August 24, 2016

Nearly half of employees work unpaid extra hours to cope with workloads ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Nearly half of working parents in the UK put in unpaid extra hours to keep up with workloads and a third believe that overtime is now an ingrained part of workplace culture, according to a study by pressure group Working Families. The results were announced on the day the group announced details of this year’s National Work-Life Week which will encourage organisations to explore agile and flexible working. The report claims that 27 percent of people believe their line manager expects them to work extra hours, 33 percent believe that unpaid overtime is part of their workplace culture and 42 percent work extra hours to deal with workloads. Sarah Jackson, CEO of Working Families, said: “In the UK we have some of the longest working hours in Europe, with more than one in 10 employees putting in more than 50 hours each week. But success is about productivity, not impressive timesheets, so it’s worrying that our survey showed many parents feel a cultural pressure, or direct pressure from their manager, to stay late.”

August 23, 2016

US Millennials ‘martyred’ behaviour helps drive culture of presenteeism ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

As the school holidays draw to a close, those Brits who’ve enjoyed their annual two-week holiday break will probably have squirreled away some days to take them through to the end of the year. Not so easy for the average US worker who earns on average just ten paid vacation days per annum, for each year of service. According to a survey carried out last year, many Americans even fail to take that allocated leave for fear of being seen as slacking. And now a new piece of research claims that far from breaking this tradition of presenteeism, US Millennial workers are the most likely generation to forfeit time off, even though they earn the least amount of vacation days. These findings, from Project: Time Off’s new report, The Work Martyr’s Cautionary Tale: How the Millennial Experience Will Define America’s Vacation Culture suggest that Millennials stay at work because they feel more fear and greater guilt about taking time away from the office than any other generation.

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August 22, 2016

Two thirds of employers don’t understand impact of workplace health issues ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

A new study from Aon Employee Benefits claims that UK employers are less likely than other employers in the EMEA region to have a defined workplace health strategy with just 37 percent understanding the impact of their employees’ health issues. The 2016 EMEA Health Survey suggests that UK employers are less likely than others in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region to have a defined health strategy (30 percent vs 40 percent). The survey also claims that UK employers’ actions are out of line with their actual concerns. 63 percent believe their top issue is managing stress and mental health issues, while 51 percent suggest that physical health is their second highest health and wellbeing priority. However, more employers have physical and social programmes to support employee wellbeing (57 percent and 55 percent respectively), while just 41 percent have an emotional or psychological programme in place.

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August 19, 2016

The staggeringly cynical medicalisation of the air that we breathe ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Wellbeing

As regular readers are no doubt aware, normally we don’t comment on the reports and surveys we publish, instead leaving people to form their own opinions. However, the study we’ve published today from the Building Engineering Services Association can’t pass without comment. You are still free to make your own mind up, but personally, I think it is perhaps the most dangerously self-serving report we’ve seen in some time. The conclusion from the report that ‘healthy indoor air’ (I’ve added the quotation marks), provided by mechanical ventilation and air-conditioning systems is somehow superior to fresh air (I’ve removed the quotation marks from the original report), is staggeringly cynical. We’ve all grown used to the medicalisation of day to day life in these reports, but this is too much. The fact is, the healthiest thing you’ll do today is to get up from your desk, get away from the air con, get away from the traffic, stick two fingers up to BESA, go for a long walk in the fresh air and breathe deep.

August 19, 2016

Over a third of office workers complain about poor air quality ¹

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Almost 70 percent of office workers believe poor air quality in their place of work is having a negative effect on their day-to-day productivity and wellbeing, claims a survey commissioned by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA); and a third of workers are concerned that poor air quality could be having a negative effect on their health. Opening windows is the most commonly used form of ventilation with 60 percent of workers saying it is the first thing they do if they need fresh air. However, although this is seen as a natural response, opening windows runs the risk of further polluting the working environment by letting in outdoor toxins, the survey claims. Given that we spend 90 percent of our time indoors and on average, 212 days a year at work, BESA has called on firms, managers and employees to ensure proper, effective, well maintained ventilation systems are operating in all offices across the UK.

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August 19, 2016

Employers must lose ‘stiff upper lip’ culture to promote workplace wellbeing ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

A ‘stiff upper lip’ attitude towards wellness by UK bosses needs to change in order to advance employee wellbeing, argues a survey by Bupa. It is business leaders who are the key to overcoming the challenges facing employees’ health and wellbeing, it claims. The vast majority (94 percent) of those questioned believe there will be significant change in the employer-employee relationship in the next ten years. 91 percent of business leaders agree that technology will continue to impact the wellbeing of their workforce over the next decade and 71 percent agree the standard 9am-5pm working day is a thing of the past. Seven in ten (68 percent) noted a ‘stiff upper lip attitude’ at executive level, creating barriers to conversations about wellbeing, and three fifths (62 percent) of leaders think they need to show that they don’t suffer from ill health.

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August 17, 2016

The behaviour of managers is increasing workplace stress, claims study ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Management behaviour is contributing to rising workplace stress levels with employees blaming their own bosses for adding to the pressures they feel, a new study of 1,200 people by MetLife claims. The study suggests that 69 percent of employees say that the behaviour of managers in their organisation has increased stress and that the rising stress is having a major impact on company performance. Around 45 percent of employees say that stress caused by management has led to staff in their organisation taking extended time off. This in turn increases costs and affects productivity as well as impacting other workers who take on an increased workload. Government data estimates that around 35 percent of all work-related ill-health is caused by stress and that stress accounts for 43 percent of all working days lost to ill-health – the equivalent of 9.9 million working days a year at an average of 23 days per case.

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August 17, 2016

Intelligent lighting can enhance workplace wellbeing and productivity ⁰

by Andy Gallacher • Comment, Environment, Facilities management, Lighting, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The main driver of the growing interest in wellbeing in recent years has undoubtedly been absenteeism. But workers don’t have to be ‘absent’ from the workplace to hamper productivity. Presenteeism, where employees are present but not productive can also influence the long-term success of an organisation. The interaction between the worker and their work environment has a huge influence on an individual’s wellbeing and overall productivity, with employees’ performance more likely to be enhanced when they are immersed in a comfortable and stimulating environment. This can include all the usual stipulations, such as a well-designed workstation, a comfortable office temperature and carefully considered and appropriate lighting. In fact, improved lighting is an essential element in the overall mix, not only because of the cost savings that their energy efficiency brings but also in the way lighting contributes to workplace wellbeing and people’s performance.

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August 17, 2016

New Acas guidance issued on keeping UK workplaces cool ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The Spanish Plume may have been blown off course – but given the fact that any British office becomes uncomfortable when we reach the heady heights of 20 degrees and over, it’s worth taking a look at new guidance on ways of keeping workplaces cool for employees during hot weather. The UK has no legal maximum workplace temperature but the Health and Safety Executive states that temperatures must be at a “reasonable” level, depending on the place of work and type of activity. Workplace experts Acas have launched their latest hot weather guidelines to help employers keep workplace temperatures down so staff can continue to work safely and productively. Its guidance also covers thorny areas such as suitable dress codes during warm weather – as the guide says; ’employers may choose to adopt a more casual or flexible approach to dress during hot weather days but this may depend on the type of the business’. There are three top tips from Acas.

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August 16, 2016

A well executed wellness strategy benefits staff and employers ⁰

by Beate O'Neil • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace

Employee health and wellbeing is moving up the agenda of many companies. A recent report from the Reward and Employee Benefits Association (Reba) and Punter Southall Health & Protection found that a third of companies have a wellness strategy in place, with 80 per cent having introduced one in the last three years. Of the 70 per cent that don’t yet have a strategy, a third plan to implement one this year, a third plan to implement a plan in the next few years and the final third have it firmly on their wish list. This is driven by the fact that the UK is experiencing a major demographic change – in 2014 the average age of the population exceeded 40 for the first time. With the percentage of the total population over 60 predicted in a report from AgeUK to rise from 24.2 percent at present to over 29 percent in 2035, employers are beginning to wake up to the fact that wellness is good for staff and good for business.

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August 16, 2016

Flexible working patterns may make us more susceptible to infection ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Knowledge, News, Wellbeing

We are more susceptible to infection at certain times of the day as our body clock affects the ability of viruses to replicate and spread between cells, suggests new research from the University of Cambridge. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may help to explain why people who work outside normal working hours are more prone to health problems, including infections and chronic disease. The time of day of infection can have a major influence on how susceptible we are to the disease, or at least on the viral replication, meaning that infection at the wrong time of day could cause a much more severe acute infection. According to the study, when a virus enters our body, it hijacks the machinery and resources in our cells to help it replicate and spread throughout the body. But, the resources our body has to fight infection fluctuate throughout the day, partly in response to our circadian rhythms – in effect, our body clock.

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August 15, 2016

The traditional office is still very much alive, but it is changing ⁰

by Alex Gifford • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

A skim through workplace features in the media and you’d be forgiven for thinking that the traditional office is no longer with us. According to the narrative, we’re all now 20-somethings, working in open-plan warehouses, with table football, bean bags and comfy sofas to lounge on, while drinking our custom-made soya lattes. When in actual fact, while more relaxed, fun and funky offices tend to make the headlines, the majority of people still work in a relatively traditional way, with their PC or laptop, a desk and an ergonomic task chair. What’s more, with an ageing workforce, we certainly aren’t all 20-somethings, with DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) figures revealing that the employment rate for people aged 50 to 64 has risen by 14 per cent in the last 30 years, and doubled for over 65s. So designing with just the youngsters in mind simply doesn’t add up. Recent research by the Senator Group, backs up this view.