Welcome to the February 2008 edition of Mishcon de Reya's Recruitment Watch, prepared by the Firm's Recruitment Services Group. Its aim is to provide those involved in the recruitment sector with a snapshot of what has been happening in the world of recruitment in the last month.
NEWS
Policy
Recruiters are concerned about the new money
laundering regulations that will catch companies who
do executive search or act as a payroll agency and require them
to register with HM Revenue & Customs,
otherwise they could face up to two years in jail.
Recruiter, 6 February 2008
The trade union Unite has launched a
public campaign to press supermarkets to improve
working conditions for migrant agency workers in the
meat packing industry and has particularly criticised Marks and
Spencer paying temporary staff less and giving
them worse employment terms than their permanent
counterparts.
Financial Times, 31 January 2008
Trends Practice
The Annual Reward Management survey by CIPD
has shown that almost half of organisations no longer award
across the board annual pay rises or cost of
living adjustments for employees.
Recruitment Consultant, January 2008
Companies
The Takeover Panel has turned the
competitive bidding for Imprint by OPD and
Hydrogen into an auction after the situation failed to reach a
resolution.
Financial Times, 9 February 2008
Angela Campbell-Noe, chief executive, and
Paul Billett, finance director, of executive
recruitment agency Hat Pin have announced
their resignations after accounting
irregularities were found that led to the suspension of the
company's shares.
Financial Times, 9 February 2008
The Recruitment and Employment
Confederation has appointed Harrison Winterburn to
find its new chief executive.
Recruiter, 30 January 2008
Robert Smith, the former managing director
of Hays Construction & Property, has launched a new
executive search firm for the construction sector called
The Management Recruitment Group.
Recruiter, 30 January 2008
Eden Brown has set aside £218,000
over the last two years to pay for fines after
voluntarily admitting a breach of regulations
to the Office for Fair Trading.
Recruiter, 30 January 2008
Trinity Mirror plc has acquired the online
job board The Career Engineer Limited, which
specialises in the engineering sector, for an initial
consideration of £1.9m and a deferred consideration
of up to £400,000 dependant on achieving specific
operating targets.
Recruitment Consultant, January 2008
Gap Personnel has acquired a controlling
stake in HML Personnel, in a deal worth over
£500,000.
Recruitment Consultant, January 2008
LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS
Legislation
Changes to the immigration rules come into
effect on 29 February 2008, which include changes to the
statutory defence from conviction for employers if they can
prove they check and record documentation, such as passports,
requiring them to undertake repeated checks at
least once a year for those employees who have the right to
remain or enter for a limited period of time.
Recruiter, 6 February 2008
Cases
Merana James v Greenwich London Borough
Council
The Court of Appeal has ruled that temporary worker Merana
James, who worked in Greenwich council's asylum support
team until she was replaced in 2004, does not have the same
protections as a permanent employee, declining to imply
a contract of service where there was no
express agreement.
Court of Appeal, 5 February 2008
Servoca has agreed an undisclosed out of
court settlement with three former senior
managers after taking legal action against them for
alleged breaches of their employment
contracts, alleged breaches of their duties of confidence and
alleged infringement of Windsor Training and
Recruitment's database rights.
Recruiter, 30 January 2008
Mishcon de Reya Workshops
Jennifer Lambe will discuss the timings, implementation and impact of the Points Based System, focusing particularly on Tiers 1, 2 and 5; the duties and responsibilities that the new system will impose upon Employers; and how this overhaul in respect of Immigration policy and practice will affect businesses within the recruitment sector and the employment of overseas nationals in the UK.
Mishcon de Reya
Mishcon de Reya's Recruitment Watch is published by the Recruitment Services Group of Mishcon de Reya Solicitors who were established to meet the demands of their clients within the recruitment sector. The Group is made up of cross departmental specialist lawyers who are able to meet the diverse legal needs of the recruitment industry, with wide and varied experience within the sector and who have a proven track record in being able to meet the growing demand for a one-stop service amongst their recruitment clients.
This article is only intended as a general statement and no action should be taken in reliance on it without specific legal advice.
