August 22, 2018

SMEs more likely to offer flexible working than larger businesses

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

More SMEs than larger businesses offer flexible working as a way of reducing absences, research from industry body Group Risk Development (GRiD), suggests. The research showed that 35 percent of SMEs with up to 249 employees are actively using flexible working strategies to combat absence compared to just 23 percent of organisations with over 250 employees. Drilling down further into the detail, 38 percent of micro businesses with between 1 and 9 employees use flexible working as a means to reduce absence. Flexible working now means a lot more than allowing an employee to work from home when they are feeling under the weather, and following changes in the law in 2014, it is now an option for everyone with at least 26 weeks continuous employment to request it – not just those with children or carer responsibilities. It also includes part-time working, term-time working, job sharing, compressed hours and flexitime. A greater degree of flexibility can increase productivity and reduce burn out, particularly in stressful occupations.

August 17, 2018

Majority of employees see digital data as way of being snooped on by their boss

by Sara Bean • Automation, Facilities management, News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

As we recently reported, facilities management is more data driven than ever, with the use of data analytics being used to measure costs and performance. This is why the increasingly sophisticated ways in which workplaces can be monitored; from the footfall in the washrooms to the level of desk usage has been welcomed by employers, but a new survey suggests digital data gathering is making staff feel uneasy. A new report published today by the TUC looks at the phenomenon from the perspective of workers’ experiences and found that 6 in 10 workers fear that greater workplace surveillance through technology will fuel distrust. The study reveals that most UK workers (56 percent) believe they are currently monitored by their boss at work and worry that this ‘surveillance data’ will be used by bosses to set unfair targets, micromanage them and take away control and autonomy.

August 15, 2018

The global problem of overwork and the right to disconnect

by Aki Stamatis • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing

Anybody who doubts the importance of work and working culture to people’s lives should look at the resistance to President Macron’s mooted changes to labour laws. His attempts to modernise and liberalise French workplace legislation marked the first cracks in his reputation and brought millions of French workers to the streets as part of a national strike.However, one change to French legislation that met with little or no resistance earlier this year was a new right to avoid work emails outside working hours. Under the legislation, firms with more than 50 workers will be obliged to draw up a charter of good conduct, setting out the hours when staff are not supposed to send or respond to emails as they seek a right to disconnect.

August 15, 2018

Older workers need more support in the workplace, claims report

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Longer working lives have become a reality for millions, yet a significant number of older workers feel unsupported in the workplace, according to new findings from Aviva which claim to highlight the need for UK businesses to boost support for their older workforce. Almost two thirds (63 percent) of the 10.2 million over-50s in work – equivalent to 6.4 million people – are planning to retire later than they thought they would 10 years ago. Many of them are extending their working lives due to the rising cost of living (40 percent) and insufficient pension savings (38 percent).

August 14, 2018

Working while on holiday is the new normal, claims study

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Two thirds of business leaders have admitted that they check their work emails while on holiday and three quarters have taken or made a work call, according to a new survey into summer working habits by The Institute of Leadership & Management. The Institute’s new research found that 65 per cent of respondents check their work emails at some point while on holiday, and 75 per cent have said they’ve taken or made a work call while on leave. Unsurprisingly, most senior leadership teams check their emails on holiday (81 per cent).

August 13, 2018

A third of employers report rise in time off as mental health becomes less taboo

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Around 30 percent of businesses have seen an increase in the number of staff taking time off for mental health reasons, according to a survey conducted by business organisation British Chambers of Commerce, and insurer Aviva. One in three (33 percent) business leaders have also noticed an increase in the length of time that staff are taking off due to mental health issues.

August 12, 2018

The mere expectation that we check emails outside working hours harms our wellbeing

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

Employer expectations of work email monitoring outside of normal working hours are detrimental to the health and wellbeing of not only employees but their family members as well. A new study suggests that employees do not need to spend actual time on work in their off-hours to experience the harmful effects. The mere expectations of availability increase strain for employees and their families, even when employees do not engage in any actual work.

August 12, 2018

Gig economy workers are overworked, underpaid and constantly monitored

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

A study of the wellbeing of workers in the so-called gig economy from academics at Oxford University claims that they are stressed, isolated, micro-managed by algorithms and face constant downward pressure on their incomes. The focus of the research was on workers contracted by digital platforms and subject to selection by algorithms. The study, Good Gig, Bad Big: Autonomy and Algorithmic Control in the Global Gig Economy, looked at the impact on the personal wellbeing of computer programmers, translators, researchers and people in similar roles contracted through online freelance platforms.

August 7, 2018

HR offers the key to enhanced employee financial wellbeing, claims report

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

With poor financial wellbeing impacting on productivity, a new paper claims that, despite growing interest, there remains a lag in employers taking action in this area – and that Human Resources departments are key to building a business case for support. Published by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES), the paper, Building the business case for employee financial wellbeing, draws on findings from a Money Advice Service-funded study trialling financial wellbeing guidance from IES and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

August 6, 2018

Levels of digital dependency hit new heights

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Wellbeing

Most people in the UK are dependent on their digital devices, and need a constant connection to the internet, following a decade of digital dependency and transformation claims a report from regulatory body Ofcom. The findings are from Ofcom’s Communications Market Report, which it claims is the most comprehensive study of how communications services in the UK are changing. Around 17 percent of people owned a smartphone a decade ago. That has now reached 78 percent and 95 percent among 16-24 year-olds. The smartphone is now the device people say they would miss the most, dominating many people’s lives in both positive and negative ways.

August 2, 2018

Financial stress can impair employee performance and attendance

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Businesses that fail to tackle their employees’ financial stress are more likely to encounter poor work performance, lack of engagement, mental health issues and staff absenteeism, a new report from Neyber has claimed. Since last year, there has been a significant increase in the number of employees affected by financial worries; up from 58 percent to 63 percent, as well as those with less than one month’s savings; up from 24 percent to 32 percent. This stress on individuals is having a severe business impact. One in four employees said they had lost sleep over money troubles in the last year, one in ten said that they couldn’t focus on work and 6 percent said they had had to take time off work. All this adds up to a substantial cost for employers to bear. Neyber has calculated that the lost productivity and increased absence and employee turnover associated with financial stress costs UK companies in the region of £120.7 billion every year.

August 1, 2018

Flexibility, daylight and a well-designed office are amongst most desirable workplace features

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Capital One has published the results of its latest survey of US full-time professionals for their thoughts on workplace design and the working environment as it relates to their productivity, innovation and collaboration with colleagues. According to the resulting 2018 Work Environment Survey of 3,500 office based respondents in urban centres across the US, many value flexibility and workplace design, particularly when evaluating whether to stay at their current job or consider a new employment opportunity. Employees also place a great deal of focus on technology, design elements such as lighting and agile workspaces, and personal wellbeing.