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Violence against shopworkers doubles in the retail crime epidemic
Violence against shopworkers doubles in the retail crime epidemic
Retail trade union Usdaw has recently announced shocking statistics from their annual survey of over 5,500 retail staff showing that 18% of shopworkers suffered a violent attack last year, compared to 8% in 2022. The increase in assaults comes during an epidemic of retail crime with official stats and reports from retailers showing significant increases in theft from shops. The survey also found the number of incidents has come down since the exceptionally high levels during the pandemic, but remain higher than pre-Covid levels in 2019. In the last twelve months (pre-pandemic levels, from the 2019 survey):
- 70% (68%) have experienced verbal abuse
- 46% (43%) were threatened by a customer
- 18% (5%) were assaulted
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “No-one should feel afraid to go to work, but our evidence shows that too many retail workers are. It is shocking that nearly a fifth of our members working in retail are being assaulted for simply doing their job and serving the community. They provide an essential service and deserve our respect and the protection of the law.
“Violence and abuse is not an acceptable part of the job and much more needs to be done to protect shopworkers. The UK Government has repeatedly failed to act in the face of an epidemic of retail crime, rising theft from shops and assaults against retail workers. It is disappointing that they have no measures in their legislative programme to tackle this issue. We support opposition attempts to amend the Government’s Criminal Justice Bill, so that the law is strengthened to protect shopworkers from violence, threats and abuse.
“A protection of shopworkers law is also supported by many retailers. It already exists in Scotland and has secured over 500 convictions. We also need more neighbourhood police with patrols in town centres, respect orders to ban repeat offenders and an end to the £200 threshold for investigating and prosecuting shop theft. Most of all, we ask the public to support our campaign by respecting shopworkers.”
Women less likely than men to believe they can get into university
Women less likely than men to believe they can get into university
Women are more pessimistic than men about their chances of getting accepted into university, reveals new research by the University of Cologne. The study, conducted by Professor Marita Jacob, in collaboration with Melinda Erdmann and Marcel Helbig, Berlin Social Science Center, investigated why female upper secondary school students may refrain from enrolment into college or university.
They found women are more pessimistic than men about achieving their aspirations of going into higher education, despite the fact they are equally interested in pursuing higher education as their male counterparts – women even express higher aspirations for college enrolment than men.
The researchers say that while factors such as probability of success and perceived cost impact both genders, young women are also affected by formal restrictions limiting entry to their preferred fields of study. For example, there are high entry requirements for medicine, psychology or law and many women often don’t believe they will achieve the correct grades to be accepted.
“The finding that women do not realise their college aspirations is particularly noteworthy, as women on average achieve higher grades than men, giving them a considerable advantage in the competition for scarce study places. The first ‘leak’ in the pipeline for academic careers in Germany therefore occurs even before actual enrolment”.
In order to enable more talented young women to realise their academic ambitions and to counteract the phenomenon of “lost talents”, the researchers particularly advise forming initiatives such as guidance counselling to encourage and support young women and men in pursuing their goals.
Understanding and supporting employees who foster
Understanding and Supporting Employees who Foster
The Fostering Network, the leading charity for foster care in the UK, estimates that 1 in 800 employees combine their work with being a foster carer, offering vital support and love to ‘looked after’ children.
Scotland (and across the UK) has got a real challenge around the lack of foster carers. The Fostering Friendly Employers (FFE) offer helps employers play a part in both encouraging and supporting employees who could be, or already are foster carers, as well as demonstrating wider organisation social values. 40% of the UK’s foster carers manage their caring responsibilities alongside other employment. Seeing more employees from within Scotland’s corporate sector engaging, will help play a part in building both numbers and diversity.
The Fostering Friendly employers scheme supports companies to understand foster carers’ needs and responsibilities and put in place a simple policy to ensure they are met. The charity can help promote companies’ accreditation and raise awareness of foster care among staff teams.
Employees are hugely appreciative of the scheme: “I return to work inspired and motivated; even more determined to make a difference, because I’ve supported a young person through a difficult situation. Foster caring spurs you on in every aspect of your life.”
The scheme is growing fast, with over 160 employers signed up including John Lewis, Nationwide and Santander. It also has the full support of the Scottish Government, not least because foster families care for over 4,000 children in Scotland and hundreds more are needed every year.
Contact the charity at: FosteringFriendly@fostering.net to find out how you can benefit.
OUT TODAY – March 2024 Issue of Hr NETWORK Magazine
OUT TODAY – March 2024 Issue of Hr NETWORK Magazine
Hr NETWORK is ‘The Hub’ of Scottish HR and people development with an ‘Access All Areas’ pass to Scotland’s most influential human resource and business professionals across all sectors in Scotland. As well as readers from the world of HR, the magazine is also extremely popular within SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) organisations and is very useful for line managers, heads of department, senior management, managing directors and other professionals throughout the country who play a vital role in the development of people within all industry sectors in Scotland. Published bi-monthly, Hr NETWORK Magazine is informative and a ‘must have’ for its readers, and brings with it in every issue, great opportunities and benefits for advertisers and sponsors too.
Hr NETWORK Magazine March 2024
Future Leaders: Recognising their unhatched potential
Modern leaders must be adaptable, innovative and collaborative to add organisational value. But how can they shape their people policies so they’re fit for the future? Andy Moore discovers how they can unhatch their potential and achieve their goals.
Also in the latest issue:
- The regular sections of the magazine include: Stats, EXTRA and The Bookshop
- The ‘Insights’ section features first class comment from those in the know on a range of subjects including: Financial Insecurity, Hybrid Working, Heart-centred Leadership, Menopause at Work
Click the front cover below to read the latest issue:
Hr NETWORK National Awards 2024: NOMINATIONS OPEN TODAY!!
NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!!
Nominations for this years Hr NETWORK National Awards 2024 have opened TODAY and this is your chance to RECOGNISE, ACKNOWLEDGE and REWARD your HR Champions of 2024.
Award Categories for 2024
With 18 awards categories in total, which are FREE to enter, the Awards will determine the top performing HR people, teams, projects and organisations in the Scottish people development and management industry. The ‘Nominations Intention’ scheme captures early interest from those intending to nominate and provides support and ongoing updates on all the categories during the nominations process, running from 1st March to 31st May 2024.
Table sales for this year’s awards will be in extremely high demand and organisations wishing to host a table of 10, are strongly advised to secure their table as soon as possible. The winners will be announced at the annual Hr NETWORK Awards Gala Dinner taking place at the hugely impressive Glasgow Hilton on Thursday 14th November 2024.
The Awards categories are judged in two sections, People categories and Project categories:
People
These categories focus on individuals (except for the HR Team category). Judges are looking for exceptional individuals who MUST demonstrate that they are at the top in their respective role.
Projects
These categories focus on projects/specific initiatives that have had a measurable impact in the organisation.
To register your interest in the 2024 nominations process, please email the awards planning team: awards@hrnetworkscotland.co.uk
For information relating to the Gala Dinner which takes place at the Hilton Glasgow on Thursday 10th November 2022, including Table Hosting and Sponsorship, please contact the Awards Planning Team on Tel: 0131 625 3267 or Email: awards@hrnetworkscotland.co.uk
For a full list of categories & criteria, please visit:
– Hr NETWORK AWARDS 2024 CATEGORIES –
LAST CHANCE FOR EARLY BIRD – Hr NETWORK ‘FUTURE LEADERS’ Conference & Exhibition 2024
LAST CHANCE FOR EARLY BIRD – Hr NETWORK ‘FUTURE LEADERS’ Conference & Exhibition #HRNC24 – Thursday 9th May 2024 – BT Murrayfield Stadium
We’d love to see you at this years ‘FUTURE LEADERS’ Conference and Exhibition and if you haven’t done so already, this is your LAST CHANCE to save £40 per booking as the EARLY DISCOUNT ends TODAY!! You can still book your delegate place after today however the cost will increase to £165+VAT per delegate.
SAVE £40 NOW!!! – TODAY ONLY!!
(By booking TODAY*)
The Early Bird discount for each delegate attending the Conference & Exhibition on Thursday 9th May is £125+VAT and we have group booking discounts for groups of 5 delegates or more. Please note that the Early Bird booking discount is available until 29th February 2024. From 1st March 2024, the cost per delegate is £165+VAT.
Delegate Package includes:
- 6 Keynote Speakers (Including 1 Panel Discussion)
- Networking & Exhibitor Area
- Lunch & Refreshments
- Delegate Bag and Goodies
- Official Conference Programme & Delegate List
- Plus much, much more
FUTURE LEADERS
The full list of Keynote Speakers and session details is also available on the Conference page of our website – LINK BELOW.
Keynote Sessions:
- Jane Sparrow, The Culture Builders – Leading Through the Revolution: Equipping leaders to manage themselves and others through change and evolution
- Matt Swarbrick, CMI – Empathy In Leadership: ‘Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes’
- Katie Leveson, BBC Studioworks – LeadershipWorks: Ensuring the right culture, shape and skills are in place for the future of media
- The Big Picture Senior HR Panel Discussion, Chair by Clare Moore: Discussing aspirations, challenges, and expectations of future workplaces
- Jacques Quinio, Right Management – TITLE TO BE ANNOUNCED
- Zara Janjua and Atholl Duncan, The Edge Consultancy – The 7 Secrets of Inspiring Communication: The must-have skill for future leaders
Please note that this is a sample of keynote session themes with many other theme’s being featured at the Conference and the full speaker programme will be published on our website in due course!
(Please note these are topics for the Conference & Exhibition in May 2024 and are subject to change, depending on speaker availability.)
To secure your delegate place/s, and to take advantage of the Early Bird booking discount, please complete the booking form and we will send you joining instructions for the Hr NETWORK ‘Future Leaders’ Conference and Exhibition 2024, which will be emailed to you in due course.
https://hrnetworkjobs.com/events/conference/delegate-booking-form/
If you have any enquiries with reference to the conference, including sponsor and exhibitor opportunities, please do not hesitate to contact the Conference Planning Team on Telephone: 0131 625 3267 or email: subscriptions@hrnetworkscotland.co.uk
WE LOOK FORWARD TO WELCOMING YOU TO THE IN-PERSON CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION on Thursday 9TH MAY 2024.
(*Please note that there is currently a high demand for delegate places at this time and to secure your place and avoid any disappointment, you are encouraged to submit a booking form at your earliest convenience)