Green Apple Awards

We were delighted to find ourselves on the international stage at the Green Apple Awards for Environmental Best Practice and Sustainable Development.

Our paperless office project saw us pick up a silver award in the Services Industry category. With over 500 entries this year to be one of just 80 companies receiving awards made us rather proud of ourselves!

Our paperless office project has been a huge undertaking and although we can’t verify we’re the first business in the country to operate virtually paper free we haven’t come across any who have converted to an electronic office to such an extent.

And that was endorsed by our award which we were presented with by former Bond girl, actress Alexandra Bastedo in front of companies, public sector organisations and VIPs from as far afield as Brazil,Eritrea and India – at the Houses of Parliament no less.

Our blue print is going to be used by the awards organisers to encourage others to follow our example and at least take steps towards a more environmentally friendly way of running an office – which we’ve found to also be cost effective and more efficient.

We’re doing a bit of trailblazing ourselves – talking to clients about little things they can do to follow our lead.

We’re happy to share our thoughts if you want to get in touch.

Santa Claus is coming to town – in force!

Last year the mud and frost left us all looking far worse than Santa ever looks even after dropping down endless chimneys! But we were rather pleased with ourselves after the three mile ‘run’ round Burghley Park which helped us raise well over £500 for the Peterborough branch of the NSPCC.

We entered a team in the Rotary Club of Stamford Burghley’s Santa Fun Run which saw 10 of us, dressed as Santas, taking part in the event.

And I must say – it was funny! Seeing around 300 Santas of all shapes and sizes running, walking and sliding, in some cases, around Burghley Park certainly helped drum up some Christmas spirit!

So, this year, we’re taking part again. And once again we’re sponsoring the refreshments, giving out mince pies, mulled wine and hot chocolate to the finishers.
Overall, the 26 teams in last year’s event raised a colossal £15,000 for charity – what a positive way to head into the season of goodwill.

If you feel able to give a donation please go to our justgiving page. And if you are up for a bit of a giggle do come and cheer us on at Burghley Park. We start at 11am on Sunday, December 13.

I’ll let you know how we get on.

ACR sponsors NHS Trust awards evening

Playing an active role in the community is very much part of our ethos. So it was with pleasure that we co-sponsored the Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Trust Annual Awards held this week.

And what an eye-opener the evening was.

One hundred NHS Trust employees and volunteers were recognised for their commitment, dedication and hard work during the event. It was the stories you never hear about which touched the guests – including me. There was the volunteer who has played the piano at the hospital chapel’s Sunday morning service for 20 years. The employees who have worked in the hospital, unstintingly, for 25 years. The teams who have worked so well together they have made the kind of difference a group of individuals never could.

Our sponsorship enabled the Trust to put on an event that really helped show its staff and volunteers just how much they are appreciated – not just by the Trust but by the region as a whole.

From our perspective, helping to mark the achievements of so many incredible local people was nothing short of an honour.

AWD - 2011

One of our management team Karen Dykes spent Friday in Leeds at the fourth Agency Summit to discuss the EU Agency Workers Directive draft regulations.

This Directive will give agency workers equal treatment to permanent staff 12 weeks into an assignment. It has been recognised since these regulations were first discussed that there is going to be a huge impact on the recruitment industry – we’re going to be in the frontline of its delivery.

We now know it’s going to be implemented on October 1, 2011.

The good news is that its introduction has been delayed until then. The over-riding feeling among agencies is that this legislation is going to stall demand for temps as companies manage without rather than incurring the costs involved in implementing the new rules. With the economy as it is if that had happened now it could have proved disastrous.

The other win as far as we’re concerned is the second consultation period which the government has agreed to before the legislation is rubber stamped early next year.

It’s another eight weeks grace for us to lobby parliament and our MPs about the nitty gritty of the document. There is a lot of ambiguity within it and some loopholes which must be dealt with.

We will be continuing to work with the REC and other agencies to ensure that when the final document is produced it is both realistic and workable. And once it’s been through parliament and is on the statute books we will be working with our clients to ensure that its implementation is as smooth as possible.

AWD latest news

The Agency Workers Directive isn’t a ‘sexy’ subject like house prices, tax rises and public spending. But I was delighted to see it on the agenda at this season’s political party conferences. It means the Directive, and its implications, are being seriously considered by our politicians.

The REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation)was at each of the conferences, representing its members – which includes ACR – and putting the case against the immediate implementation of this legislation.

Political arguments aren’t my style but I was pleased to see that at least one of the major parties seemed to understand the concerns that thousands of agencies like ours share about the impact the introduction of the Directive will have on an already slack labour market.

The European Parliament has stipulated the Directive must be brought in by December 2011 at the latest. There has been a suggestion it will actually be on the statute books by next April. That makes us very nervous. Our worry is that the cost of putting in place the necessary strategies to deal with the Directive – let alone the cost of actually funding the new rules – will mean many small businesses, charities and the like will simply refuse to use temporary staff. This could be disastrous – not only for industry but for the already precarious employment market.

Our argument is that the Directive – inspired by a desire to offer more extensive protection to ‘vulnerable’ agency workers – is going to have a negative effect on all agency workers.

The REC is holding a conference next month which should give us more information about how we can continue to fight to delay the introduction of the Directive.

Back to Business Club

Positive moves to get people back to work are to be applauded. So, although public speaking isn’t my most favourite thing, I was pleased to accept the invitation to present to members of the newly-formed Back to Business Club.

Launched by the Greater Peterborough Partnership, the club is aimed at professionals who have been made redundant and are now looking at their options.

Our involvement was sought from the outset, as an agency which deals with the kind of professionals the club is aimed at. And, having met some of the people using the club, I’m delighted we made that commitment.

During the session which I tagged ‘Signposting the journey back to work’, there was a really good rapport and people obviously found ‘comfort’ if you like in the fact that they were all in the same boat. Job clubs aren’t for everyone, as I’ve said before, but they can provide a valuable focus while offering constructive and relevant advice – and the networking value shouldn’t be dismissed either.

We talked about the current jobs market, the importance of being methodical and organised in your job search and places to look for jobs that aren’t always obvious.

Moving forward with the project we plan to continue feeding relevant job adverts through to the club and its members.

Sessions are held every Thursday from 2pm to 5pm at Peterborough College of Adult Education.

http://www.gpp-peterborough.org.uk/backtobusiness.php

Breakfast briefing a success

An early start this morning – it was the annual Employment Law Breakfast Briefing which we run with Hegarty LLP Solicitors.

With an incredible 40 per cent increase in the cases of unfair dismissal filed since April – the majority of which were related to redundancy procedures – and the continuing difficult times for a lot of companies, redundancy had to be at the top of the list of subjects for discussion.

Around 200 delegates – mainly HR professionals and business people – gathered to listen to employment law experts Martin Bloom and Tim Thompson. As ever, they did an admirable job of updating us with current thinking, procedures and the law – this year in regard to redundancy and fair selection.

One of the key points I came away with was ‘Polkey’ – a House of Lords precedent which dates back to 1988. Polkey has been resurrected over recent years and often comes into play at tribunals, according to Martin. Basically even if an employer has engaged in a redundancy process which a tribunal finds to be procedurally unfair the tribunal can rule in favour of the employee but not make an award if it believes the same redundancy decision would have been made anyway. I thought that was an interesting point for employees to bear in mind when deciding whether to take a former employer to tribunal.

Besides that, there was all sorts of useful information about redundancy procedures and also some positive thoughts about how companies can change terms of contract to try and stave off the threat of redundancy, while staying within the law.

A useful couple of hours, as always.