Business Gazetteer

Published on Monday 19 January 2009 20:50

Online guides for beleaguered employers

WITH the number of redundancies mounting by the day, "big four" Scottish law firm Dundas & Wilson is looking to corner the market in employment advice.

A series of online guides go live next week to give human resources (HR) directors and commercial managers a "how to" guide to the law.

Online videos have been recorded by D&W's staff, who have also made slides and supporting documents for the new web pages.

Businesses can use the 25-minute sessions as team training modules, or they can be used by individuals at their desks in "bite-sized chunks", D&W said. Eilidh Wiseman, head of employment law at D&W, said: "The training is designed to make it as flexible as possible, so people can just cover ten minutes at a time if that's all they can spare."

The "People Management in 2009" training is split into four sections: avoiding the courtroom – internal dispute resolution; pragmatic restructuring; smart remuneration structures; and protecting business assets. Online materials range from "practical alternatives to redundancy" through to "planning collective redundancies".

Wiseman added: "The next year is likely to present significant challenges to many employers and they will have to be prepared to deal with difficult issues that lie ahead."

One wonders if the videos feature Monty Python's Always look on the bright side of life as a soundtrack.

BAD DAY

Australia

AFTER 17 years of growth, Australia will slide into recession this year, according to consultants at Access Economics.

The consultants' report predicted that Australia's central bank would be forced to slash its base interest rate from 4.25 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

GOOD DAY

Super Bowl

DESPITE the recession, TV adverts during America's most popular sporting event have sold for about $3 million (2m) per 30-second slot, a record price. NBC said 90 per cent of the adverts had already sold for the American football game, which is expected to be watched on TV by about 100 million people in the US.

FACT OF THE DAY

653.2m

ONLINE shopping increased by 653.2 million over Christmas compared with the same period last year, according to the Logan Tod online shopping index.

A survey by digital consultancy Logan Tod said 53 per cent of shoppers plan to increase their online spending during Christmas 2009, with 70 per cent of customers saying "previous good experience" was a key factor in deciding with which retailers to shop.

KILLER QUOTE

"WE EXPECT the UK government to try to solve the obesity crisis next week, by nationalising the supermarkets, so that they can then resume the supply of cheap doughnuts to fat people."

Bruce Packard, banking analyst for Evolution Securities, on yesterday's capital restructuring at Royal Bank of Scotland