Our company is a small financial services outfit and, although our staffing generally is split almost 30:70 between English/white employees and employees from ethnic minority backgrounds, there is only one individual in senior management who is from an ethnic minority background and no-one on the board who is from an ethnic minority background.  Similarly, there are no women on the board or in the senior management team.  The board has now decided that, to tackle this and encourage women and those of ethnic minority backgrounds to apply for such roles, it will accept applications for senior management positions from women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds only for the next two years.  
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today's top tip
Facing up to face book - the perils of social networking sites in the work-place
Over the past few yeas, employers have faced increasing problems arising out of the use of social networking sites and blogs in the work-place.  As a consequence, some employers have banned all use of such sites at work but this can be seen as an over the top reaction.  The sites do have potential advantages for employers - many employees, regardless of age, find social networking sites to be a great way of maintaining relationships with clients and contacts in a quick and informal manner. This article considers the risks arising from usage and means for reducing those risks.
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today's news
oi ref!: whistleblowing - how to spot the red card
The recent BP oil-spill disaster has shone the spotlight on whistleblowing as disaster prevention, however the recent trends of Tribunals’ decisions on this issue have somewhat stretched the ambit of the legislation. The general recent trend in the case law in the Tribunals has been to seek ways of providing protection under the legislation rather than to restrict its application – which is generally bad news for employers.

hr focus
Bribery Act 2010 - management beware
Financial misconduct has been the subject of high profile attacks, severe criticism and regulatory crackdown in recent months. The FSA has substantially strengthened its strategy of credible deterrence and anti-compliant behaviour is now actively sought out.

The law of bribery is no exception to this trend with high-profile cases such as Innospec and Robert Dougall/DePur International confirming that ‘regulation’ is the buzzword of the moment. A criminal layer has been added to this with the introduction of the Bribery Act 2010 (‘the Act’) which consolidates the legal minefields of bribery and corruption.