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IN THIS ISSUE

Welcome
Bimco 39
Stokes of tradewinds
Jobs, jobs, jobs
Ship v planes
Age discrimination legislation - what you need to know
Earn £400

WELCOME

With Bush addressing Blair with 'Yo!' and Blair referring to world trade negotiations as "this trade thingy" you may be forgiven for thinking that there's a shortage of suitably qualified world leaders.

Of course Spinnaker doesn't have any political leanings (!) but the Bush/Blair conversation does demonstrate the need to communicate your attitudes, values and competencies for people to back your cause (and take you seriously!)

With full employment bringing about a revolution in employment practices where employees can pick and choose the companies they prefer to work for these intangibles count for a lot when trying to get potential employees to 'back your cause' and join your company.

Your company 'attitude' can be communicated to the recruitment market through amongst other things job advertisements, your website, the interview process and your current employees. It's worth looking at the avenues in which potential employees view your company and ask the question:

Would I join my company?

BIMCO 39

To uphold the noble tradition of embarrassing our staff we thought we would include a picture of our Managing Consultant, Russell Otter, in full flow addressing the BIMCO 39 conference in June. Don't be fooled by the serious look on his face… later that day Russell and the BIMCO39 members partied till dawn at a swish Greek nightclub.

Apart from making speeches and partying BIMCO 39 does a grand job encouraging young shipping people to expand their professional horizons and establish themselves as the solid base of the shipping industry of the future.

Joining BIMCO 39 is free of charge and open for personal membership to shipping people, up to the age of 39, employed in BIMCO member companies. All that you need to sign up is your employer's BIMCO membership number.

STOKES TO TRADEWINDS

Our good friend, co-organiser of Tour Pour La Mer and all round top man Mark Stokes has been appointed to the position of Commercial Director at TradeWinds, the shipping industry's leading news provider. Mark joins from V.Holdings Ltd, the parent group of marine services provider V.Ships, where for four years he was responsible for group marketing communications.

JOBS, JOBS, JOBS

Surveyors, lawyers, brokers, agents, adjusters, superintendents, purchasers, operators, lecturers, engineers, operators, rich men, poor men, beggar men, thieves. OK so the last few aren't in our list of positions (although some of you may argue that these job titles sum up the industry aptly…) but all the others and more are.

Despite August being the month the shipping industry goes on holiday, the hiring continues. Refer to the bottom of the page or www.shippingjobs.com for more detailed info.

SHIPS V PLANES

Yet another of the London Shipping Law Centre's important and cutting-edge events will be hosted on Thursday 16th November 2006 at Lloyd's of London at 5.30pm.

Title: The Ship and the Plane, are they the same? Corporate Social Responsibility: Shipping and Aviation Compared.

Further details will be posted on the Centre's web-site: www.london-shipping-law.com and a booking form are at the following link: http://www.london-shipping-law.com/pdfs/Cad%20Flyer1.pdf.

Early booking is recommended as these lectures fill up fast.

AGE DISCRIMINATION LEGISLATION - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Political correctness gone mad? Ridiculous? These are two of the more polite descriptions we've heard of new UK age discrimination legislation, which comes into force on 1st October 2006. Well like it or loathe it, you're going to have to deal with it. The watchword is caution; in the Republic of Ireland, age related claims already make up 19% of discrimination claims. Here is the Spinnaker guide on what you need to know.

First, whether or not you think something is ludicrous, doesn't mean that it won't seem like a good opportunity to bring a claim against you. The claim won't necessarily succeed of course, but surely it's best avoided in the first place. The Law Society has just published some examples to beware of. Do you:

Only offer medicals to over 50s?
Advertise for staff to join a young dynamic team?
Advertise for staff with "at least 5 years experience"?
Ask applicants their age at interview?
Move the over 60s off heavy manual duties or shiftwork?
Offer training to younger staff only?
Assume that younger staff don't have the skills for management?
Promote or reward staff based on length of service?

Most of the above are common practice but you will no longer be able to recruit, train, promote or retire people on the basis of age unless it can be objectively justified. The relevant criteria, assessed against agreed criteria, become skills, experience and ability to do the job. And you should avoid using any words that can imply age such as 'mature', 'youthful', 'modern', 'senior', 'recent graduate' or even 'experienced'. Some, especially the larger corporates, who advertise widely, should ensure that they are not seen to advertise only in places that target certain age groups…. unless "objectively justified" of course. (What of age positive discrimination you may ask?)

It will not be unlawful to ask for date of birth on application forms but consider first why it is necessary. At Spinnaker we often have several people with the same name registering with us so ask for date of birth as an extra means of identification.

Turning to existing staff, promotion criteria should be age-neutral, focusing instead on competency and skills rather than length of service. If experience is a factor, it must be relevant to that particular job. If someone possesses all the relevant skills despite being "over-qualified" or "under-qualified" (often euphemisms for too old or too young"), they might just feel aggrieved enough to bring a claim.

From a recruitment perspective where does all of this leave us in practice? Well, being careful with advertisement and job specification wordings for a start. Spinnaker can assist employers in this respect. Specifically though, what it may encourage is greater transparency when it comes to salaries. Employers are often reticent to advertise salaries on adverts but they shouldn't be shy to say to recruiters or at interview that £45-50k doesn't mean £50k and neither does "up to £50k". Moreover don't think that someone earning £55k will necessarily be put off from applying. Many applicants are surprisingly immodest and we often hear such comments as "When they see my experience and track record, I'm sure they'll consider paying more." And if you're worried that your existing staff will see the published salary, ask yourself if that might suggest a separate internal problem that needs dealing with in any event.

On the positive side, think of the new regulations as offering a chance to focus your staff's minds on personal performance. There is no reason why someone whose personality traits include discipline, good time management and co-ordination skills should not be promoted above those many years their senior. Likewise, improvements in status for big billers. (And the reverse will presumably apply to under-performers of any age - "perform or you're out"). Yes, it may put some noses out of joint, but shouldn't regular performance appraisals already have been addressing promotional prospects, skills and suitability in any event? Equally, there is no reason why a 55 year old should not be recruited into a physical or otherwise demanding job if he or she is fit and well (this is a common concern we hear expressed). Furthermore, as we have said in a previous article on the subject, you are more likely to get 10 years loyal service out of a 55 year old than a 30 year old. How many CVs nowadays show 10 years in one job? Having said all this, if your entire technical department is over the age of 55 and you are concerned that they'll all retire soon leaving you with no staff, you may well be able to argue objective justification under the new rules.

Finally, some detail.

There is a 5 year exemption clause meaning that benefits based on a length of service requirement of 5 years or less can continue. Beyond that, if you can show objective justification, you will be able to reward loyalty or recognise experience. (Crumbs, how else might you motivate those safe but unexciting pairs of hands that the business can't do without?!) Otherwise, all employees should receive the same benefits regardless of age irrespective of cost. Perhaps this will motivate some employers to offer fixed purchase value benefits in the future?
Compulsory retirement before the age of 65 will be unlawful unless you can show legitimate business reasons. Employees will have the right to request to work beyond that age.

EARN £400

Below is a list of vacancies currently available. However, if you are not interested or not suitable for any of these positions but you know someone who might be interested, you can EARN YOURSELF A £400 referral fee by passing details of the vacancy onto them.

You simply need to go to http://www.shippingjobs.com/jobseekers/referral_scheme.asp and complete our simple form giving us details of the person you have referred the job to. Subject to the terms of the scheme, if that person gets the job, you get £400. Simple.

(Please note that those marked with an 'AD' reference are advertised directly by the client and are therefore not eligible for the scheme.)