Entries from October 2006
As you all may know The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations Act was introduced on 1st October 2006, making it unlawful to discriminate against individuals on the basis of age in recruitment and employment.
We thought it might be useful to give you some pointers on writing your Job Descriptions – particularly if you are using job boards like www.workinproperty.com to advertise your vacancies.
Remember a job description is their to outline the duties required of the position along with the skills, knowledge and experience required to carry out these duties in a succesfull way.
Avoid any reference to the age group of the desired applicant or the age group of any colleagues that the successful applicant will be working with, e.g. ‘applicant needed to work with a young, lively team’.
Add the words ‘or equivalent’ next to any academic qualifications. Stating a specific qualification such as GCSE could be deemed as ruling out many older people who left school before GCSEs were introduced.
Avoid using words like ‘junior’ and ’senior’” or mature” in your description also be aware of the implications of using it in job titles.
Avoid asking for ‘x years experience’.
You may also it helpful to monitor how effective your recruitment process is by monitoring the number of candidates of different age groups who applied, were short-listed, interviewed and appointed.
Categories: Human Resources
London Human Resouces professionals are earning 11 per cent more than the national average, the CIPD’s latest pay survey has revealed. This is up 6 percentage points from last year’s research.
The Personnel Rewards Survey 2006, conducted with Croner Reward, also found that Northern Ireland continued to be the least well rewarded, with its HR officers 9 per cent worse off than average.
Read More…
Categories: Human Resources
The RICS presented the Oscar’s of the Built and Natural Environment at a recent event in London.
The RICS’s 2006 Project of the Year was awarded to The Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth.
The Tower was initially conceived in 1995, with construction not starting till 2001. The project was due to be completed in1999 to coincide with the Millenium celebrations. However, due to repeated delays by the main contractor, Mowlem, the project was finally completed in 2005, six years later than planned at a cost of over £35m.
The funding for the project was meant to be solely from the National Lottery. Due to the overspend, the local taxpayers had to contribute a massive £11.1m. The failures of the Local Authority lead to the resignation of the Council Leader and the suspension of the project’s legal advisor – (on full pay of course).
On the day of the actual opening, the Project Manager and representatives from Mowlem were stuck in the lift for over an hour and half. They had to be rescued by abseiling engineers.
Since the tower has opened there have been numerous security concerns – highlighted by both base jumpers and Fathers 4 Justice.
Cracks have already started to develop within the structure.
Just to remind ourselves - this was the winner of the RICS’s oscars! Imagine what the other 216 entries where like?
Categories: Architecture · Property News
According to reports in Construction News, people who work in the construction industry are amongst the most likely to have an affair.
A spokesman for construction workers said ‘ I have never seen her before…’
Categories: Property News
THE African family of Madonna’s newly adopted child has demanded an invitation to her multi-million-pound mansions to check on his welfare and living conditions, writes Steven Swinford and Christopher Thompson.
Pofera Banda, the baby’s uncle, expressed concern that the singer was “taking advantage” of his family. He said they wanted to come to England to see the baby’s new home.
Incidently “Baby David’s” new home is a £9 million, six Bedroom, 1300 acre Ashcombe Estate inWiltshire, maybe the relatives would be less keen to pop round if it was a one bedoom flat in Hackney!..
Categories: Property News
Multiplex and Wembley National Stadium Ltd have finally reached an agreement on their long-running dispute. An additional payment of £36m will be paid to Multiplex. The settlement figure, revealed in this mornings Telegraph, falls short of the initial demands of Multiplex, which were reported to be in the region of £100m.
The payment will be subject to not only the approval of WNSL’s financiers but also the satisfactory completion of the outstanding works by the cup final on the 19th May.
Just when Multiplex thought they were running through to an open net, WNSL slides in with a nasty two footed tackle – after the ref’s poor judgements so far, we can only guess what decision he will give this time.
Hopefully our last chance to show this great cartoon……
Categories: Property News
The use of a carefully placed abstract painting or classical sculpture can make all the difference to a successful sale.
‘To my clients, art is indicative of the wealth and substance of the vendor,’ says Robert Bailey founder of , a high- end buying agency that works with clients who have budgets that run into millions of pounds.
‘If they see cheap prints in a £5m place, buyers think that the property is the vendor’s main asset and that they must need the money more than someone with a Faberge desk set and a couple of Picassos in the lobby. The Picassos make the buyer a little less inclined to chip them (make a lower offer) on the price.’
We say anyone who buys a £10m Picasso to sell a £5m house deserves to be chipped!
Categories: Property News
We rather liked the latest balancing act posted on the Building Website.
Great surveying skills – taking the photo from the car without being seen!
Categories: Property News
Barajas Airport in Madrid won the RIBA Stirling Prize last night in a glitzy ceremony at the Roundhouse in London. Richard Rogers Partnership, which designed the building, collected a well deserved cheque for £20,ooo. Very nice.
Interestingly enough, the Guardian ran an article on Saturday listing the previous winners of the prestigious award.
The article focused on the problems encountered with the new buildings. As one architect reported, some of the previous winners are not even fit for their purpose.
Take for example the Lord’s Media Centre - the BBC correspondent, Christopher Martin – Jenkins claims it is so bright you can’t see your laptop.
Perhaps Richard Rogers Partnership should hand the £20,000 to their client to help pay for the cleaning of the glass.
Categories: Architecture · Blogroll · Property News
