Search Results for: benefits

Government should end bogus gig economy jobs, claims parliamentary report

Government should end bogus gig economy jobs, claims parliamentary report 0

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Companies operating in the gig economy and relying on supposedly self-employed workers are denying workers their rights and freeloading on the welfare state, according to a new report from The Commons Work and Pensions Committee. The report cites what it calls “appalling practices” in its inquiry into self-employment and the gig economy. The committee said the numbers of self employed had grown to 5m, or 15 per cent of all UK workers in recent years, fuelled in large parts by the firms like Uber and Deliveroo, whose business models rely on a largely self-employed workforce. In its report the Work and Pensions Committee says Government must close the loopholes that are currently allowing “bogus” self-employment practices, which are potentially creating an extra burden on the welfare state while simultaneously reducing the tax contributions that sustain it.

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Government failing to meet goals for an integrated real estate portfolio

Government failing to meet goals for an integrated real estate portfolio 0

by • News

The UK Government is getting better value for money from its estate, according to a new report from the National Audit Office. The Government Property Unit (GPU), however, has not yet made much progress towards its objective of creating a shared, flexible and integrated estate. The government’s central estate includes some 4,600 individual holdings, costing around £2.55 billion a year to run. The GPU, which is part of the Cabinet Office, was set up in 2010 to better co-ordinate estate management in the public sector. Since the NAO’s last report in 2012, departments have continued to make good progress in reducing the overall size of the central estate. They have also reduced overall estate spending and pay less for office accommodation than private sector comparators. Departments report they have reduced their annual estate costs by £775 million in real terms since 2011-12 to around £2.55 billion in 2015-16. Between 2011-12 and 2015-16, departments raised £2.5 billion by selling surplus land and properties. The GPU is also starting to have an impact on the wider public estate.

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BIFM issues new guidance for FMs on managing the transition to agile working

BIFM issues new guidance for FMs on managing the transition to agile working 0

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, News

New guidance on managing the transition to agile workingNew guidance to help facilities managers manage the transition to agile working within their organisation has just been published by the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM). The Agile Working Change Management Guidance Note is aimed at FMs working at a senior and/or operational level and covers the benefits of agile working and how to successfully plan and implement an integrated approach to deliver sustainable change in working behaviour. Agile working describes a range of work settings that allow people and organisations to make new choices about when, where and how they work. It is underpinned by mobile technology and applies to people working both in and away from the traditional office, such as at home, on the road or remotely in other locations. BIFM’s research and information manager Peter Brogan said: “As an Institute, we recognise the importance of the workplace agenda for FMs and this newly commissioned Guidance Note aims to address the current lack of knowledge around some of the emerging workplace practices.”

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Happiness at work takes precedence over money for the majority of people

Happiness at work takes precedence over money for the majority of people 0

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Happiness at work takes precedence over money for the majority of workersMore than six in ten workers value happiness at work over salary and even those more motivated by salary agree that a setting that allows friendships to flourish could provide invaluable benefits for businesses, a new survey suggests. The research by Wildgoose found that 57 percent of respondents thought having a best friend in the office made their time at work more enjoyable, almost a third were more productive and over one in five said it boosted their creativity. The survey also highlighted the differences in attitudes across various groups and demographics. Women were far more likely to prioritise happiness, with eight in ten placing it above salary, compared to just 55 percent of males. The job level of an employee also played a significant role. For 85 percent of managers, salary was deemed more important, while 70 percent of entry-level, interns, and executives chose happiness.

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Study confirms effect of workplace autonomy on wellbeing and job satisfaction

Study confirms effect of workplace autonomy on wellbeing and job satisfaction 0

by • Flexible working, Knowledge, News, Wellbeing

New research into workplace culture has found that employees with higher levels of autonomy in their work reported positive effects on their overall wellbeing and higher levels of job satisfaction. Researchers at the University of Birmingham Business School examined changes in reported well-being relative to levels of autonomy using two separate years of data for 20,000 employees from the Understanding Society survey. The research, published in the journal Work and Occupations, found that levels of autonomy differed considerably between occupations and by gender. Those working in management reported the highest levels of autonomy in their work, with 90 percent reporting ‘some’ or ‘a lot’ of autonomy in the workplace. The finding backs up research from Cass Business School, the German Institute for Economic Research, Abraham Maslow and elsewhere.

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Commercial property lenders should drive sustainability through financial innovation

Commercial property lenders should drive sustainability through financial innovation 0

by • Environment, News, Property

The commercial real estate finance sector is witnessing a dramatic shift in attitudes towards the issue of sustainability, according to a new report from the Better Buildings Partnership. It claims that major commercial property lenders are already exploring new opportunities that go well beyond traditional risk management through sustainability initiatives that ‘drive new business, strengthen customer relationships and improve the data they hold on the buildings in which they have underwritten’. The report, Beyond Risk Management: How sustainability is driving innovation in commercial real estate finance, is sponsored by CREFC Europe, GeoPhy, ING Bank and Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, and claims to reveal pioneering examples of how lenders are incorporating sustainability into their core business activities.

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Governments need to address perfect storm of low wages, productivity and automation

Governments need to address perfect storm of low wages, productivity and automation 0

by • News, Technology

Governments need to act now to address issues such as productivity, automation and stagnating or falling wages, according to two new reports from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In both its Spring global policy agenda and world economic outlook, the IMF claims that workers are subject to a perfect storm of factors that will destabilise their jobs and lives unless governments implement robust policies to help them work more flexibly, acquire new skills and work alongside the new generation of automated technologies instead of in competition with them. Addressing the issues in a speech last week, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said that governments need to create a new economic and social architecture that allows everybody to take advantage of the opportunities offered by technology and the current growth in the world economy.

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Walking or cycling to work associated with lower risk of cancer and heart disease

Walking or cycling to work associated with lower risk of cancer and heart disease 0

by • News, Wellbeing

A new study published in the British Medical Journal suggests that cycling to work could halve the risk of cancer and heart disease and that any active form of travel to work offers similar health benefits. Although the report does not claim to establish the direct causal links, the five year study of 250,000 commuters in the UK concludes that “cycle commuting was associated with a lower risk of CVD, cancer, and all cause mortality. Walking commuting was associated with a lower risk of CVD independent of major measured confounding factors. Initiatives to encourage and support active commuting could reduce risk of death and the burden of important chronic conditions.” The five-year study compared people who had an active commute with those who were mostly sedentary in cars and public transport. The report found that regular cycling to work cut the risk of death from any cause by 41 percent, the incidence of cancer by 45 percent and heart disease by 46 percent.

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Jobs should be redesigned to improve wellbeing

Jobs should be redesigned to improve wellbeing 0

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

It’s not just the nascent fourth industrial revolution that is challenging our traditional views of work, but also the growing realisation that we could be doing things so much better anyway. The author Douglas Coupland and the World Economic Forum are already holding conversations about the fundamental issues with work and how we go about it. At the heart of this is the very design of jobs and what it means for us and our wellbeing. Only 28 percent of people in the UK are highly satisfied with their jobs, and yet, estimates suggest that an adult in work would spend an average of 57 percent of their waking hours working. A new international study from the University of East Anglia  and the What Works Centre for Wellbeing based on a review of 4,000 pieces of research claims to show why organisations often fail to improve staff wellbeing. It suggests that employees should be encouraged to design their own jobs, and find ways to help managers better understand their concerns.

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Gender pay gap legislation may be aiming at the wrong target, claims report

Gender pay gap legislation may be aiming at the wrong target, claims report 0

by • News, Workplace

Britain’s new gender pay gap legislation is addressing the wrong issue and so will fail to do what it sets out to do, according to a new report from executive search firm Korn Ferry Hay Group. The firm claims that its analysis of over 570,000 people on its UK database shows that the gender pay gap is “virtually non-existent” when men and women do the same job at the same level in the UK, but that the differences become pronounced in senior and executive arenas. The study backs up data from the Office for National Statistics which recently began publishing details of pay differentials by age and sex and the results are eye opening.  The most startling finding was that women in their 20s and early 30s earn slightly more than men of the same age and in the same job. However, as people get older, the pay gap goes into reverse, with men marginally out earning women at the age of 35, with the pay gap then widening rapidly into early middle age. As we reported earlier this week, the major issues arise both at a senior level of organisations and when women start families and begin paying a ‘motherhood penalty’ in terms of their pay and careers.

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Over three quarters of workers prefer traditional employment to the gig economy

Over three quarters of workers prefer traditional employment to the gig economy 0

by • Flexible working, News

Much has been written about the inexorable rise of the gig economy. However, a new survey from jobsite Glassdoor, claims that only 13 per cent of workers across all employment types would even consider this route for future employment, and the vast majority of employees (76 percent) feel more secure sticking to permanent employment in 2017. As with any work arrangement, using temporary or “gig” workers has both benefits and drawbacks when set against traditional employment.

The survey suggests that the major perceived benefit is flexibility, both for job seekers and employers. When asked the question, “What do you think would be the biggest advantage of working in the gig economy?”, most (35 percent) of employees selected  “flexible working”, followed by “better work-life balance” (11 per cent) and the ability to “be my own boss” (10 percent). Furthermore, 39 percent of female employees feel that the biggest advantage of working in the gig economy would be the flexible working, compared to just 31 percent of men. However, 73 percent of women also reported they already enjoy a good work-life balance in their current roles.

Salaries and benefits remain the most important workplace factors for both men (56 percent) and women (63 percent), something which is typically less stable in gig or contract work.

Gig employment for task-based jobs like car rides, accommodation rentals, and food deliveries are all now mainstream services. Glassdoor’s previous research for the US labour market suggests a slowdown for gig work in 2017, especially as job seekers weigh the pros and cons of this employment type. This new UK survey finds that only 12 per cent of those already self-employed feel they would earn more if they left a job to take on work which paid “per activity” (rather than an annual salary), with 21 per cent of those in full time work feeling the same. On a wider level, just one in ten of all respondents across all forms of employment believe that the gig economy would become the “future of work,” with double that amount (20 per cent) feeling it actually exploited workers and harmed employees’ rights.

In terms of job generation, only 13 per cent of all respondents predict that the gig economy would be a good way to reduce unemployment and create jobs in the future. When broken down by gender, nearly a third of women (31 per cent) feel that the gig economy would only ever be for a “limited number of workers” and was not accessible across a “wide range of roles”. This was opposed to just a quarter of men.

The millennial generation of employees has been labelled as the group who will structure and shape the way we work in coming years. However, only 10 per cent of 18-24 and 9 per cent of 25-34 year olds are of the opinion that the gig economy will eventually become the “future of work.”

Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor’s Chief Economist said: “The gig economy may be associated with prodigious growth of app-based taxi rides and food delivery, however, as we’ve already witnessed in the U.S., the impact on the UK workforce could remain minimal in the longer term.

“The main reason is size. Although many ride-sharing and travel platforms have popped up in recent years, they’re still confined to a small corner of the workforce. Further, gig roles only really work for relatively simple jobs that are easy to measure, don’t require deep institutional knowledge, and don’t rely on long-term relationships. The majority of the fastest growing jobs in the labour market today require human creativity, flexibility, judgment, and soft skills. For some jobs, the UK gig economy is here to stay. But don’t expect the majority of the workforce to be part-time contractors any time soon.”

Image: Jack Lemmon finally gets a corner office in The Apartment

Over half of employers report increase in workplace stress and mental ill health

Over half of employers report increase in workplace stress and mental ill health 0

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

More than half (55 percent) of employers have reported an increase in the level of stress and mental health related illnesses at work, according to the annual Benefits and Trends Survey from Aon. The survey claims that while 72 percent of employers believed they had a key role in influencing employee health in 2015, this decreased to 67 percent in 2016. The survey did find that employers have tactics to support health and wellbeing – branded wellness programmes (21 percent) and flexible working (20 percent) being the most popular – but these may be disconnected to what employees and the business actually need. Not surprisingly then, 58 percent would like a better understanding of the impacts of health risks, while 72 percent now use some form of data to drive health and wellbeing strategy. The most popular sources were absence data (57 percent) and employee engagement surveys (45 percent). In addition, the number of employers that have considered managing a known health risk is on the increase – rising to 48 percent from 25 percent in the last two years (42 percent in 2015).

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