Millennium staffing poses conundrum for employers

Companies could find themselves over budget or dangerously understaffed during the millennium weekend unless they secure the services of core employees, according to the National Computing Centre (NCC).

The NCC estimates that of companies requiring staff to work between 31 December and 2 January few have thrashed out pay and conditions with their employees. The NCC claimed that companies must act now to avoid trouble in the long term.

Jeff Tate, marketing manager at the NCC, said: "Some companies have negotiated with their employees but a lot more haven't."

He claimed that less than only 20 per cent of the companies the NCC had surveyed actually had a policy for staff employment over the millennium.

He added that companies should think about building it into their staff-retention policy.

But the managing director of recruitment company Haymarket Consulting, Andrew Thomas, disagreed with the NCC and claimed that most companies will not need to sort out the issue until December.

He argued that common sense would prevail and that the millennium is just another night. "Employees are not going to exploit the situation because they have got to go back to work on 2 January."

He claimed that some contractors may charge a triple rate - the same as a bank holiday - and some even quadruple, but argued that the astronomical figures of tens of thousands of pounds was probably just media hype.

He added that while older workers may want to take time off to spend it with family, there are enough young people in the industry without responsibilities to take up the slack.

The NCC highlighted the dangers of keeping bonuses low for millennium weekend projects. John Eary, NCC's head of Skills Source consultancy, said: "Year 2000 projects are going to continue well into the New Year and will be rapidly followed by EMU projects and other IT upgrades which were put on hold during the millennium. This will be a crucial time for staff retention and few companies can afford to lose disgruntled employees."