July 23, 2019

Perkins and Will to design offices of European Commission

by Neil Franklin • Architecture, Cities, News, Workplace design

The London studio of designers Perkins+Will working with Madrid-based architects Rafael de La-Hoz has won the competition to design the new European Commission offices in Brussels. The consortium’s design was chosen over nine other entries from international teams in a blind competition for the project. The winning team will oversee the creation of the new complex, which is designed to reinvigorate the central European Quarter of Brussels in line with the plans of the local authorities. Alongside the new European Commission offices, which will house more than 5,000 people, will be public and retail space, a public gallery and landscaped gardens for staff, visitors and the local community. More →

July 23, 2019

Two million workers miss out on holiday entitlement

by Neil Franklin • Legal news, News, Wellbeing

Around seven percent of UK workers are not getting or taking their legal holiday entitlement, according to a new study from the TUC. The analysis estimates that nearly two million employees (1.960 million) are not getting the minimum paid leave entitlement they are due. And over a million (1.145 million) are not getting any paid leave at all. The analysis shows that women workers (8.3 percent) are worse affected than men (5.9 percent). In addition, the sectors with the highest numbers of staff losing out on their legal holiday paid entitlement are education (341,000), retail (302,000), and health and social care (264,000). More →

July 22, 2019

Santander reopens closed branch as coworking space

by Neil Franklin • Coworking, News, Property

Santander has opened its first Work Café in the UK. The Work Café concept was initially developed by Santander in Chile in 2016 and its success has seen 50 branches opened in Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Argentina. The bank claims the reopened branch will work as a ‘community hub’ offering banking facilities, free coworking spaces and freshly-brewed artisan coffee. The branch was previously closed at the end of June last year. More →

July 22, 2019

UK could receive £250 billion boost if labour market matched that of Sweden

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

New analysis by economists at PwC claims that, if the UK could match Sweden in terms of its employment rates for women aged 25-54, older workers and the proportion of its young people not in employment, education or training, the potential boost to UK GDP could be as much as 12 percent, or around £250 billion at 2018 values. Although the UK labour market has been strong in recent years – the employment rate is at a record high of over 75 percent and unemployment is at its lowest level since the mid 1970s – new research from PwC indicates that performance is middling compared to other OECD economies. A new composite Labour Market Performance index, combining results from PwC’s Youth Employment, Golden Age and Women in Work indices, finds the UK is 19th overall amongst OECD countries. Iceland and Sweden top the combined index rankings based on the latest available annual data for 2018. More →

July 19, 2019

Flexible working could be the default for all jobs in UK

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, Legal news, News

Flexible working could become the default for all jobs in the UK, under proposed legislation being considered by the UK government. The most important consequence will be that employees will no longer be expected to use their right request flexible working for an employer to consider, as is currently the case. More →

July 19, 2019

Outdated technology remains a massive waste of time

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

Two new studies suggest that the failure to keep workers equipped with the latest technology is having a huge impact on their productivity and causing them to waste large amounts of time. According to the first piece of research from tech provider Insight, UK office workers waste 1.8 billion working hours every year because the outdated technology they’re given isn’t good enough to meet their needs. More →

July 19, 2019

Smelly food is most irritating behaviour in the office

by Jayne Smith • News, Workplace

Research gathered from 2000 office workers across the UK claims that eating smelly food is the most irritating behaviour in the office. The study, conducted by 4Com aimed to discover which habits most get under people’s skin in the work environment. When it comes to the habits workers admit to having themselves, 33 percent say they have no irritating habits at all. 15 percent are aware they speak loudly, and 13 percent claim they have a tendency to sing while they work. More →

July 18, 2019

Demand for four day week continues to rise

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

With a recent report from Henley Business School highlighting that a shorter working week could add to businesses’ bottom lines through increased staff productivity and uplift in staff physical and mental health, a study from ADP (registration) has further emphasised these findings. ADP’s research claims almost two-thirds of UK workers (61 percent) would opt for a four day week at work if they had the choice. More →

July 18, 2019

Employment rights to be enforced by new single body

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

The government has launched its latest Good Work Plan consultation which proposes a new single body for employment rights enforcement. The new body would replace the current seven organisations that have responsibility for employment rights enforcement. The proposals include the body having powers to enforce payment of the minimum wage, labour exploitation and modern slavery, along with holiday payments for vulnerable workers and safeguarding agency workers. The consultation considers whether the body should also enforce laws related to workplace discrimination, harassment and bullying. More →

July 18, 2019

Govt scheme to retrain people in the age of automation

by Neil Franklin • AI, News

The UK Government in partnership with the CBI and TUC has launched a new scheme to help workers whose jobs change or become obsolete because of advances in technology. Workers will be offered help in retraining or finding a new career amid suggestions that up to a third of jobs could be at risk of changing because of automation in the coming 10 to 20 years. The National Training Scheme will be trialled in Liverpool before being rolled out across England. The CBI and TUC are both backing the initiative as a way of boosting productivity, pay and workers’ skills. More →

July 18, 2019

Construction sector loses patience with Brexit indecision

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

Activity in the construction sector rose in the second quarter of the year, despite concerns that political uncertainty surrounding Brexit was holding back investment. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors claims that the market has lost patience with the lack of clarity over Brexit and that clients were beginning to push ahead with projects, albeit tentatively. In its construction and infrastructure survey, a balance of 16 per cent of respondents reported an increase in work, up from 9 per cent in the previous quarter. More →

July 17, 2019

Rise in employment led by self-employed and older workers

by Tony Wilson • Flexible working, News

As with the last few months, the latest UK employment figures look like a sea of tranquillity. The number of people in work is up ever so slightly (setting another record), unemployment down slightly again (ditto) and earnings continuing to grow. After a couple of months where there were hints that the labour market might be cooling down, today’s figures suggest that it is heating up once more. However beneath the surface, the numbers highlight some big changes in employment trends – with two things in particular standing out. More →