The reality and rhetoric of recruitment and selection

Virgin Blue discriminated against older hostesses 'for young blondes' - an airline owned by Sir Richard Branson was found guilty yesterday of discriminating against older women who applied to become air hostesses. Eight women aged between 36 and 56 took their case against the budget carrier Virgin Blue to a tribunal, after being put through job interviews that required them to sing and dance. One woman was told she lacked "Virgin flair" (Michael Blackley, The Scotsman). By the sounds of it, advice given in the following article - what not to say in an application - is unlikely to have resulted in a different outcome (BBC News).

It seems that the UK government is keen to extend paternity leave from 2 weeks to six months. The Parental Rights Bill includes the following key measures:

Power to extend the period of Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance and Statutory Adoption Pay

New right for the mother to transfer some of her maternity leave and pay to the father

Power to extend the right to request flexible working to other groups with caring responsibilities

So far, the CIPD has said that the government should include more financial support for new fathers, rather than extend unpaid paternity leave; business bodies such as the British Chambers of Commerce warned that the scheme could be an administrative nightmare for small firms; the Equal Opportunities Commission believe it will be a boost for new parents by bringing greater support for families; and, Trade Union Congress leader Brendan Barber was quoted as saying, Working parents will make big gains from both the provision of wrap-around care and the extension of maternity leave and pay” (various sources). Plus ca change!

On a lighter and much briefer note, podcasts have been catching Yahoo's interest and have set up their own podcast directory (BBC News) - Yahoo! Podcasts. Moreover, blogs are believed to be playing a large part in the biggest growth in the Internet since the dotcom boom, and, the details of the Blooker Prize - a new literary reward for the best writers of literary works that started life as online journals - have been announced (BBC News).