Search Results for: government

How a big, stupid idea can be more attractive than a small, effective one

by • Architecture, Comment, Property

We’re going to be hearing a lot of big ideas over the next few weeks. Politicians will be sharing their ‘visions’ with us and letting us know exactly how ‘passionate’ they are about them and anything else Twitter tells them we care about. It’s going to be boring and infuriating, but we only have ourselves to blame. We fret when politicians don’t give us a handy label on which we can rest our hopes or lay the blame, depending on whether we agree with whatever the big idea is or not. Of course, David Cameron’s vision of choice when he became Prime Minister in 2010 was The Big Society. I won’t get into the rights and wrongs of that but I think we can all agree that The Big Society has been kicked unceremoniously into The Long Grass and we won’t be hearing much about it in the build up to this year’s General Election. Nor will we be hearing much about another of David Cameron’s pet projects even though that has actually gone on to be something of a success.

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Men and women have differing views on equal pay and opportunities

by • Legal news, News, Workplace

Gender pay gapMen and women have differing views on the pay and career opportunities available to female employees in the workplace, according to a report published today by recruitment firm Hays. The report is based on a study of 6,000 employees which found that just under half (45 percent) of women think that equally qualified and capable male and female colleagues are not paid the same compared to around 20 percent of men. The survey also produced an almost identical result when respondents were asked whether the same career opportunities were available to both sexes, with 21 percent of men and 48 percent of women claiming that both genders enjoyed the same opportunities. Overall both sexes agree that quotas are not the best solution to any mismatch with just 9 percent agreeing that they would have a major impact.

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Majority of UK workers concerned about their ability to retire

by • Legal news, News, Workplace

Man-with-empty-pockets-006A new report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development claims that the majority of UK workers are concerned that their current pension arrangements won’t allow them to retire. It found that the average employee pension contribution to a workplace-defined contribution pension scheme is currently 5 percent, but most employees think they should be saving almost double that (9 percent). Four in ten (43 percent) think they should be contributing more than 10 percent of their salary to their retirement savings and almost a quarter (22 percent) admitted they didn’t know how much they should be contributing. The shortfall between what employees are paying in and what they think they should be paying is highlighted by the fact that over half of UK workers have considered how they might work past state pension age and one in ten people (13 percent) are worried that they will never be able to afford to leave paid employment.

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US FCC agrees net neutrality deal to classify Internet as a public utility

by • Legal news, News, Technology

digiCord_t479The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced a reclassification of the Internet as a public utility for the first time. It follows last month’s call from the UK Government for a similar approach to ensure that everybody has equal access to the online world. The FCC ruling specifically forbids Internet service providers creating a range of fast and slow services as a way – critics argued – of hijacking the Internet to gain monopolistic control over the digital economy and favour larger websites able to afford the higher rates. The ruling on ‘net neutrality’ has been broadly welcomed, not least by those campaigners who have argued for years that it would mean an end to the Internet as we have known it; an open platform that offers equal opportunities to all users and content providers and so fosters innovation.

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The latest issue of the weekly Insight is now available to view online

by • Facilities management, Newsletter, Workplace, Workplace design

Insight_twitter_logo_2In this week’s issue; A new study from IBM challenges some of the most commonly held myths about Generation Y and lays down a few uncomfortable truths for employers; Our regular columnist Simon Heath likes this year’s shortlisted Design Awards entries, but not the way they are described; the Government sets out to define what makes a good public sector property design and management specialist; a call for greater understanding of how more women could develop and stick with STEM careers; some good news about fit notes workplace absence; the Green Building Council challenges developers to take a lead in environmental property; and the latest moves to shift London’s traffic, cyclists and pedestrians to new underground routes. Sign up to for weekly updates via the subscription form in the right hand sidebar and follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

Over half of employers reject mandatory quotas for women on boards

by • Legal news, News, Workplace

Over half of employers reject mandatory quotas for women on boardsThe Women on Boards review published by Lord Davies in February 2011 looked at the obstacles that prevent many women from reaching senior positions in business, such as FTSE 350 corporate boards; and set a target of 25 per cent of board positions being held by women by 2015. As the anniversary of the report approaches, new research by the CIPD, business leaders and Business and Women & Equalities Minister Jo Swinson MP, has revealed resistance to the idea of mandatory female quotas as mooted by some EU members, with over half those polled suggesting that the government should instead set a more ambitious voluntary target to improve gender diversity in boardrooms post-2015. Two thirds of respondents said that an open and supportive culture that encourages gender diversity would be a more effective way of improving gender diversity at board level.

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The pressing need for more women to forge careers in STEM disciplines

by • Facilities management, News, Property, Technology, Workplace

????????????????????One of the most pressing economic challenges facing the UK is producing enough qualified professionals in the key science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) disciplines. And, as a number of new reports make clear, the problem is compounded by the failure of enough women to develop careers in those areas that will define the country’s economic future. It was a point raised in a recent Government report into the UK’s digital future. Writing for the BBC earlier this month Dame Prof Ann Dowling the President of the Royal Academy of Engineering laid out the scale of the problem; by 2022 the UK will need at least 1.82 million new engineering, science and technology professionals. What is also becoming clear is that, while many women are keen to develop STEM careers, they face a series of obstacles at every step.

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Fit note linked to sharp reduction in long term work absences

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

fit-noteThe much discussed ‘fit note’ legislation introduced in the UK in 2010 may have resulted in a sharp reduction in the number of people taking long terms absences from work, according to a new study, which also revealed a starkly growing number of people taking time off work to deal with mental health issues. Researchers from the Institute of Psychology, Health and Society at the University of Liverpool claim to have found evidence that the UK ‘fit note,’ which replaced the ‘sick note’ in 2010 in the UK, is linked to fewer people taking long term sick leave of 12 or more weeks. A report based on the same study published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine also found that the proportion of people off sick with depression, anxiety, and stress has increased noticeably.

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Latest Insight newsletter is now available to view

by • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Newsletter, Property, Public Sector, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

Insight_twitter_logo_2In this week’s issue; Maciej Markowski says most companies are not like Google, so don’t require a Google-cloned office; and Mark Eltringham explains why Charles Handy was largely correct in his pronouncements on the changing nature of work. Take up of leased office space in London hits its highest level since 2000; the UK workforce sees an increasing pay divide; and with new flexi-rights just weeks away, Acas publishes a new free guide on Shared Parental Leave. The Government publishes the latest edition of its ‘Greening Government ICT Strategy’ report; and the House of Lords’ report, Make or Break: The UK’s Digital Future, predicts that 35 percent of jobs over the next two decades will be automated. Sign up to the newsletter via the subscription form in the right hand sidebar and follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

Job automation seen as a key digital challenge in new policy report

by • News, Public Sector, Technology, Workplace

Whichever party or coalition forms the next UK Government will face a raft of serious challenges with the emerging digital economy, including making plans for the automation of up to a third of existing jobs. That is the main conclusion of a new report published this week by The House of Lords. Make or Break: The UK’s Digital Future, argues that the next 20 years will present the UK with a range of profound challenges and opportunities and it is incumbent on the Government to address them at the earliest opportunity. As well as imminent and well known  issues such as the need to roll out ultrafast broadband countrywide and the development of skills and digital clusters, the report also highlights the particular issue of what to do about the claim that up to 35 percent of jobs over the next two decades will be automated.

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Acas publishes guidance on shared parent leave as countdown begins

by • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

Acas publishes guidance on shared parent leave as countdown beginsWith just eight weeks to go until new rules on Shared Parental Leave (SPL) come into force, parents with babies due on or after 5 April 2015  should now give their employers 8 weeks’ notice of the pattern of leave they intend to take. The estimated 285,000 working couples a year who are expected to be eligible can start sharing up to 50 weeks of parental leave after 5 April and expectant parents need to have that all-important conversation with their employers. Acas has published a new free guide on Shared Parental Leave to help employers and employees understand how these new changes will affect them and how to manage leave requests fairly. They advise that eligible employees and their employers need to start having early discussions about the different options available so that preparing and planning the leave is as straightforward as possible.

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Employment confidence is increasing, but so is the pay divide finds CIPD

by • News, Public Sector, Workplace

Employment confidence is growing, but so is a the pay divide finds CIPD The UK workforce is seeing an increasing pay divide between employers that can now afford to increase wages by 2 percent or more and those that are stuck in a pay freeze. According to the latest Labour Market Outlook from the CIPD, almost half of the UK workforce saw either a pay freeze or a pay cut (3% pay cut, 39% pay freeze) in the twelve months to December 2014. In contrast, a similar proportion (40%) have received a pay increase of 2 percent or more and less than a fifth (18%) fall in the middle ground of people who have received a pay increase in the 0.1-1.99 percent corridor. As well as identifying a growing pay divide, the report finds employment confidence is set to remain strong over the next three months with around two thirds of employers (65%) planning to recruit new employees.

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