CONTENTS

• My Favourites (Catherine Wade-Thomas)
• Article One (Employment and the Law - Recent Developments by Louise Fernandes)
• Article Two (The Secret of My Success; Interview with Denise Walker FREC)
• Don't Miss This (Recruitment Networking Event - HR Directors Business Summit 2008 - REC News Roundup - PR: Eight New Firms Accepted to Membership in the AESC - The Manchester Recruitment Conference & Exhibition, 8th November - PR: Increase Efficiency and Save Costs with Chameleon-i)
• Online Recruitment Update (Hitwise Top 10 Recruitment Sites - Louise's UK Recruiter Blog - Discussion Board Summary - PR: GAAPweb launches CV Database)
• Subscribe/Unsubscribe
• Feedback & Advertising Information

Visit http://www.careersinrecruitment.com for the latest recruitment industry jobs.

My Favourites

www.alacrawiki.com - Great site for a launch into industries if it is the first time you have searched in them. Go to Alacra Spotlights for an industry summary and find all kinds of initial information including the main trade associations.

www.archive.org - You can search here for old websites – excellent to check old bios, verify previous job titles of candidates or similar.

www.globalissues.org - Check this out when you are having a bad day (or to get some perspective on any day). Superb reminder of how lucky we are. 

Catherine Wade-Thomas is a senior researcher at Highfield Human Solutions

Why not submit your 3 favourite web sites. See the guidelines at http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/articles.htm

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Article One: Employment and the Law – Recent Developments by Louise Fernandes

Louise Fernandes of Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP reports on the latest employment law developments.

Partner loses age discrimination claim 
In one of the first decisions under the new age equality legislation, an employment tribunal has confirmed that a law firm did not discriminate unlawfully on the grounds of age when it changed its pension arrangements. The decision sheds some light on the future interpretation of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, particularly in relation to the justification defence (which unusually applies to both direct and indirect age discrimination). 

In Bloxham v Freshfields, Freshfields overhauled its pension arrangements for partners to address the conflicting interests between different generations of partners. In doing so, it implemented transitional arrangements for those partners close to retirement age. Mr Bloxham subsequently claimed age discrimination on the basis that he was disadvantaged by the transitional arrangements. 

The tribunal confirmed that he had suffered direct discrimination as he had been treated less favourably on the grounds of age by virtue of the transitional arrangements. However, it held that the treatment was justified and therefore lawful. Interestingly, the tribunal noted that the justification test (i.e. that the treatment was justified as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim) was not merely met but 'comfortably passed' by Freshfields and it accepted Freshfields' arguments, which included the following:
- the reform of the pension scheme was necessary for the firm and finding a fair and acceptable solution was a difficult matter; 
- the solution was arrived at after many months of work and analysis, including expert assistance; and
- no alternative less discriminatory solution could be conceived.
It remains to be seen whether this decision will be appealed. In the meantime, although it is a first instance decision and therefore not binding on future tribunals, the tribunal's consideration of the above factors provides some guidance as to how the concept of justification will be approached in future cases. 

ECJ decision in Spanish age discrimination case 
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has confirmed that the Equal Treatment Framework Directive (which prohibits discrimination on a number of grounds, including age), does not prohibit a law which provides for compulsory retirement clauses in collective agreements. 

Although this case concerned Spanish law, it has ramifications for all EU member states. As noted in an earlier article, Heyday is in the process of challenging the UK's own retirement provisions. Although this decision could cause difficulties for Heyday, it provides useful guidance for all employers on whether retirement provisions are discriminatory on the grounds of age. 

In Palacios de la Villa v Cortefiel Servicios SA, the ECJ examined a Spanish legal provision which allows clauses in collective agreements to provide for a contract of employment to be terminated on the grounds that a worker has reached the normal retirement age, providing that he has completed the minimum pension contribution period and satisfied certain conditions. 

Earlier this year, the Advocate General delivered an opinion in this case, stating that the principle of non-discrimination on the grounds of age under the Equal Treatment Framework Directive did not apply to national laws which set retirement ages. The ECJ, however, did not agree with this reasoning. It considered that the Spanish legal provisions should be regarded as rules relating to 'employment and working conditions, including dismissals and pay', which were within the scope of the Directive. It did agree, however, with the Advocate General that the Spanish law was introduced in the interests of promoting employment and takes account of the fact that the workers are entitled to financial compensation by way of a retirement pension. The law was therefore objectively justified and not prohibited by the Directive.

Maternity/additional paternity leave and pay - delay until April 2010 
The Government’s plans to extend Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance and Statutory Adoption Pay from 39 weeks to 52 weeks and to introduce Additional Paternity Leave and Pay by the end of this Parliament have been delayed.

HMRC has stated that it has, up to now, been planning on the basis of implementation for babies due on or after April 2009 and that it "will now start planning implementation for babies due on or after April 2010" (although, once again, no firm timing decisions have been taken). 

Agency workers' entitlement to Statutory Sick Pay 
According to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the Department for Work and Pensions will be taking steps to amend the Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002, in order to restore the Government's policy intention that agency workers with contracts of less than 3 months should not be excluded from entitlement to Statutory Sick Pay. HMRC has stated that preparatory work to amend the Regulations will take place during the coming months.

Louise Fernandes is the Professional Support Lawyer in the Employment Department at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP and can be contacted at louise.fernandes@ffw.com.  

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Article Two: The Secret of My Success; Interview with Denise Walker FREC

Denise began her recruitment career in 1986. Hired straight from college as a Trainee Recruitment Consultant with Reed Employment, she quickly progressed through the ranks to Temporaries Controller and Branch Manager. In 1992 Denise set up and ran her own commercial recruitment business, Tulip Recruitment Group (TRG), supplying permanent, contract and temporary recruitment services to SMEs and blue chip organisations in Surrey and Hampshire. Denise sold out in an MBO in August 2003. In 2004, on behalf of the REC, Denise researched, set up and ran RITE( Recruitment Industry Taskforce for Enterprise), the UK’s first sector-specific business support service for the Recruitment Industry. Since 2006 Denise has run her own management consultancy business, Absolutely Business, through which she works with owners and directors of recruitment companies to improve individuals’, groups’ and organisations’ effectiveness through business consultancy, interim management and training services. 

What do you wish you'd known at the start of your career?
I wish I’d known about recruitment earlier. I fell into it, as most do, by registering with the branch in which I ended up working and loved it from the start – warts and all!

Which person within the industry has influenced you the most? 
My friend, Caroline Allen; she is my former business partner and we met whilst working with Reed in the eighties. She is a natural in recruitment, highly successful, ethical and works to high standards - and she is very, very funny. She taught me how to enjoy recruitment and we had a lot of fun together.

Which lesson has taken the longest to learn?
I don’t think you ever stop learning and if we did, wouldn’t life be boring?

What is the biggest mistake a recruiter can make?
Not taking the time to ensure they understand their candidates’ and clients’ needs inside out.

What words of advice would you give to someone starting out in recruitment?
Ensure you work with a quality organisation, with plenty of role models for you to learn from; and ensure you always look after service, sales and processes equally.

What is your favourite interview technique?
Face to face, criteria-based.

Tell me about the most interesting assignment you've worked on
All of them are interesting – and exciting – to me! Even after 21 years in the industry, if I’m helping a clients’ recruiters in their jibs, I jump up and down and get goose bumps when we make placements!

What's the strangest interview situation you've encountered?
Years ago, when I was a rookie, standing in the kitchen of a global communications company, trying to conduct a professional meeting with my client who was the chef with 100 covers to cater for lunch. He was cooking whilst I asked him the questions, whilst standing in a hot, noisy, manic environment – and from that time onwards I always take a clip board with me wherever I go.

What job would you be doing if you weren't in recruitment?
I can’t imagine not being in the industry – when I sold my recruitment business, I thought I would try HR but it wasn’t for me – I missed the sales and the buzz! 

Is there a famous person you'd like to interview?
Anyone who has been ultra successful in business – Richard Branson, Alan Sugar – now that is a cliché! 

What do you think it is that has made you so successful? 
Making the most of all opportunities (I used my college course, the brilliant training I had when I started in recruitment, I learnt from the role models I worked with), taking calculated risks and sheer hard work.

This is the sixth in a series of articles we have introduced to the newsletter. In each article Louise interviews someone who has achieved success within the recruitment industry.  If you would like to recommend someone for inclusion in the series please email contact2@ukrecruiter.co.uk with their details.

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Don't Miss This (sponsored by http://www.alljobsUK.com "The UK’s Jobs Portal")

Recruitment Networking Event, 22nd November, London
The next Recruiter's Network evening takes place on 22nd November, in central London and places are already filling fast!  On this relaxed evening of drinks and networking, you will be joined by expert speakers Tony Bowley and Josh Smith (from The Guardian) who will be discussing their thoughts on the trends we will see in recruitment in the future. Our sponsors are Chameleoni.com and CV-Library. The Guardian is our media partner for 2007.  As usual we are taking bookings on a first come first served basis and may have to limit attendees per organisation.  If you want to come along you can register via http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk 

REC News Roundup
These are links to a selection of press releases the Recruitment Employment Confederation (REC) have produced since the last newsletter was sent.  
- Recruitment industry's turnover at record high of over £26 billion
- Using recruitment agencies to get people into work
- REC highlights benefits and challenges brought by current immigration policies
- REC’S Tom Hadley appointed to Eurociett board
- REC addresses House of Lords Select Committee

HR Directors Business Summit 2008, 29th-30th January 2008, Hilton Birmingham Metropole, UK
"The HR Directors Business Summit brings together the brightest and best HR talent from across Europe. With 500 leading HR Directors attending and over 80 companies exhibiting; this 4-stream conference is set to become the must attend Human Resources event of 2008.  Keynotes include: Liane Hornsey, HR Director at Google; Mary Gober, founder of Mary Gober International; Alex Wilson, Group HR Director at BT; David Fairhurst, Senior VP & Chief People Officer at McDonald’s; Gary Kildare, VP & Chief HR Officer at IBM Global Services. To book your place as a delegate or sponsor call 020 7202 7509 or email Michael.piggott@wtgevents.com.  Call now to see if you qualify for the HR Directors’ discount, your promotional discount code is MK210." www.hrevent.com 

Press Release: Eight New Firms Accepted to Membership in the AESC
"The Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) is pleased to announce the acceptance of eight retained executive search firms into membership. Following extensive reference checks, a site visit, and vote by the AESC regional Councils, the following firms were approved to join the elite AESC community of top-tier search firms. Davenport Major Executive Search, USA; Equinox Partners, USA; Godliman Partners, UK; Highfield Human Solutions, UK; J. Robert Scott Executive Search, USA, Singapore, Hong Kong; Mellaart International, Turkey; Morgan Samuels Company, USA and Slayton Search Partners, USA. For more information, or to download the AESC Code of Ethics and Professional Practice Guidelines, go to www.aesc.org.

The Manchester Recruitment Conference & Exhibition, 8th November
"A Fantastic Industry Event that is free to attend - make the most of it by taking time out to hear from industry experts, leading suppliers and to view the products and services on display from a range of suppliers. If you are looking to improve the products and services you use in your business you need to visit the Renaissance Hotel in Manchester on the 8th November. Here you will meet over 25 top industry suppliers each showcasing an essential product or service - many of whom will be offering special incentives for those attending the Exhibition. The Exhibition & Conference is open all day and there is no charge to attend - make the most of it by taking time out to see the products and services on display. To book your place simply email your name and company details to carmen@dial.pipex.com"

Press Release: Increase Efficiency and Save Costs with Chameleon-i
"On-demand recruitment software solution provider Remedy HCMS Ltd is all set to release the latest version of the web-based recruitment software, Chameleon-i. Version 1.5 has built on an already impressive list of features and the latest performance enhancements ensure greater accuracy and efficiency. Launched to market this Summer, Chameleon-i has been 2 years in development and is already cultivating a steady growth in registrations as the software proves itself in the market. http://www.chameleoni.com"

This section is sponsored by http://www.alljobsUK.com "The UK’s Jobs Portal"

Online Recruitment Update (sponsored by http://www.broadbean.co.uk for "the UK's favourite job posting system")

Hitwise top 10 Recruitment Sites, week ending 3rd November 2007
The most visited UK recruitment sites last week, starting with the most popular, were www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk, www.totaljobs.com, www.jobs.nhs.uk, www.reed.co.uk, www.monster.co.uk, jobs.tes.co.uk, www.jobsite.co.uk, www.linkedin.com, www.s1jobs.com and www.cv-library.co.uk. Hitwise don't aggregate data from sites who form part of a network such as fish4.co.uk For more information about Hitwise, visit http://www.hitwise.co.uk

Louise's UK Recruiter blog
Since the last newsletter I've posted the following: 
- Video CVs
- National Online Recruitment Awards - Winners
- Is Twitter any good for Recruiters?
- Evaluation of your selection process through Psychometrics
- 10 Things Candidate's Hate; 10 Things They Love
- Interview with a Blogger - Alan Whitford
- Facebook and referral recruiting
- Interview with a Blogger - Fran Brill
- Average Salaries by Region in the UK
- comScore's Top 10 UK Career Services & Development Sites
You can read Louise's UK Recruiter blog at http://ukrecruiter.typepad.com  You can keep up to date with other the recruitment blogs from the UK via the UK Recruiter blog watch page at http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/blogs.htm.  

Discussion Board Summary
Don't forget to visit The Discussion Board. Current topics on the site include:
- Contractor Interviews
- factoring
- Business Mentoring
- Best place to search for Recruiters ?
- Contract Rates
- Extra Income
Any postings you or anyone else makes will be included in the weekly digest. Sign up for the free digest here or hit reply to ask me to include your email address.  It is free to use the discussion board and you don't have to register to view messages. Visit the site, ask questions and share your knowledge

Press Release: GAAPweb launches CV Database 
"GAAPweb, the leading specialist jobsite for finance and accounting professionals, is launching a CV database. The database will allow recruitment consultants and clients to access CVs of thousands of candidates who are actively seeking job opportunities. Clients will be able to use a targeted search criteria facility using keywords to find a candidate in a specific region, role or salary range. CV database will display a brief synopsis of each candidate that matches the search, and offers candidates the option to have their full CV with personal reference and comments emailed directly to a registered email address. http://www.gaapweb.com/" 

This section is sponsored by http://www.broadbean.co.uk; "the UK's favourite job posting system".

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Copyright (c) 2007, UK Recruiter Ltd