This week in HRreview: 19th - 23rd August

Listed below are the biggest stories you may have missed this week.

Over 17,000 supporters for petition to adjust bereavement leave to include rights when pets die

Emma McNulty, an 18 year-old student from Glasgow was fired from her job for not showing up for work due to the death of her dog. In response to this she has started a petition which has over 17,000 supporters, for the right to bereavement leave when an employee experiences the loss of a pet.

Ms McNulty was working part-time in a sandwich shop. She attempted to find someone who could cover her shift but to no avail and therefore lost her job. Ms McNulty, claimed she was physically sick when her pet passed on. She also lost her job on the same day she lost her dog.

Weirdest questions candidates have been asked during an interview

A survey conducted by Adecco, a HR provider and temporary staffing firm uncovered that interviewees have been asked questions that have no relevance to the job like “have you ever seen an invisible man” or being asked to do odd tasks like clapping like a duck.

App used for financial wellbeing and income streaming adopted by Bella Italia and Café Rouge

Casual Dining Group (CDG) an independent restaurant company based in the UK who operate such brands as Bella Italia, Café Rouge and others have signed up with financial wellbeing and income streaming app Wagestream, which has given access to just under a fifth of its employees to a drawdown of over £900,000.

CDG is offering this service to its 7,000 employees across 280 UK restaurants, with 19 per cent of its workers having already used the app at least once to stream their earned wages of £902,623. The app allows staff to drawdown a percentage of their earned wages any day of the month for a fee of £1.75, with no loans or interest rates charged. The app believes it promotes financial wellbeing by building “greater financial wellness by playing a vital step in eliminating the payday poverty cycle faced by millions of people.”

UK workers put off from applying to jobs due to jargon used in advertisements

Milkround, the graduate specialist found that 50 per cent of job seekers are put off from applying to a job due to the jargon used in its advertisements.

The most hated jargon in ads were ‘blue-sky thinking’, ‘open the kimono’ and ‘ thought shower’ with the UK public also being put off by the job titles advertised such as ‘New Media Czar’, ‘Coordinator of Interpretive Teaching’ and ‘Conversation Architect’. Just under half (48 per cent) of graduates admitted to turning up to an interview still unsure what the role even entails.  The research also found that 75 per cent of grads want adverts to be written in plain English as well as 55 per cent feeling stressed by the job application process.

Tesco becomes first CIPD People Development Partner

The CIPD have named Tesco as its first partner under a new initiative it has launched for HR and Learning & Development (L&D) teams, the CIPD People Development Partner which will help companies go “above and beyond” in delivering a team that has the very best HR capabilities, knowledge and expertise.

Tesco is the first partner of the scheme, due to the fact that the supermarket chain has worked with the CIPD, for a number of years in order to develop its HR capabilities. The scheme acknowledges companies that make a clear commitment to raise the “level of expertise and influence that their people team has within their organisation.” It recognises a businesses’ desire to develop its people team as a whole as well as individuals in HR.

Read HRreview for all the latest HR news and trends.

 

 

 

 

Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.