Recent Blog Posts

MUSLIM radicals are planning a parade through Wootton Bassett, the town which holds processions in memory of fallen British soldiers.
Extremist group Islam4UK are organising a march in the coming weeks, which they claim will be in honour of muslims killed in the Afghanistan conflict.
The plans have sparked outrage in the quiet market town, which has now become synonymous with the rising death toll from the war.
Friends, relatives, fellow servicemen and woman and shopkeepers line the streets to pay their respects to the coffins of returning soldiers on a near weekly basis.

See link below for full details, but I for one would be prepared to rally support to oppose this. 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6973792.ece

The recent Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) case of Dansie v The Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis has approved previous case law regarding dress codes and the ability of employers to apply different rules of appearance in respect of men and women.

Mr Danise commenced his training as a new PC at Hendon, wearing his long hair pulled back in a bun. He had previously asked whether his hair would be acceptable and had been told that it complied with the dress code. However, on commencement he was told that he would need to cut his hair or else he would face disciplinary action. Accordingly, Mr Dansie had his hair cut but brought claims of unlawful sex discrimination on the grounds of less favourable treatment and harassment (the threat of disciplinary action).

The EAT found that a woman would not have been required to cut her hair in similar circumstances, but said that this did not amount to less favourable treatment: "...a difference in treatment between the sexes on one particular aspect of the Dress Code is not necessarily more favourable treatment of a member of one sex compared with a member of the other sex...it is necessary to consider the Dress Code as a whole, even although a single provision of the Code may upset the balance of treating the sexes equally."

It is this sort of reasoning which permits employers to insist that men wear a collar and tie (but not women). As long as the code fits in with conventional standards of dress it is likely to be permitted.

Only 46% of sick days are legitimate!
According to a recent survey carried out by MyVoucherCodes.co.uk 74% of men and 65% of women have admitted to "pulling a sickie" when they were not actually ill. The top reason given by men was to play video games and for women it was to go shopping!

It is all too easy for shirking employees to swing the lead when employers do not question them about sickness absence. Introducing a clear sickness policy which includes return to work interviews can have a dramatic effect on the levels of frequent short-term absence. Employees also think twice about calling in sick if the policy requires that they speak in person to their manager rather than sending a text or an email.

MINISTERS ARE “SELLING THE FAMILY SILVER”, SAYS DEFENCE ASSOCIATION

Govt condemned for sacrificing vital air defence and undermining its own Defence Review

The Government is sacrificing Britain’s military capabilities and undermining the credibility of its own Defence Review by making arbitrary short-term cuts in the Armed Forces, according to the UK National Defence Association (UKNDA).

Responding to reports that the Government is planning to close at least one air base and make substantial reductions to RAF manpower, UKNDA spokesman Andy Smith said: “Once again the Armed Forces are paying the price for Governmental mismanagement. Now, to balance the books at the Ministry of Defence, the Government proposes to sacrifice elements of our vital air defence.

“Giving up RAF bases and scaling back our military presence in strategic locations such as Cyprus is tantamount to selling off the family silver. Once sold, these facilities will never again be available to us, and this will inevitably impact on our long-term defence posture should the UK ever have to re-arm. These decisions clearly demonstrate the low priority given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the security of the United Kingdom and the importance of maintaining a properly balanced and well-resourced defence capability.”

He added: “By making these arbitrary short-term cuts, the Government is undermining the credibility of its own Defence Review. How can these decisions be taken now, in advance of the Review? Britain’s Armed Forces are already seriously over-stretched and any further reductions would put the UK is an extremely vulnerable position. We call upon the Government to hold back on making any cuts to the defence budget until our military commitments, needs and resources have been examined thoroughly through the Defence Review.”

The UKNDA, formed two years ago to campaign for properly-resourced Armed Forces, is backed by a number of former service chiefs including Marshal of the Royal Air Force The Lord Craig of Radley (a former Chief of the Defence Staff) and Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon (former Chief of the Air Staff). Its President is Winston S. Churchill, grandson of Sir Winston Churchill.

Floods put military transferable skills in the spotlight

Military expertise and commitment to getting the job done in the wake of the devastating Cumbria floods has thrown transferable skills of services personnel into the spotlight.

Harry Dean, director of Gemini Forces, said military intervention to build a temporary footbridge spanning the River Derwent in Workington was the perfect illustration of the skills of forces personnel can be transferred seamlessly into the civilian environment.

In Workington, the logistic support bridge will provide a vital connection between the north and south sides of the town. They were cut off from each other after the Workington Bridge was destroyed and the Calva Bridge suffered significant structural damage from the floods.

It involved around 200 soldiers from the Royal Engineers, Royal Logistics Corps, Royal Signals and Royal Military Police to prepare the site, transport the bridge sections and build it.

Mr Dean, who served in the Army for 30 years before moving into the recruitment industry, said: “Ex-services personnel possess a broad spectrum of skills which can be used in both combat and non-combat situations. The work in Workington highlights just how transferable those skills are, from engineering to logistics and project management.”

Leicester-based Gemini Forces, part of Gemini Resourcing UK Ltd, specialises in helping ex-services personnel find employment when they return to civilian life, particularly in the Health & Safety, environmental, aviation, facilities management, project management and defence consultancy sectors.

Mr Dean added employers that have embraced taking on ex-services personnel had reaped the rewards of gaining highly-skilled employees with high levels of commitment and loyalty.

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“When we approach civilian organisations, they tend to think ex-forces people will be ideal for security roles, for example,” he said.

“Some also have the initial opinion that while they might look good on paper, they lack commercial experience. They soon realise though that there’s far more to ex-service personnel than they first think and when we have placed a candidate in a role, employers frequently say to us ‘what a difference they’re making’.

“The qualities ex-forces personnel possess include loyalty, commitment and time management which are the cornerstones of any business. They won’t down tools just because it’s the end of their shift. They will finish the job which, in our experience is why civilian employers use them time and again.

“Gemini Forces looks at what a candidate has done and what trades they have before translating it into a CV to use in the civilian world, creating a win, win situation for candidates and employers alike.”

- ENDS -

Editor’s note:-

About Gemini Forces
Gemini Forces, part of Leicester-based Gemini Resourcing Ltd., provides a help, advice and placement service to both service leavers and former service personnel. Gemini Resourcing UK Ltd deals with the very best candidates and workers that the UK has to offer, placing them into key positions with a diverse range of high profile clients. It places Management Consultants, Project Managers, Executive Assistants/Aides, Facilities/Operations Managers, Defence Consultants Risk Management/Security Consultants, Engineering Managers, Not for profit Directors and Health and Safety Managers.

For further information, please contact:
Gary Lillistone, Bridge PR on tel: 024 76 520025, email: garyl@bridgepr.co.uk or Harry Dean, Gemini Forces on 0845 308 2405.

According to a recent survey of job seekers, it would appear that more and more people are taking on a new hobby just to impress prospective employers.  1279 people were surveyed and 76% admitted taking on a hobby in order to enhance their CV.

 

The top 10 hobbies/activities are:

1.  Charity work

2.  Learning a foreign language

3.  Going to the gym

4.  Starting a college course

5.  Learning to play a musical instrument

6.  Taking up sport

7.  Involved in Amateur Dramatics

8.  Reading

9.  Cooking

10.  Socialising

Does it work?  and what would you or do you put on your CV to impress?  If you are an employer do hobbies/activities feature in your consideration, when looking at CVs.

This is a bit of a mixed post, aimed towards our new ex-military members here at Gemini, but also, to all our members, so they can share their thoughts and the benefits they recognize of joining the networking site ‘LinkedIn’

I will be very honest; before I joined the team here at Gemini Forces, I had not even heard of LinkedIn, (may sound strange but true! Is that the same with you? Would appreciate not being the only one who had not heard of the site!), however, I was re-connecting with former school friends and ex-military colleagues on Facebook, but there was, on reflection, no real networking or career opportunities, less the reunions!!!

On LinkedIn, the ‘Gemini Forces’ group is close to reaching the one thousand member mark, although I am hoping we can double that number very soon, and our partner group, ‘British Forces Resettlement Services’ is nearing five hundred members, although I know the team expect that to increase rapidly and dramatically.

This is not about the size of a group though; it is the quality of the group members at Gemini & BFRS that directly impacts on the opportunities you can gain from these potential fellow members, with the vast networking prospects, advice, personal experiences and our determination to deliver a service that is tailored to meet all our ex-military personnel needs. (We understand, because at Gemini Forces we are all ex-forces)

Are you a user of LinkedIn? Had you previously heard of the site or a member before registering with Gemini? How have you benefited from using the site? Do you have any information for people joining the site? Please post your thoughts, as any observations/advice large or small could make a massive difference to an individual without our realisation.

So if you are an ex-military member registered with us here, or if you are nearing the end of your military career, however long it may of been, I can whole-heartedly recommend joining us at LinkedIn, as well as here, to open a unique but worthwhile networking and career tool, to use in your armoury of progression!

A leading Employment Law consultant has advised Companies to ban mobile phones at office parties, because of the ease in taking and distributing incriminating photographs of other employees. Posting a picture of another employee (whether incriminating or not) without their permission is illegal and can potentially land both the employee posting the picture and the employer in rather deep water. What do you think? Can an employer take this action ie ban the mobile phone?

Having settled into the swing of things at Gemini Resources more over the past few weeks, I find myself ending my 4th week with a positive mentality after finding my feet with the company. Having learnt much from the MD, Harry Dean, and Neil Dean, the manager, (both ex Servicemen themselves), over the past weeks I find myself looking to the future with the company. My roles and responsibilities have increased gradually since joining the company but with Harry and Neil’s support I feel confident to tackle what is thrown at me.
I am aiming to bring together my previous experience of working in education with the drive in the company, particularly for helping ex Service men and women get back into civilian based work roles. Pondering this I was thinking that maybe military schools and educational establishments with strong military heritage might be interested in our services. Watch this space!

Gemini Resourcing UK Ltd in partnership with Drivers Direct Recruitment Ltd are in the process of launching a new project - British Forces Resettlement Services (BFRS) go to www.bfrss.org.uk for more information