Rein in hot water again

The British subsidiary of Therese Rein’s recruitment and training company, Ingeus, appears to be going from strength to strength after winning a reported £85 million in government contracts.

Rein said she would focus on growing the international arm of her business following her decision to sell its Australian operations to avoid a possible conflict of interest should her husband, Kevin Rudd, become prime minister later this year.

But controversy has followed Ingeus to Britain, with public sector unions there expressing concerns that former civil servants hired by the business would be moved to employment conditions less attractive than they had previously been entitled to when employed by the British Government.

Ingeus today moved to quash the concerns, saying in a statement that its British subsidiary, WorkDirections UK, pays well above industry standard salaries and provides benefits for staff including generous pension entitlements.

“The policy of the board and of the Ingeus Group has always been that staff should receive pay and conditions that are either in accordance with or over the industry standard,” according to Ingeus.

Meanwhile the sale of the company’s Australian operations is proceeding apace, with the announcement of the sale of the Clements recruitment business earlier this month.

Ingeus director of marketing and communications Belinda Egan says while there is no public timeline for the sale of WorkDirections Australia – which incorporates the Your Employment Solutions business that was the subject of underpayment claims earlier this year – it is “well in progress.”