Saturday, December 1, 2007
HSE, phone home?
How about this for a claim from Health & Safety Executive? ‘Why not try HSE’s new call back service. Simply text the keyword “HSE” to 64446 and they will call you back within one hour. If you can’t come to the phone when they call back don’t worry as their operators will try three times to call you. This service is available Monday to Friday between 9am to 5pm.’ The service is free (although your network provider may add their own charge for a text message) and gives you the option to specify a ‘language preference’.
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above: HSE’s new call back service is available Monday to Friday between 9am to 5pm.
Santas warned ‘ho ho ho’ offensive to women
Australia’s largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas’s traditional ‘ho ho ho’ greeting because it may be offensive to women. Sydney’s Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say ‘ha ha ha’ instead. One disgruntled Santa told a local newspaper that a recruitment firm warned him not to use ‘ho ho ho’ because it could frighten children and was too close to ‘ho’, a US slang term for prostitute. ‘Gimme a break,’ said Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free 2B Kids. ‘We are talking about little kids who do not understand that “ho, ho, ho” has any other connotation and nor should they,’ she said. ‘Leave Santa alone!’. A local spokesman for the US-based Westaff recruitment firm said it was ‘misleading’ to say the company had banned Santa’s traditional greeting and it was being left up to the discretion of the individual Santa himself. More
Cut Down on Christmas Waste This Year and Go Green!
Christmas! A time of goodwill and celebration. Unfortunately it will also result in an estimated 3 million tonnes of waste. But with a bit of thought, you can limit the impact you have on the environment this Christmas and still have a great time. Having a green Christmas doesn’t mean being a Scrooge! Check out these web sites for recycling and recycled goods.
- Recycled Products Guide/Recycle now — directories of products made from recycled materials.
- MPS Online or call 020 7291 3310 to remove your name from mailing lists.
- Christmas Card Recycling Scheme — find out where to recycle your Christmas cards.
Adopt Half an Acre of Rainforest for Just £25
Rainforest Concern, one of the UK’s leading rainforest protection charities, have the perfect solution for people looking for a unique and everlasting Christmas gift that won’t cost the earth — the chance to adopt half an acre of rainforest for just £25. The donation will be used to purchase and protect some of the most threatened species rich rainforests in the world. Rainforest Concern has been working for 14 years to protect the world’s tropical rainforests and the incredible biodiversity they contain, together with the indigenous people who still depend on them for their survival. Much of their work concerns the creation of protected corridors of forest between existing reserves to avoid isolating fragments leading to a diminishing gene pool and the greater risk of forest fire. Recipients of the gift, will get a personalised certificate and will be kept up-to-date about Rainforest Concerns projects. Those sponsoring five acres or more will receive a Rainforest Concern T-shirt. For more information by telephone, call the Rainforest Concern team on 0207 229 2093. More
Your brain is a muscle. It craves exercise.
Get your head into gear with teach yourself training your brain. This book is an irresistible mix of fun tools and essential information on how to really use your brain to get the edge both at work and play. Not only offering plenty of fun puzzles and quizzes that gives your brain the mental equivalent of a jog around the park followed by a spot of weight training, Teach Yourself Training Your Brain also offers great advice for maximising your cerebral dexterity through diet, exercise and generally healthy lifestyle. With a foreword by the esteemed Professor Susan Greenfield, one of Britain’s best known scientists, and a Member of the House of Lords, this will be the must have book for 2008. More
Online register could be just the job
A new job share register is matching up employers and job seekers who want flexibility, not nine-to-five. Following a successful bid to the government’s quality part time work fund, a web site has been launched with the aim of increasing the availability of higher level part-time work, job shares and full-time vacancies open to job-sharing. Candidates interested in possible job share opportunities can register free online and search for vacancies as well as potential job share partners. As the service is government funded, employers can post their part-time jobs on the site free of charge until April 2008. More
Warning to employers taking on Christmas workers
Companies taking on temporary workers in the run-up to Christmas should ensure they are given the same rights and privileges as other staff or run the risk of employment tribunals. Temporary workers, other than agency staff, are still considered as employees in the eyes of the law and cannot be treated any less favourably than permanent staff doing the same type of job. Employers should not use their fixed-term status to avoid issuing them with an employment contract, or giving them paid holidays and similar benefits. However you may be able to justify not giving them a company car or pension benefits. Temporary workers are entitled to paid holiday and the protection of the working time regulations. They must also be paid at least the minimum wage. All employees working more than six hours are entitled to a rest break of at least 20 minutes. Despite the temporary nature of the work, it is still important to comply with employment regulations or you run the risk of being taken to a tribunal. More
My Budget Day!
A top insurance firm is urging all employers to get involved in a national initiative to encourage all UK adults to commit one hour a month to sorting out their finances. AXA is concerned that adults are not motivated enough to spend an hour of their free time trying to better manage their money, and is asking employers to help kick-start the programme by allowing their employees to get started on work time. While four in ten businesses surveyed by AXA said they would give their employees an hour of work time to spend improving their finances, just over half (51.9 per cent) refused. My Budget Day is a breath of fresh air and should be seen as a new and innovative way for employers to engage with and motivate their workforce. It is a brilliant example of corporate responsibility in action and shows how an employer’s role really can extend beyond getting the job done. More
Take hippo time this christmas!
While Christmas can be great fun, more often than not it’s also extremely stressful as we rush to buy presents, attend parties, the school nativity play, entertain — all the while trying to achieve the ‘perfect Christmas’ and all-round festive celebrations — sound familiar, then read on! According to the S.U.M.O. guy, Paul McGee, the top relationships guru, the best way to cope is to schedule some ‘Hippo Time’ so we are not only happier in ourselves, but also better placed to deal with the stress and pressures of the season. Hippos don’t just go into the mud or water to wallow — they go there to get out of the heat, to cool down and play. You will be better placed to deal with the festive season if you can get it into perspective, Christmas Day is only one day out of 365. Stop thinking everything has to be ‘perfect’. S.U.M.O. Your Relationships — how to handle, not strangle the people you live and work with (Capstone, £12.99), to help you cope this Christmas.
Sign up for a free Office Security Guide from BinRaiding.com
If you want to know more about the issues regarding the growing crime of identity fraud, then it will be worth visiting a new web site. BinRaiding.com has been established as a portal for information relating to identity fraud which recently went live. There is a FREE office security guide for all those who sign up for the BinRaiding.com newsletter. Anyone who is worried about security in their workplace should sign up for their FREE copy. More
Over time
Time was when overtime was extra money for extra work, but it’s not so simple anymore. A feature in the New York Times suggests in today’s perpetual workplace, where downtime has merged with work time, where you can carry your office in your pocket, where collars are no longer distinctly blue or white, it can be nigh on impossible to draw a line between your time and your boss’s. More
Working capital
A ‘smarter’ working campaign for London, ‘Work Wise London’, was recently launched and it aims to encourage a greater take up of smarter working practices across the capital, providing a more modern and flexible approach to working and commuting. More
Office or Home?
Almost a third of full-time employees are now resisting the delights of the office to spend some time each month working at home. A YouGov survey commissioned by insurer Zurich found these ‘ad hoc home workers’ clock up an average of almost 16 hours working at home each month — roughly half a day a week. More
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