to slumps in productivity and motivation so they are encouraging their staff to take advantage of their flexible working policies to help rectify this.

This is a smart move by Kellogg's. This simple action shows them as a caring employer who invests in their staff whilst benefiting the company by increasing motivation and productivity.

Well done Kellogg's!